Web3 Company Orange Comet Taps 13-Year-Old Artist Doodle Boy for NFT Drop

Web3 entertainment company Orange Comet is teaming up with 13-year-old artist Joe Whale, commonly known as The Doodle Boy, to transform his work into a series of digital collectibles.

The collection, based on Whale’s popular black and white doodles, will include 3,500 creatures, colorized and animated by Orange Comet. The collection will be for sale as a primary drop on non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea in April.

Whale told CoinDesk he’s enthusiastic about bringing new life to his work through NFTs. The teen has already partnered with Nike and Disney and has fans including Prince William and his wife. He’s now ready to take his career as an artist to the next level by tapping into digital collectibles and further expanding his fanbase.

“I’ve only ever drawn with a black marker and a blank sheet of canvas, but I’ve always imagined my art coming to life in other formats in my head,” Whale said.

“There's so many things you can do [with NFTs], and with my characters I imagine them in my head coming to life, just being able to see that I think it's really important,” Whale told CoinDesk. “Being able to interact and look at the storylines and things and really get into the characters is one way that it will help my community.”

While the mint begins April 25, the collection will evolve throughout the week of its release. Users who buy the NFT will start with Whale’s original doodle, which days later will turn into a clay rendering that will then become the final, digitized 3D model of the token.

“The reason we want to do that is because we have to pay homage to how this collection started. And it's all with Joe and a doodle,” Dave Broome, CEO of Orange Comet, told CoinDesk.

Orange Comet has had success in its celebrity NFT partnerships in the past, including actor Sir Anthony Hopkins’ collection in October (which broke OpenSea records by selling out in under seven minutes, as well as NBA champion Scottie Pippen’s virtual sneaker drop in December. In February, Orange Comet raised $7 million in equity, and expects a larger funding round later this year.

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