LET'S KICK THE FIRES AND LIGHT THE TIRES

It’s a double entendre.

Greetings fellow artists, creatives, and/or Web3 enthusiasts. After a brief hiatus (though maybe a brief respite is more accurate; things are tough out there), I am launching a new publication: The Art of Allyn Bryce. A place for this rando duder to struggle through the creative process in public. I know that kind of loosely describes everyone on the internet, so let’s just get right into the burning questions that you probably don’t have.

Allyn Bryce is a man of many hats. That is to say, someone who bounces around a lot in the creative space. Some of you may know me from my past photography or voiceover work, or perhaps a cheeky YouTube video, NFT mint, or podcast production, or my work writing satire, short-lived writing about video games, or just writing about life in general.

I will keep it brief here, but if you are interested in diving into the menagerie of me, you can find most all of it at my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/allynbryce.

A lot. But slowly.

The idea for the publication (I use the term loosely) came about from wanting to get into digital art and learning to draw in particular. There are a few, let’s just call them, personal grail projects that I have been wanting to see the light of day since forever ago. The problem is I lack the requisite skills to bring said projects into said light. Despite the wide net that my creative background casts, it’s not wide enough to capture it all, namely drawing. That is to say, I couldn’t draw my way out of a wet paper bag.

So here we are. Me attempting to learn to draw… and learn the mysterious and mystical ways of the digital arts.

More specifically, why am I creating this publication?

Well, I thought it would be fun. That and the whole "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" thing. I mean I could just hide in a metaphorical cave and draw all day, a thought that did cross my mind, but I do enjoy writing from time to time, and documenting the process is something that I have found great value in, if not for myself, then for others. It also makes it real.

Anything and everything! Though the lion’s share, at least for the immediate future, will be about the whole learning to draw thing. That being said, don’t be surprised to see me meander into photography, voiceover, random monologues, and pop culture detours among other things, from time to time.

• ✔ Mediocre digital art

• ✔ The occasional NFT mint (because I like experimenting with the different tools and chains)

• ✔ Random bits of photography and accompanying musings

• ✔ The occasional surface-level philosophical detour

• ✔ The creative process experienced through the eyes of a broken man

• ✔ Perhaps narrated blog posts if I can devise a good way to do it that does not involve launching a full-on podcast

• ✔ Did I mention mediocre digital art?

• ✔ Video content? Not sure on this yet

• ✔ Vibes (I can’t speak to the tone, TBD)

• ✔✔✔ Authenticity

This is not going to be a situation where I try to jam as much content down your throat as I possibly can because I am trying to boost things like 'click-through rate' and 'time on site,' or likes/follows, or any of that garbage. There are no funnels and tunnels. None of that interests me. This is casual. This is process. I will post when I have something to share, and I will share what interests me, not what I think will get the most engagement. As such, there is no schedule. I am not here to build a business or a brand. I am here to build a skillset(s) and a body of work.

• ❌ A diehard posting schedule

• ❌ A paywall

• ❌ Early access, whitelists, blacklists, limited-time offers, power-ups, level-ups, etc.

• ❌ The hottest tips and tricks for gaining followers

• ❌ Living my best life! #Blessed

• ❌ Just a casual day slaying with my new [insert product name]

• ❌ Ponzis and pyramids

• ❌ AI art

• ❌ Any kind of hack and/or hacks (both people and process)

• ❌ Anything that is on literal 🔥

Well, a few weeks back I picked up a tablet, my first since the original iPad. After getting a few apps, my favorite of which being Infinite Painter, I immediately started to doodle the NSFW images that you would expect from someone with my sense of humor and level of maturity.

With that out of my system, I began to doodle... SFW images. I have always been a fan of that school notebook style of doodling; the kind of rock/punk/skater vibe. And thus, the image for this post was born.

Even though I drew the doodles all at once around the text, I decided to separate out all of the individual doodles and mint them as a small collection, partially because I have been wanting to mint something on Base and partially because I wanted to commemorate the beginning of a new chapter, as it were. Since they were the first things I drew, I gave the collection the very on-the-nose name First Ones.

After this, I was drawing with no real direction, just having fun, but lacking any real structure or guidance. I was also trying to get used to the tools and apps I was using. So, like any modern human being with a screen and an internet connection, I ended up on YouTube.

Still, I felt I needed a foundation and a solid grasp of the basics of drawing. Regardless of the destination, there is no way I will get there without building a base and exploring a few paths.

Enter Drawabox and Proko. I kind of just happened to stumble upon these, and they seemed like a good place to start, so here we are.

So, over the next few weeks and months, in addition to the random YouTube tutorial, I will be working through the drawing basics programs both on Drawabox and Proko and will be sharing that experience in future posts.

…this is basically as far as I have gotten. Anticlimactic, I know.

Aww, shucks.

A big thanks for just being here reading this. That alone means the world, and if that is all you're down for, that is enough. However, if you would like to be a little more active and support this endeavor and my work, there are a few ways you can go about doing so:

Free:

• Subscribe and vibe

• Leave a comment

• Share with a friend or casual acquaintance

Monetary:

• Collect this post

• Pick up one of my mediocre yet charming NFTs

• Become a paid sub (not live yet, TBD)

That’s it. I’m here for the art. Let’s see where it takes us.