Did you know you can convert your miniature painting into a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin? A non-fungible token (or NFT) is a unique unit of data on a digital ledger called a blockchain. As a miniature painter and artist, you can convert your miniature paintings into a unique NFT currency, a form of non-interchangeable digital creative work that has real-world value beyond government backed tender, e.g., cash, coins, conventional banking systems. A NFT, pronounced “nifty”, is a type of cryptocurrency you can create from your miniature painting hobby!
In this article, Michael Falk of See Imagery provides you with his insights into creating NFT cryptocurrency from creative works of art, including how miniature painters can leverage and explore this digital financial world with their hobby.
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5 Reasons You Should Consider Turning Your Miniatures into NFT Cryptocurrency
In this post, I will share 5 reasons why I think you should consider turning your miniatures into NFTs.
Surely, you have heard of the NFT craze by now right? I mean, if NFTs are changing the world and you don’t know what I’m talking about, you risk that one thing. Oh, what’s it called again?
Oh yeah, FOMO!
What’s FOMO? Who cares, I have a better question!
What is an NFT?
NFT stands for non-fungible token. Let’s break that down.
According to the dictionary fungible means: “…being something (such as money or a commodity) of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity in paying a debt or settling an account”.
- If I give you my dollar, and you give me your dollar, nothing has changed. The two units are essentially the same and mutually interchangeable. Therefore, the U.S dollar is a fungible asset.
- Now, if I show up to your house with my Ghost Rider Comic book and want to trade it for your #1 Spiderman, we aren’t talking fungible anymore. We are talking non-fungible.
Non-fungible is two items with distinct and unique properties, like two unique pieces of art, a house and a car, or two comic books. You can’t just interchange them 1-to-1 because they all have different value.
How to create an NFT?
Now, let’s take these unique non-fungible assets and tokenize them, which basically means write or mint them on the blockchain. You can think of the blockchain as a super redundant public ledger.
For our example, let’s pretend we are tokenizing a *.jpeg image of a miniature that we painted. When we tokenize our jpeg image, we are saying, on so and so date, I created this and minted it to the blockchain.
In the contract (e.g., an agreement between two parties), you can include all kinds of additional details. For example, let’s say you also want to sell the physical miniature depicted in the image. You tokenize the jpeg image of your miniature on the blockchain. In the contract you can stipulate: if someone purchases this NFT, I will also send you the original physical miniature in the mail.
I’m not saying you have to send the physical item; the NFT representing your work is enough. I’m just saying you can if you want.
How cool is that? In fact, there are really tons of cool and exciting possibilities!
Now, I’m oversimplifying NFTs, but I wanted to get to those cool and exciting possibilities. In fact, I want to spend the rest of this article sharing with you why NFTs are important and exciting, and how a miniature painter might jump on the NFT train.
If you want to learn more about NFTs, check out my blog on See Imagery for How to Create an NFT on OpenSea.
Continue reading for the 5 reasons you might consider NFT conversion in your miniature painting hobby.
5 Reasons Miniature Painters Should Convert Their Miniatures into NFT Cryptocurrency
To start converting your painted miniatures into NFT cryptocurrency, you’re going to take a bunch of fun, creative, and high-quality photos of all those miniatures you painted. For tips and a guide for taking better pictures of your painted miniatures and models, check out this article.
RELATED: SELL YOUR PHOTOS FOR CASH AS STOCK IMAGES ON DREAMSTIME
Here’s why you should convert photos of your painted miniatures into Nifty’s (NFTs):
- Turn your miniature collection into an awesome deck of digital cards
- Assign numerical values and traits to your miniatures
- Make some money doing what you love
- Earn royalties
- Support your fellow miniature painters and friends
1. Turn your miniature collection into an awesome deck of digital cards
One of my favorite things about creating NFTs on OpenSea is that you can arrange your NFTs into collections. Imagine creating digital cards featuring all your miniatures and selling them as NFTs.
You can organize them how you like so you could have the dragon collection, or giant collection, etc. Each collection could have it’s own unique backstory, and each individual card, a story on top of that.
You can even create scarcity (e.g., limit supply) by minting limited copies of some of the cards. For example, there are 10 copies of “The Troll” for sale, but only 1 copy of the “Golden Dragon” and that’s all there will ever be. This can drive up the value of your NFT asset.
2. Assign numerical values and traits to your miniatures
This sort of goes with #1 through creating a Deck of Digital Cards, but I imagine other uses, too, so I wanted to talk about it separately.
On OpenSea, you can assign properties, attributes, and numeric traits to your NFTs. If you’ve played any type of collectible card game (CCG), such as Pokemon or Magic The Gathering, your mind instantly takes you where you need to go.
There is a place for an external link in the metadata when you tokenize your NFT, where you can send buyers to learn the rules of your newly created CCG game. I’m not entirely certain of the complexities you would face in creating such a game, but this is a unique opportunity for you to flex your game developing prowess.
