If you’ve spent a few milliseconds on “crypto Twitter,” chances are the acronym NFT was plastered all over your hype feed. Standing for “non fungible token,” NFTs are a digital representation of ownership, with blockchain technology underpinning the economic scarcity. The concept sounds gimmicky and confusing, but you’ve probably heard of NFTs before - CryptoKitties, blockchain domains, gaming skins, etc. Digital ownership is paving the way for a fully-integrated metaverse, and artists are here for it!
According to CryptoArt.io, the total value of digital art NFTs is around $489 million and for the first time, artists can monetize their digital artwork in a sustainable, provable way. Just look at Beeple, the artist who sold a work for $69 million on MakerPlace! This frontier is truly exciting and revolutionary, especially for artists whose work was often overlooked or copied in the digital realm. With the explosion of NFTs, augmented reality and Ethereum scaling solutions, the way in which we think of fine art and transact with it is changing rapidly - and arguably, for the better.
To get an NFT artist’s perspective on this swirling blockchain landscape, Phoenix Crypto spoke with Showdeer (aka Chris Bigalke), an artist based out of Portland. Showdeer is a self-proclaimed “surrealist artist using vintage imagery and a pastel palette” specializing in band posters, beer labels, collages and more. His work is absolutely mesmerizing and trippy, with extraordinary scenes like desert shamans and supple lips dripping from a psychedelic sky. Showdeer transports his audience from a dull reality into a retro metaverse, with headless ostriches and mega trombones belching blue steam - perfect representations of this virtual cusp we’re living on.
Catch our conversation below to see how a successful NFT artist views this bizarre, lucrative space, and check out his artwork on OpenSea and Foundation!
Photo Courtesy of Showdeer
When did you first find out about NFTs? What did you think about them?
Hey thanks for asking me to do this! I randomly saw a local Portland, OR artist friend Pop Wonder post on Instagram something about creating his first NFT and I thought what everyone thinks at first: “What the hell is an NFT?” So I looked it up and fell into the crypto/NFT rabbit hole.
NFTs and the blockchain tech behind them are super new and often difficult to understand - how did you wrap your head about this concept and start using the tech to sell your art?
At the beginning after discovering NFTs, I felt like I was learning a new language. I told a friend that navigating the NFT world (without having any prior knowledge of cryptocurrency except kind of understanding of what Bitcoin was) felt like I was trying to navigate streets in a foreign country... “Non-fungible token”, “cryptocurrency”, “Ethereum blockchain” .. what is this? Eventually you just kind of get it and now it feels very comfortable. It’s similar to learning a new social media app… Pretty confusing at first but after a while it becomes second nature.
How familiar were you with blockchain and crypto behind finding out about NFTs?
Pretty much zero knowledge of it whatsoever. I knew what Bitcoin was kind of but never heard the term blockchain or really understood what crypto was. I definitely never heard of the Ethereum blockchain!
How do you think people's perception of "fine art" will change because of NFTs?
I think it will change people’s perception of what “fine art” means and the general value of art immensely. It completely rewired my brain to look at digital art in a new way. It changed my perception to a complete 180 to look at digital art as valid, authentic and as original 1/1 pieces of art that hold true value (instead of art that is worthless and which can be copied). Our traditional way of thinking of fine art is generally hand painting on canvas with paint, etc. Now we as artists have the validation that just because you use a digital tool like Photoshop, an iPad or 3D modeling software, we can still express our ideas and visions through our art and hold the value we know to be true even in a digital medium.
I also think with the commission rate built-in to 10%, that idea which the French created and still practice even to this day, could translate more into the traditional art world in some cases. I also think NFTs will help raise the value of traditional art. With the importance of the idea of scarcity with NFTs which makes them valuable, this idea can be translated to physical hand paintings, etc and should increase the value of them even more. That’s just my opinion, but I think as an artist if I can sell a piece of digital art for thousands of dollars, my physical paintings that include labor, materials, rental space and blood, sweat and tears are worth even more now than they were before I started creating and selling NFTs.
Why do you think NFTs are so exciting and revolutionary for content creators, especially artists, musicians and writers?
It’s exciting and absolutely revolutionary because it gives the control of making art back to the creators and collectors instead of operating only through a middle party that can sometimes strip the meaning and creativity from art. This NFT space is so new, the possibilities are endless. I think there will always be a place for physical art but NFTs are just another tool that gives power, as well a sense of optimism, and heightened creativity back to the artists.
