Amir Zand — The Artist behind Project Anomaly
Amir Zand is a freelance illustrator and concept artist / creator of Project Anomaly.
In the past decade he has created more than 50 book covers and illustrated for universes such as DUNE / Warhammer 40K / Mortal Engines / HALO.
His work is featured in honorable books such as “SPECTRUM Fantastic Contemporary Art” (volumes 25, 26, 27), “100 Illustrators most attractive in the world” from Japan Illustrator’s Association and VISION2021
We sat down with Amir to talk about his work, experience and process.
— You must be very busy with all the projects you are involved in! What does a regular day of Amir Zand look like?
My day always starts with a coffee while reviewing emails and “to do” lists. Then I do studio work as I am a full-time freelance concept artist at QuanticDream working on an exciting AAA video game “STARWARS ECLIPSE”. So the day is filled with many sketches, preparing designs and attending meetings. Usually I take a break after work going for a walk and sitting at a cafe next to my house, reviewing social media activities. Once I’m back home I would probably continue working on my personal things till midnight. Sometimes when the day’s work is rough I might just go to sleep and keep the personals and other projects for weekends. It’s a bit hard to find time at this moment as we are getting near the end of the year and usually the workload is heavy by this time of the year.
— That seems quite overwhelming but surely exciting. What did the start of your career look like?
As far as I remember I have been either drawing or playing video games since I was a kid. Eventually I got introduced to a digital medium when I was 16 years old and by 17 I took a deeper dive into it. I was always passionate and inspired to draw so I was always at computer, painting.
I’d say art is not a career to pursue, it’s a way of living and a way to move forward with our life. At some point it also became a profession on the side, although I always thought how cool it would be to create for video-games since I was an avid gamer myself. Things happened slowly and step by step grew over the years as I happened to work in a small animation studio. Then I became a freelance illustrator creating book covers and book illustrations plus some graphic design side jobs. After years I transitioned to a concept artist. Just one thing never changed — I still create my personal work from day to day. It’s just something that never paused even with all the heavy load company work that I have.
— We are proud to have a few pieces from your Project Anomaly in the ForeverLands collection. Take us on the Dreamer’s Journey through the Anomaly series. What is it about?
It was 2015 when I first started to create this personal series with monoliths. Although it was not the monolith at the beginning but a series of paintings with unusual forms. Each time I simplified it until I was finally satisfied with the monolithic shape. After years I also started bouncing ideas with my friend Nathan M Hurst to create short sci-fi story based in the same Universe. He wrote 3 short stories around it. You can find them at www.nathanmhurst.com. We have plans to get back to it and create more content sometime soon.
Through the years Anomaly became a personal canvas for me. It is divided into multi-universes where I create what I love without being bound by time or theme. Dreamer’s Journey is one of these mini-series which hits the most personal spot. I usually create emotions, memories and dreams that I had within this series. The “Dreamer” is basically me wandering in my inner self, looking at emotional events in a creative way. It’s pure heart and less engineered. It is sort of a visual diary of my moments, archives of emotions and experiences I’ve been through, but in a way that people also can have their own narrative looking at it.
— What a wonderful story-focused approach to your artwork! Where do you take inspiration from? Is there an artist that influences your work?
Inspiration comes from everywhere: streets, cities, dreams, talking with people, memories, emotions, films, other art works, music and anything that is around us through the day. There are so many things around us that can inspire and there are no boundaries for that.
For sure there are many amazing artists that I got to know in this journey and they have influenced me with their way of approach to creating. I can mention Barontieri, AshleyWood, Moebius, Otomo, Sparth, Miyazaki, Jaime Jones. Frankly I’m in love with artists who have a very graphic simplified approach to shapes, forms and composition. Such works always fascinate me and for years I was trying to move toward them.
— Talking about the NFT world, what brought you here? What was your experience entering the crypto art space?
