Crypto Whale Portraits

"Crypto Whale Portraits is a series of one off Digital Artworks for you to collect. Each whale portrait represents a real personality with key paraphernalia or clothing items unique to that individual!"

I first found this project on Twitter in early September, they had just dropped a few pieces and it got my attention, real people, real personalities but in whale form, who doesn't want to be a whale in this world?!

For many, being considered a "whale" in this industry is the ultimate goal. Incase you don't know what whale means in this context it simply means a big player, whales being the largest creatures on the planet lend their name to the largest wallets in the crypto world.

I liked the artwork and it was something a bit different from the standard collectibles I had seen up until that point, the images are the creation of talented Romanian artist Vali Lancea and by his own admission "My art would be poor without your ideas" so it's probably fortunate that co-founders Andy & Geoff found him and allowed their brilliant ideas to come to life!

I saw that you could make requests and have pieces made to order so I decided to reach out to the team and see how the process worked, it turns out it really was as simple as choosing a person and naming a few features you would like included in the portrait, they then reserve the OpenSea listing for your wallet address.

I thought about who I might want, some people had portraits of themselves while others had chosen famous figures, I can't deny I did (and still do) want a portrait of myself but as a collector I decided that I needed someone that would command a decent resale value if the time came to part ways with my NFT.

My thought process was simple, it had to be someone popular that was instantly recognisable even in whale form, someone that has distinctive characteristics and accessories, I decided Michael Jackson would be my choice, I told them I wanted MJ but I'll sleep on it and confirm in the morning.

After an invigorating sleep I had a new vision, clear like a summers day,  how could I have overlooked such a figure? I messaged them on Twitter and confirmed I was happy to progress with my new choice... Donald Trump!

Although Trump is a distinctively polarising figure I can't think of many other people relevant to our current time that could still be instantly recognised with a whale makeover. I'm also anticipating him returning to politics and possibly the White House in the future so it could turn out to be a popular choice! As with any made-to-order creation you never know how it is likely to look compared to your expectation, I was really pleased with the final product, it was better than I had expected.

I liked it so much that I talked it up to a friend that also had one made, they chose Queen Elizabeth II which is features in this post.

Pricing seems to be a bit varied, anywhere from 0.1 to 1 ETH has been paid to create individual pieces so I'm assuming there are certain factors that determine initial price such as the amount of work involved in creating. A big positive is that this is a project committed to charity, they currently have a poll on their twitter so the community can vote on which charity receives the top donation, all listed charities will receive donations so buying into this project helps a variety of causes including saving the oceans, cancer care, and helping people acquire skills and opportunities through cricket. 

Recently they have dropped a new collection within the collection, Indian Cricket All-Stars XI. The best players in Indian cricket hand selected to be immortalised in this fantastic side project. Keeping in the spirit of charity they are donating all proceeds from the the sale of their first piece dedicated to Polygon network founder, prolific entrepreneur and philanthropist Sandeep Nailwal. Sandeep's charity is the Indian Covid Crypto Relief Fund. Here is the piece:

They come with a nice frame and are perfect for displaying in a gallery, so if you're a collector that likes fun, unique artwork and helping charitable causes around the world then I would recommend taking a look at Crypto Whale Portraits. Drop them a message on Twitter and start your journey to joining the Crypto Whale Pod!

Crypto Whale Portraits Links:

Website - https://cryptowhalesart.com/home

Discord - Not Available

Twitter - @CryptoWhalesART

OpenSea - Crypto Whale Portraits