The Craftsman’s story began in 2021, when I purchased Lazy Lion #4669 on OpenSea from an unknown seller. At the time, he was simply one of 10,000 lions in the Lazy Lions NFT collection. Like many collectors, I had no idea that a simple profile picture would eventually become the centerpiece of years of creativity, collaboration and storytelling.
Only a short time later, disaster struck. I was still new to web3, and vulnerable to hackers. Through a phishing attack on Discord, my wallet was compromised, and my assets were stolen. The most painful loss was that of my Lazy Lion. It had become my face to my web3 community.
Fortunately, the story took an unexpected turn. Community member Lew Langer unknowingly purchased the stolen lion from the thief at a bargain price. Once Lew realized what had happened, he refused to profit from someone else’s misfortune. Instead, he held onto the lion until I was able to save enough Ethereum to buy him back, selling to me for exactly what he had paid. That act of generosity became one of my favorite examples of the character and integrity that made the Lazy Lions community special.
With The Craftsman safely home again, I began imagining who this lion actually was. In 2023, I created the first comic book–style illustrations of the character and gave him the name The Craftsman. Rather than being defined by superpowers, he embodied creativity and the satisfaction of building things with care—qualities that closely reflected my own career as a designer and maker.
Later that year, my friend Gluten and I tackled a challenge shared by every Lazy Lion owner. The official artwork only showed each lion from the waist up. Together we hand-illustrated complete lower bodies for the collection, affectionately calling the project Lazy Butts. For The Craftsman, this was more than a joke. It was the moment he became a complete character.
By 2024, The Craftsman had begun appearing outside my own artwork. He made his comic book debut in Rex Roar: Enter the Metablocks, becoming part of a larger creative universe inspired by the web3 community. Later that same year, he was also included as one of the main playable characters in the Rex Roar board game, marking another step from personal creation to community collaboration.
The next major milestone came in 2026, when The Craftsman finally entered the physical world. Advances in AI allowed community members to visualize their lions from every angle, providing the references needed for my friend Westie to build a detailed 3D model. He transformed those digital concepts into a beautifully printed 10-inch figure, which I then hand-painted myself. It felt especially appropriate that a character called The Craftsman should ultimately be finished with a paintbrush rather than automation.
I purchase Lazy Lion 4669 on
OpenSea from an unknown.
The lion is stolen via a
phishing attack in Discord.
I buy the NFT back from Lew
and name him The Craftsman.
Initial sketches of The
Craftsman as a character.
The Craftsman receives
his full NFT body.
The Craftsman appears in Rex
Roar "Enter the Metablocks"
The Craftsman is included as
a main game characters.
The Craftsman figure is
3D printed and painted.
The Craftsman’s story is far from over. As new tools and technologies emerge, I’m excited to keep finding fresh ways to bring this character to life — new artwork, new collaborations and formats I haven’t even imagined yet. The next step is to build more lore for the Craftsman and supporting characters I have in the works, built the same way everything else has been: with care, curiosity and a little bit of craftsmanship.