I’m writing about NFTs because I think they are fun and the potential impact on our lives for using our art is endless. I’m interesting in NFTs to have fun, and see where my imagination can lead me, and where the technology will let me go. Digital assets for game development is part of this journey!
3. Make money doing what you love
You already love painting miniatures so why not monetize that passion? The truth is, there are probably many people that have an artistic passion but do not earn anything from it. They do it because they just love to do it.
That’s awesome, but I bet a lot of artists would love to commit to their artistic passion full time. Imagine, spending the day just doing the thing you love and finding the necessary financial means to live on that art creation lifestyle
Okay, even if you don’t get there, it would still be nice to cover the cost of your painting supplies once in a while! With NFTs trading, you have the potential to make real money that you can spend on your hobby!
4. Earn royalties
Once you sell your NFT, it becomes a collectible in the digital wallet of the buyer. Collectors are filling their wallets with collectibles and many are trying to flip these collectibles for even more money.
You are always the creator, however, and shouldn’t you get a cut? With NFTs, you can stipulate that as your digital asset moves from wallet to wallet, you get a piece of that action. Ten percent seems to be the norm, but ultimately, you decide. NFT creation is a method to create a truly passive income. Earn money with your art while you sleep.
5. Support your fellow miniature painters and friends
Finally, one of the things I really love about NFTs is the ability to invest in the work of others artists and creatives. It’s an entirely new and yet, cool way to say, “Hey, I believe in your work and what you’re doing. I want to support you!”
Who knows what that artist, musician, etc., goes on to become? You bought into their creative effort when they were just starting out! You have the collectibles to prove it, and heck, you only paid 50 bucks way back then.
Now how much are those collectibles worth? The possibilities for supporting your community are exciting and rewarding.
Final Thoughts
Many people say, I don’t get it? Why are people buying a digital file I can just copy and consume on the internet for free?
Fine, but you can also consume an image of the Mona Lisa all over the web for free as well. Still, you don’t own the original!
We just assume the original is in Paris at the Louvre, right?
So take the mental leap with me, when you see a digital piece of art shared all over the web, one day we can just assume that the original is on the blockchain. The blockchain is the Louvre!
You see, it’s about owning the original NFT. It’s about Provenance. It’s in our nature. We want to own the original and we want the proof to show people that we indeed own the original.
Imagine you bought the first NFTs from a local band just because you liked their sound and wanted to help support the band in its early days. Then they make it big! Obviously, those NFTs would go on to become collectibles and who knows what their value becomes.
What does this mean for a digital asset’s value?
At the end of the day, we the people decide the value of anything by agreeing to buy that thing!
- Why do we buy pieces of cardboard with a Pokémon picture on it and value it more than another piece of cardboard with a different Pokémon picture?
- Do we need to have that unique red mount or different character skin in an online game world (e.g., these are art assets) even though it offers no distinct gameplay advantage to the common equipment?
- Why did we spend hours collecting, harvesting, and growing meaningless digital plants in that mobile game that we would never smell, touch, or taste?
You see, we already value digital assets with no distinct real value except the value we assign it!
Already, I find myself checking the digital wallet of someone who decides to invest in me. Why, because I want to know what else they have in there? What are they into? What do they value?
Sure, it’s a bit cumbersome at the moment, but that will change. And, who knows, one day I may be checking your digital wallet as fast and easy as I check your Instagram.
What’s in your digital wallet?
I hope you enjoyed this article! If you’re looking for some more inspiration and information about NFT art and photography, check out Michael Falk’s blog at See Imagery.
Tangible Day on YouTube (Miniatures and More!)
It may interest you to know that OpenSea isn’t the only option for creating/selling NFTs. I was introduced to NFTs when someone on Hive suggested that I sell my 3D printed models through HiveList, and when I finally started integrating cryptocurrency into my online shop, I became aware of two other NFT markets connected to the Hive blockchain: NFT Showroom, which is for art (Elena Samaryadova is quite popular there) and Lensy, which is for photography. I am told, however, that turning one’s own website into a NFT marketplace with crypto payment plugins is still the best route to take.
Oh interesting! I’ll have to check out these other marketplaces. Lensy looks interesting and NFT plug-ins is definitely intriguing given this blog has a lot of internalized and original art assets already 🙂
Thank you for this info!
The author highlights five compelling reasons why miniature painters should consider embracing NFTs (non-fungible tokens) as a means to expand their reach and artistic potential. This forward-thinking approach not only provides artists with a unique platform to showcase their talent but also opens up new avenues for monetization and recognition in the ever-evolving digital art landscape. By harnessing the power of NFTs, miniature painters have the opportunity to create a lasting impact, connect with a global audience, and revolutionize the way their art is valued and shared. It’s refreshing to see such an innovative blend of traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology, inspiring artists to explore new horizons and embrace the digital revolution with open arms.