An NFT is a non-fungible token. Ok great, but what does that mean? Essentially, an NFT is digital art plus a contract. So hidden inside an original piece of NFT art there is a unique unit of data that uses blockchain technology to establish ownership. This data cannot be copied or replicated (unlike the piece of art itself). Just as physical art holds value, NFTs are collectible digital assets that hold value. Similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum, NFTs are a lot like cryptocurrencies. The key difference is that an NFT is totally original. While most kinds of digital files can be easily replicated or reproduced, an NFT identifies the original copy. It’s much like how anyone can buy a print of a Picasso, but only one person has the original painting. So instead of buying a physical piece of art, an NFT is a digital file that proves you own the original copy of the work.

What can be sold as an NFT?

Digital files essentially. Most commonly; JPEGs, Virtual Reality Files, PDFs and MP3s. Now you might be wondering: Can I make an NFT? And in short, yes anyone can create a piece of NFT art. The process is fairly straightforward. You create a piece of digital art and then turn it into an NFT on the blockchain. This is a process called minting. Then it’s a matter of uploading it for sale on your platform of choice. Popular NFT selling platforms for artists include; Opensea, Rarible and SuperRare. It’s also possible to attach a commission to your NFT art. That means that every time your art is bought and resold, you’ll receive money. There is one catch though – you’ll need to have a digital ‘wallet’ set up, and it’ll need to already have cryptocurrency in it. This condition of money upfront is where complications come into play. Essentially the platform wants to make sure that you have enough funds to cover their fees if you end up selling your art at a loss. NFT platforms also charge hefty fees for transferring ownership on top of their commission. And because conversion fees can vary dramatically depending on the time of day, your profits may be very modest at best.

Can you make money more easily with NFT Art?

You might have heard stories about artists making hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) for pieces of NFT art. And it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking this might be an “easy” way to sell your art online. But when you dig a little deeper into these NFT success stories you’ll find that the artists who have found massive success selling NFTs have actually been prolific artists for years. Most have already put in the hard yards developing a loyal fan base. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts to success in the art world!

NFT Art and Cryptocurrency: The Digital Renaissance

Relationships are still important in the NFT art world because, like the traditional art world, success often hinges on connection and promotion. These days, relationships tend to be primarily online. If you’re keen to start creating and selling NFT art, you’re still going to need to promote it somehow.Twitter is a great option for discovery, sharing and promotion. Clubhouse is a good choice for having conversations with other artists and art world insiders. And of course, Instagram is still the platform of choice for most artist coach sharing their portfolios.NFT art is a really interesting development and I personally find it exciting. If you think that your work translates digitally and you’re comfortable with risk, I encourage you to dig deeper into this new opportunity.But don’t feel that you’ll be left behind if you decide to continue working in analog! There will always be a place for real world objects in the real world.Written by Crista Cloutier, artist mentor + founder of The Working Artist. (learn more about Crista here)