Commitment is an integral part of succeeding in every part of life, especially when it comes to careers. Digital Illustrator Mike Winkelmann – better known as Beeple – knows that better than anyone, as he has worked every day for the past 10 years creating art.
But not only has the artist not taken a day off, despite having two children, being sick and having other jobs, Winkelmann has produced a unique piece of work for every single one of those days. Be it abstract drawing or a sci-fi landscape, the CGI Master has published 3,650th different iterations of his art.
The series began under the guise of a self-deprecating moniker known as Beeple Crap, where the artist would post his art on his website beeple-crap.com and his Instagram beeple_crap. In an interview with Vice.com, Winkelmann was asked if he ever thought he’d make it to 10 years.
“No. I was focused on trying to get better at drawing. I wasn’t thinking about an end date. After the momentum of the 2nd year, I realized I could keep doing this for a while. Once you get the momentum, that’s what carries you forward,” Beeple told Vice. “Some days, you don’t have that much ambition. It’s like, ‘I’m fucking tired, I don’t want to keep going.’ The momentum really helps you. You think, ‘Am I really going to ruin my streak for this?’
The 28-year-old artist said that time spent would vary based on individual works and situations. When he was sick, or more importantly when his wife gave birth to their first child, he would only spend five or so minutes on a project. But when he had time, some projects spent hours.
Beeple said he’s found a lot of inspiration recently from Ghost in a Shell and it’s VFX works. It’s unknown as to just how long he plans to keep the steak up, as Winkelman stated he is amazed that he simply didn’t forget one day.
Either way, the future is bright for the self-taught artist, as he will certainly, at the very least, improve his talent if he keeps doing this much work. For more information on Beeple, follow the artist on his website or Instagram.
