Tag: NFT

Creating Art, the AI way!

The basic definition of Art is that it is a means of expression by intelligent beings. The means of expression can be singing, dancing, drama, literature, music; the list is endless. Since the time when the first human could express their surroundings, they have done so. In the form of cave paintings and sculptures, and one can agree that when we mention art, the first thing that comes to our mind is either a sketch or a painting.

Up until very recently, the ability to create art was natural. I will elaborate. Natural, in the sense that it had to be an intelligent being who was creating the art in the form of painting, sculptures, songs, etc or it would occur spontaneously in nature, such as the geometric shapes we see in the snowflakes or in hail, the patterns formed by flower petals etc.
But now, since the last few years, there exists a means to create art, quite literally using plain text words. I am referring to the use of AI to create art. Now, we can type in a few words to describe our imagination and Voila! we have our artwork ready.

Let me show you some examples!

These images you see here, I can claim to be the brains behind the prompt that produced them, but the creator’s credit goes to the AI.

The way this works, on the front end at least, is as the following. We conceptualize what we want, the weirdest, wildest ideas, in the most vivid detail. Write it down on the available prompt of the software/app/webpage. Hit the create button and choose the output from the list of generated images. Of course, behind the scenes there exist many algorithms to decipher the text and their understanding, then generate the images which fit the prompt. One can also describe the type of output expected, such as photorealistic, oil painting, pencil sketches, etc. And, it can be as weird as your imagination as well.

Better still, these AI-generated images can be made copies of and sold as framed paintings, printed on T-shirts, even as NFT. So, all you need now, to become a celebrated artist, is to have a vivid sense of imagination, a powerful AI tool and some time to spare.

These images have been created by me using the website Craiyon and via DALL-E. Do check them out and post your masterpieces.

Have fun creating art!

Cheers!

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Minting your first NFT : A noob’s experiences!

Hi there,
I just minted my first NFT a couple of days back and what shall follow here is an account of my experience.

Before I begin in all earnest, know this, I am not a blockchain expert or a crypto wizard by any measure. I have a sketchy understanding of what they are and generally believe in escaping a situation, if it demands money online!

So, let’s begin!

We have heard of crypto currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Dogecoin etc. at a time when it was already past the early adoption phase. The first time when I came to know of Bitcoin, it was during the college days, around 2011/2012. The price of 1 BTC (bitcoin) was almost as much as 1 USD, which rapidly became 100 USD. The point being, that was a time when I did not have any disposable income to invest in a tech which I did not understand fully. Most of us Indians still don’t for that matter anyway. And by the time I had some money and knowledge to invest, it was 2017/18, 1 BTC was close to 10k USD, clearly out of reach. So, I ll say, we, as a generation missed out Crypto train big time.

So, when a new kid, NFT came on the block, I was keen on finding out what it was and how to make some money out of it. An NFT is a unit of data, which is stored on the blockchain, certifying its uniqueness and authenticity. The NFT can be anything digital, a photo, a video, a song, in fact it can be anything.

And YOU CAN MINT YOUR OWN NFT and sell it.

The market right now is in a nascent stage, so the opportunity for relatively unknown people to sell pieces of digital art and collectibles is still available. With that thought in mind, I decided to go ahead and mint my own NFT.

Everything costs money. Whether real dollars or rupees or the virtual ether, bitcoin etc. but it will cost money. So does minting your NFT. These charges are known as Gas fees. There are websites which proclaim “Gasless” NFTs where you can mint it, but pay no gas charge upfront. The trick employed here is, that the gas charge will be charged against the proceeds of the sale, if you manage to sell your NFT. Also, the gasless NFTs are not allowed to be transferred to your wallet, so, you dont own it, until it has been sold at least once.

I minted my first NFT using the gasless option on Mintable.
The process is easy enough. Sign up for the website, make a wallet in Metamask. Metamask is apparently quite a popular wallet which is used by some more online marketplaces too. Then, I uploaded the photo I wanted to mint. Put in some of the details and Voila! my first NFT was created.

Check it out here.

Once I created it, then did I realize that I did not make it downloadable, so now, even if someone pays 200 USD for my NFT, which is honestly a pretty picture, they will not be able to download it. They can resell it or use it for commercial purposes, but not download it. Kinda stupid, I know, but then, a mistake is a learning.

Also, since it was gasless, Mintable owns it as of now. So, I cannot use the same NFT to sell on a different marketplace, say Rarible, Foundation, Opensea, etc.

Gas fees, which you must pay for minting, keeps varying according to the time of the day, Ethereum vs USD values, network congestion, etc. These are just some of the causes. A website to track the gas prices graphically is this one. So, do check it out before minting. It may so happen that you wait for an hour, and pay a fraction of the gas fees as of now.

Bottom line, unless you invest money into this, chances that you will get money back is negligible. Read up a bit more, set aside a few of artwork or digital assets that you feel are worth being put out in the open market. Set aside a bit of money, about 200 USD to begin with and create a proper NFT, gas fees and all included. Then, list it on the different markets. Off course, loads and loads of marketing is needed. People must know that you exist and that you are interested in selling a digital asset. Consistency and perseverance are key to this too.

Make no mistake, this is a business and all principles of a business are applicable here. Prices fluctuate wildly and it is easy to get disheartened. But when you think of the rewards that are possible, the risk seems to be bearable.

Dear reader, please know this, NFT is still new. There is still scope to jump on this bandwagon before it becomes too huge to be unaffordable for most of us. Read up, research and take the plunge. At worst, you’ll lose 200 USD. At best, the returns are unlimited.

I have tried to put in my experiences and thoughts into this post as best I can right now. I ll continue to research and find ways to get the best bang for my ether.

Let me know of your thoughts and doubts and I shall try to come up with an answer, or we shall embark on a quest together to learn something new.

Cheers!!

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