Now with NFTs, you don’t have to necessarily make art for someone to pay rent and survive. Now you can make art for yourself and for the simple fact that you love to do it and still be able to sell to collectors and survive. I think this powerful idea amplified and coupled with a post-pandemic world can and will create a second renaissance and another roaring 20s with digital art at the forefront leading the way.
What's been the biggest difference you've noticed between selling art through NFTs and more traditional methods (i.e. galleries, selling signed prints on your website, etc.)
The obvious one is the percentage a digital collectible website takes compared to today’s traditional galleries for physical art. Some galleries today require 50-60% of your sold artwork. These NFT websites usually require around a 15% operating cost. There is also one other very important and distinctive attribute to selling NFTs in comparison to traditional methods... When selling NFTs on the blockchain, you receive a 10% commission per piece every single time a collector sells the piece. Forever. If your art becomes more valuable with time, this could theoretically end up being very profitable. The current common way of making extra income by selling prints can and is still a viable way of getting your art out there, but NFTs take that idea to another level. To sell an NFT is to sell the original piece you worked so hard to make which feels much more rewarding than only having the option of selling prints from digital art.
So how does someone actually buy an NFT of your artwork and what do they receive in exchange?
Seems confusing at first but it's actually extremely easy. It’s just like learning a new social media app. Currently my art is on Foundation and OpenSea. All you need is a digital wallet to hold your cryptocurrency in like Metamask. When you buy an NFT, you become the owner of it just like a real painting or other piece of art. You can show it off digitally on a screen, in your collection via the wallet and even within augmented reality. As a collector you are able to sell the NFT whenever you want and when it does sell, the artist gets that 10%.
What did it feel like to have your first NFT sale on OpenSea? What was going through your head?
It was completely exhilarating. To sell a piece of art you made digitally for a price you think it’s actually worth and so did someone else was one of the most validating feelings I’ve ever had making art. I was lucky enough to sell my first ever minted NFT, which is known as your “genesis” piece and can be very valuable. Now this collector has purchased other pieces from me too. Before selling my first NFT, digital pieces of art in my brain were thought of as disposable. Now I look at them as fine art which resonates with how I felt when I made the art.
How have you changed your process of creating artwork specifically to be sold through NFTs? Or is your creative process the same?
Honestly it is changing a lot. When I was making digital art before NFTs, it was usually specifically for a client or to be sold as prints and used on products, whether the art was created for band posters, beer labels or designs that will work for print-on-demand sites as prints, tapestries and coffee mugs. Now I am creating digital art with complete freedom and making whatever I want. There is more creativity pouring out because of this. I am also getting extremely interested in trying and utilizing animation and even 3D art. Before NFTs I would have thought of those as novelty skills that you could maybe get a job with but now I think of them at the forefront of creative NFTs and digital fine art.
How do you see NFTs opening up new frontiers for artists?
If anything, it lets artists become self-sustainable and gives them the income they finally deserve to make art for a living. NFTs also allow artists to work with even more creativity as you don’t necessarily have to work for clients anymore if you don’t want to. You just make the art you want to make and be able to survive. Also, with the advent of augmented reality, digital virtual art galleries and things like Decentraland and SuperWorld, anything is possible.
What other NFT artists should we check out right now?
Wow there are so many you should check out - my friends Pop Wonder (who got me into NFTs), Nathan Spoor, Zachary Winterton, Subtle_Bubble_ and of course people like Beeple, FEWOCiOUS and Frank Moth.
Feel free to add anything else you want the readers to know below!
One thing I didn’t realize I would become after getting into NFTs as an artist is also a collector! Being an artist hustling for years I never had the opportunity to buy and support other artists but now it’s very easy and the feeling of it is just as good if not more powerful than selling art myself.
You can find Chris/Showdeer’s NFTs at:
OpenSea.io/collection/showdeer | Foundation.app/Showdeer
OpenSea.io/collection/bigalke | Foundation.app/ChrisBigalke
Special thanks to Chris for helping with this article! I’ve been a fan of his fantastical images since early college and love how he meshes saturated pastels with jarring objects and themes. In Showdeer’s world, giraffes nibble on pink ceilings, UFOs beam turquoise lasers on Saguaro cacti and musical whales graze the sun. They reveal an alternate place that is surreal over silly, unreachable yet longed for. Supporting artists through NFTs breaks down the final barrier between creators and a hungry audience - the blockchain Renaissance is here!