I'm Not A Robot by MichaelO on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Long time no see!

Having been a digital artist for 23 years (and a professional at it for 15) I've seen the highs and the lows of the medium. About two years ago I had a gallery show in New York where I was asked to print out some of my digital art to display. While speaking with a patron of the gallery about the possible purchase of one of my artworks, the negotiation broke down once the buyer realized that the image was printed rather than painted. This was one instance in a long line of gallery shows for me that were less than successful because of this same issue. Digital art throughout my career has suffered from being less respected in the tangible world but a change for the better has finally come!

I'm just now learning about the CryptoArt, NFT space and its a fascinating technology that is rapidly giving digital art a new life as a scarce and valuable art form. In its digital form, the art can now be bought, sold and traded, just like traditional forms of art. The technology is giving artists like me hope that we may be taken more seriously and given a chance to let our art support us.

If you are unaware of what an NFT is, to try and put it simply, it is a digital image that is minted on the blockchain, given its own unique token and the image becomes valuable due to its proof of ownership. In other words, when we all have virtual galleries in the future, you will be able to display digital art that you own that no one else can claim. The space has seen a boom in the last few months and I'm hopeful about its prospects.

The image you see here is my first ever NFT, which I minted 11 copies of. Call it a rookie card if you will which will forever be known as my first in what is hopefully a long line of new art from me. I chose to create an image in my robot style which is perhaps what I'm best known for.