How To Make NFT Art

If you’ve had your ear to the ground over the last few weeks and months, you may well have heard a bit of chatter about non-fungible tokens, blockchain, crypto and digital art.

There has definitely been a serious uptick in interest where this emerging market is concerned and, interestingly, it represents an amazing opportunity for creatives and artists the world over to diversify and find new audiences for their work… all through the power of technology and the internet.

NFTs are simply just units of data that can take a variety of different forms, whether that’s a photograph, an audio file, a video, paintings, drawings and so on.

This unit of data is then stored on a blockchain (think of this as a kind of digital ledger), alongside other information relating to it, such as ownership and identity. This gives the owner total security once they purchase it.

There can only ever be one owner of an individual NFT at any one time, which makes them very attractive to investors - and, as we all know, people absolutely love collecting unique and one-of-a-kind works of art.

As such, any forward-thinking artists out there might want to start thinking about how they could tap into this and start making their art available in a different format. It’s a potentially very lucrative move indeed and now really is the time to strike, as the market is still relatively new.

Getting a leg up on the competition now and establishing yourself very firmly as an artist in the NFT space could deliver all sorts of positive results… and you could have a great time doing it, as well.

But it’s not just creatives who could benefit from considering NFT art and there’s a lot of potential from a business perspective, as well. For example, tokens could be designed to serve as tickets to events or holiday parties, as service contracts or even tied to physical products, such as Nike and its CryptoKicks.

So how do you go about making NFT art? Here’s a step-by-step guide.

1. Choose your blockchain

Once you’ve got some artwork that you think would work well as an NFT, you need to choose the blockchain through which you want to create it. By far the most common blockchain at the moment is Ethereum, although others include Tron, Tezos, Polkadot and Binance Smart Chain.

For every transaction that’s carried out on the blockchain, fees will have to be paid. These fees are what’s known as gas and you’ll be charged this for selling and transferring any NFTs you create.

Ethereum’s gas fees are often higher than other blockchains, so first-time NFT creators may want to consider something at the lower end of the scale, such as Solana, Flow and Polygon. Solana is also now carbon neutral, so a good choice for those concerned about the environmental impact of the minting, storage and transfer of NFTs on the blockchain.

2. Choose an NFT platform

Now you’ve got your blockchain, you can choose your NFT marketplace. There are lots to choose from so, from an artist perspective, it perhaps makes sense to pick one that has expertise and experience in the kind of NFTs you’re planning to create.

You can select from curated platforms (where only authorised artists are permitted to mint or create NFTs, with the focus on high-quality pieces) or self-service platforms (where anyone can create an NFT in whatever format they want).

3. Set up your crypto wallet

It’s now time to set up your digital wallet. You need a crypto wallet so you have somewhere to store your NFTs and keep your cryptocurrency profits from the sales of all your artwork. It’s important to make sure your wallet is compatible with your chosen blockchain.

Once your wallet is set up, transfer some cryptocurrency to it to cover any fees, connect it to your chosen platform and then you’re ready to rock and roll.

4. Create and list your NFTs

Now the fun can begin! You need to start listing your creations as collections on your platform, including its name, description and display image of the piece. You can then start uploading your files and give your new digital art token a name.

You will have the choice to create more than one edition of the same NFT, although opting for a standalone token may make your work of art even more collectible, potentially boosting its value quite significantly.

There’s also the possibility of lazy minting your NFTs, where you don’t pay any gas fees for listing the token but the purchaser pays the platform for the minting process once they’ve bought your NFT.

You don’t need to have any coding experience to create NFTs and your choice of platform should have guides of some kind to talk you through the processes involved.

When you’re ready to, you can add your NFT to the blockchain, which is when you would pay any associated gas fees that may apply. And now you’re ready to start listing them for sale!

5. Market your NFTs

Once your NFTs are live and available for art enthusiasts and collectors everywhere to view, the marketing and advertising can begin in earnest.

Again, the internet will come into its own here and social media platforms represent an excellent opportunity for you to start driving people towards your digital art tokens. Instagram would perhaps be one of the best places to direct your efforts, since it is picture-led and your posts could really help draw in the crowds.

Bear in mind, as well, that the art world is a competitive one and you may not see instant sales as soon as you’ve listed your NFTs. Creating a large and loyal fanbase to whom you can promote your pieces will certainly help drive interest in your work.