Bitcoin_apex

I have done it. My first large format drawing is finally finished! 350 hours of work 31 pencil leads 12 pencils 1 drawing paper  "The Rise of #Bitcoin" was just a thought, an idea in my head over 4 months ago. Even more fulfilling to now be able to witness this idea with my own eyes and to creatively combine my drawing style and love to detail with some of the most formative events in the 16 years since Bitcoin came into existence. This will not be the last project on this scale! If you are interested in a print of this drawing, available in different sizes and qualities, you can find them at bitcoinapexart.com/shop. Thanks to everyone who enjoyed the updates on this drawing. Your feedback was truly something else.

Thank you so much for the wonderful response to my new drawing, which I’ve started after a long break! It’s truly an honor for me to visually depict Bitcoin through my ideas and style, and to touch so many people in the process. This one is going to be another very large-scale piece that will take a few months to complete. I’ll be sharing updates on my progress from time to time, just as you’ve come to expect from me!

After a 6-month break, I picked up my pencils again to start working on another large-format piece. Hundreds of hours will go into this drawing, and I'm incredibly excited to create more Bitcoin art!

Some of you may be familiar with my drawing “The Rise of Bitcoin”. It is the most elaborate and time-consuming piece I’ve created so far in my career as a self-employed artist, which has now spanned over four years. It took me about 350 hours of meticulous drawing spread out over four months to complete it. Now, after my six-month break from drawing, I feel that I’d like to create another artwork that requires such a long commitment. In a style similar to “The Rise of Bitcoin” and with an effort to make it even more lifelike, you can look forward to my next piece!

This was the last drawing I completed before I put down my pencils for half a year in order to travel through Europe—hiking over 1,500 km in four countries and covering 8,000 km on the roads of Scandinavia. With “The Awakening” I aim to raise awareness—through striking dramatic elements and the use of vibrant orange tones—of various global events that are shaping today’s society and how Bitcoin plays a role in them.

Good day. I hope you’re all doing well. Yes, I am alive. This is my first post on X after a six-month hiatus. A lot has happened in my personal life as well as the Bitcoin universe. I’ve received many messages asking if everything is okay: I’m doing fabulous and I had the time of my life this summer. Half a year ago I spontaneously decided to step back from social media and from drawing. At a certain point I lost interest in the usual Bitcoin discussions here—Bitcoiners named in the Epstein Files, endless excitement over Michael Saylor buying more Bitcoin, or hardware wallet provider issues that rightly raised questions. It all no longer put me in a positive frame of mind to keep following what’s going on. I asked myself what the greatest long-term benefit of understanding and holding Bitcoin really is. I concluded it is about “buying back” one’s lifetime and filling that time freely—without compromises, restrictions, or outside influence. Under the current debt-based system this privilege is denied to almost everyone. The system forces constant work, promotes manipulation and numbed consciousness, fuels career and ego drives, or simply requires people to pay bills month after month. I experienced this modern exploitation for 10 years in retail, where personal interests, curiosity, and dreams barely had room because there was no time for them. Through long-term Bitcoin holdings combined with self-employment as a Bitcoin artist, I could for the first time spontaneously bring ideas to life that require time, proper planning, were quite costly and stepping outside of comfort zones is mandatory. Over the past five months I hiked nearly 1,500 kilometers across six countries and completed an 8,000-kilometer road trip through Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This included 500 km in the Swiss Alps, 600 km from Germany to Venice through the Italian Dolomites, and 200 km in the rugged Scandinavian landscapes. I spent weeks and months hiking every day and sleeping in a new place in nature—whether at 2,500 meters in the Alps or at 200 meters in the marshy Swedish fjäll. That sense of aliveness is, for me, what makes professional independence and Bitcoin so desirable. Bitcoin itself is not freedom. Freedom lies in living and experiencing the moment. Bitcoin can be a powerful tool for feeling life more intensely—without the distractions, disinformation, and numbing of the senses that prevent self-determined living. Even though I love drawing Bitcoin and the themes that surround it, experiencing life, forming memories, discovering, and getting to know myself matter most. These months of long-distance hiking grounded me. I missed a great deal in the Bitcoin world and global events—and I am grateful, because if I hadn’t, I would have missed something else: my own life and being in the moment. However, I feel the desire to draw again. It is part of who I am and does not feel like work. It is a calling. Drawing has fascinated me since childhood and will most likely continue until I am old. You can continue to look forward to hand-drawn Bitcoin Apex pencil art exploring the vast topic of Bitcoin! Many thanks to everyone who is looking forward to it and continues to take an interest in my creative work.

This tiny one inch portrait of @knutsvanholm will also be included in my current drawing.

Update on my pencil drawing 'Bitcoin Youniverse'. So far it features: @halfin @adam3us @NickSzabo4 @_weidai @lensassaman @LawrenceLepard @saifedean @maxkeiser @stacyherbert @natbrunell @efenigson @JoeNakamoto About to include another 10 individuals!

Added thumbnail-sized miniature portraits of @adam3us, @NickSzabo4 and @halfin to my drawing.

I’ve put @saifedean next to Lawrence. Considering how ridiculously small the area is, I'm happy with the result! These two square inches took me hours.

This gem will now adorn the home of @LawrenceLepard. It’s an honor for me that such inspiring people like him appreciate my work to that extent!

I added a tiny 1-inch portrait of @LawrenceLepard to my drawing. That certainly wasn't easy given the scale!

I've already spent over 100 hours working on my new drawing. Zoom in to see the details. There's much more to come!

In my latest Bitcoin pencil drawing, I drew myself drawing the drawing. The portrait is smaller than my thumb and required extreme precision. It was drawn with a mechanical pencil with a lead diameter of only 0.3 mm. This is just a tiny excerpt of the entire artwork. Stay tuned!

Congratulations to @ErlichvonBraum—you've won!