Short answer is my wife Mari K who is an active artist in this space! In a broader view I’d say it was the tech itself and how it transformed digital art to become more legit. For years we had no room in the traditional market. Usually many didn’t even consider digital art as pure, or valuable outside the industry that we’ve been working. Sometimes they wouldn’t see you as an artist even, because they think it’s a computer that does this stuff. Assuming there can be hundreds of copies, there is no original mother artwork and it’s just a file. This tech finally can create that 1 original work and give it a higher value. The same as we see in the physical market. Now people start to understand that creating things digitally is just a change of medium and the creative process is still there.
Moreover, being able to finally do what you want to do, invest in your own art and make a living — it’s just amazing.
Although I think it still needs to get balanced and the community needs to evolve and push forward to refine itself . When I entered the NFT space it was early 2021. Frankly, it was so confusing and so noisy, filled with FOMO. So I gave it a pause and observed closely how things would be going and came back after 6 months with a fresh start. Now I feel hopeful about it, because it got so much more balanced and continues to do so.
— Yes, the industry is quickly evolving and different projects are popping up. What were your impressions of the ForeverLands project?
In my opinion this tech has so much capacity and there are many things to do with it. I think ForeverLands uses this tech to elevate and give the space something more engaging. Eventually things will get way bigger than what it is now as in the future we all will be part of a metaverse. I can’t wait to see how it goes. I can say it’s so exciting to be in these times.
— Agreed! What is your opinion on fractionalized NFT art from an artist’s perspective?
I studied it a bit. Not really an expert on it, but I’m sure it will forever change the way we move into the collectibles market. It will surely push the 1/1 art.
— Following the explosive rise of the NFT market we see a lot of new artists diving into the space. What advice would you give them?
Be patient, this is a marathon, not a race. Always go for a long term and don’t come in for quick cash. This is an opportunity to finally create what resonates with you and what you have always wanted. Don’t see NFT as another client. Just be true to yourself and to your art. This is the place where you can do what you have always loved.
— Well said. Since it is just the beginning, how do you see the future of NFTs, Crypto and digital art unfolding?
Metaverse (not Mark’s Metaverse!). The future will be so engaging and won’t be bound with just NFTs as we see now. There will be worlds to live in, bigger communities, galleries, fashion, games and much more. I think it will eventually become a way of living. It is both exciting and terrifying for me. This is just the beginning.
— Are you keeping ETH or converting it to FIAT currency?
I have already used 70% of my income to purchase and collect art that I loved from artists that I admire. Every-time I sell one of my own works I continue to purchase one of others, because eventually we have to give back to this space if we truly believe in it. I do convert part of it, but mainly I keep it as is.
— Project Anomaly looks like an exciting new canvas for collaboration between you and different artists, starting with your wife Mari K. Can you tell us more about it?
With Anomaly series I wanted to create a base for a series of collections that are meaningful both on artistic/technical side and how it connects to people.
I love Punks, Apes and many other collectible projects, but that’s just not my cup of tea, I suppose. It is important for me that a project is a piece of art that connects with a viewer rather than becomes a token for trade and that’s what I was trying to achieve.
Each one of the pieces is created from scratch and not generated, that’s why it makes the process of development a bit longer. I wanted each of these monoliths to have their unique persona — it’s an art collection rather than a PFP project. Each series will include 10 unique 1/1 pieces that are similar in format but differ in aesthetics. They will be available via SuperRare series.
My plan is to grow this concept along with my personal 1/1 illustrations and eventually call other visual artists and creatives to join and use this canvas to create for upcoming series collection.
Visit projectanomaly.xyz to learn more.
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Thank you for taking time to share your story! It was interesting to hear your perspective on the NFTs space.
To see more of Amir Zand’s art visit ArtStation and do not forget to follow him on Twitter .
Our Collection
ForeverLands Vault has recently acquired a few artworks by Amir Zand from “Anomaly” series. You can see the whole ForeverLands Vault collection on OpenSea at https://opensea.io/foreverlands.
Visit our website foreverlands.xyz for more information and follow us on Twitter or join our Discord Server to stay in the loop.
