Fun news, today I minted and listed my genesis NFT!
CLICK TO VIEW NFT THE WRITER’S DESK
What’s an NFT? Simply an NFT (non fungible token) as applies to Art and Photography means that it is a one of a kind. It authenticates the online Art very much like a Certificate of Authenticity. It confirms that you are the artist of the work and that it is the original Artwork and is valued as such.
Part of the process when listing an Artwork online as an NFT is called minting. Minting is when a blockchain (a public history of ownership, purchases and trades that cannot be edited) is created and attached to your Art. This blockchain creates an online public history that you are the original Artist and it lists the original buyer along with if the buyer resales to others. It creates a long chain of code documenting all of the transactions that cannot be tampered or hacked.
The NFT and the blockchain allows for the Art to be tokenized. To be listed for sale and sold online using cryptocurrencies. There are many kinds of cryptocurrencies that can be used to pay for minting including the gas fees. “Gas fees” are fees that pay for the data miners to maintain the block chain.
NOTE: I am still learning! That’s why I highly suggest you do your own research so that you can have a solid understanding of the terminology and the process steps.
Here are three GREAT Youtube VIDEOS by
Photographer Lindsay Adler on NFT 101 for Photographers.
Part 1 NFT 101 for Photographers
Part 2 NFT 101 for Photographers
Part 3 NFT 101 for Photographers
If you are thinking about creating your own NFT I highly encourage you to watch Lindsay’s videos.
I chose Portion.io as my digital art platform primarily because I liked the design. It’s clever.
As far as I can tell, they are beta testing the NFT process. There were some hiccups, but it worked out. I do feel the minting and listing process needs more prompts to explain to a newbie what is happening and what to expect next.
I chose to use METAMASK to set up my Crypto currency wallet.
Once it was set up it allowed me to transfer U.S. dollars into the wallet and then convert into ETH.
What is ETH? Ether is the cryptocurrency built on top of the open source Ethereum blockchain, which runs smart contracts. The cryptocurrency acts as a fuel that allows smart contracts to run. Simply ETH is how you will pay your gas fees.
“Gas fees” are fees that pay for the data miners to maintain the block chain.
I know it can be CONFUSING!
I’m still confused about a lot of it!
What I want you to get from this post is that it is possible to create your first NFT and that there are many solid and informative resources to help guide you.
Don’t be afraid to try it!