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“I know that I’m not that good at drawing, but I try my best to create work that fully represents myself.”

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One of the good things about NFT art is that you don’t need to be a renowned artist for people to buy your work. Meet Nipat “Oat” Srisawad, a Thai artist behind a series of unique artwork on Foundation. He’s one of the many amateur and aspiring artists who have made a name for himself in the NFT art world. What’s the secret to his success? Let’s find out!

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Straight from the 2000s

Oat began by telling us that he had always wanted to become a cartoonist. Having realized later that doesn’t have the right skillsets to pursue it, he decided to study graphic design instead. Like most artists who want to expand their creative avenues, he’s jumped on the NFT art wagon.

“I suppose you can call what I do comic art. It’s inspired by manga and anime from the 2000s. I was born in 1981 so I grew up in the 2000s. It’s this transition period from analog to digital. My artwork is pretty simple. It doesn’t have a lot of details. I do everything in Photoshop from sketching, drawing and coloring.”

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As we all know, the NFT marketplace is super competitive. Did that worry you at all in the beginning? 

“Not really. While it’s true that the market is pretty saturated, but I feel like everyone’s got their own unique style. My thing is character design which is quite different from other people. My work may look simple or even sloppy, but sometimes beauty is not the most important thing. For me, story and quality come first.”

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“I love drawing this sci-fi series on Opensea called ‘STARBOT UNIVERSE.’ All the characters bear a star on their head like a character in Saint Seiya. On Foundation, I create characters with horns with an outfit similar to Rockman’s. All these characters sell really well so I decided to quit my full-time job and focus on NFT art.”

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Color signature 

“I was told by some of the collectors that they loved my character design and also my color palette. It’s interesting because I don’t really adhere to any rule when choosing colors. I just use this palette I created in Photoshop 10 years ago and people happen to like it.” 

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Virality matters 

“Virality comes with value. Some NFTs may not appeal to me aesthetically, but, who knows, they might sell for hundreds of million baht. When your work becomes viral, there’s no stopping that rocket.”

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“The way I approach it is to identify collectors who enjoy the style of NFTs that I create and follow them on Twitter or Foundation. They’ll eventually see my artwork eventually.”

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“Don’t be a bot”

“The challenge for us artists in the NFT scene is this: how do we convince people that we’re actually an artist? I feel like you have to remain human and be present in the community. Don’t just post your work or links on social media and call it a day. For those who want to make extra cash, keep in mind that this is a risky marketplace. There’s no guarantee how much you’ll end up making.”

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“I decided to quit my job because I made a lot of money during my first two months on the platform. Unfortunately, things weren’t as great in the third month. The graph went straight down. I have to stay strong mentally otherwise I’ll freak out.”

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“I also try to diversify and put my work up on other platforms and marketplaces. If you’re an early adopter, chances are you’ll go far. Don’t forget to maintain the quality of your work, too, though.”

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What keeps you going as an NFT artist? 

”I’m sticking with it because I’m aware of the nature of the marketplace. You can’t expect to sell everything you created. There are also plenty of new platforms out there to explore. I already chose to do this as my main thing, so I’ll keep doing it.”

“NFTs made it possible for me to quit my job, which means more savings, more time to live my life and doing what I love. I also got to practice my English with other artists and collectors around the world.”

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“I also got to meet many talented Thai NFT artists. Thai people are super talented and [NFT] made it possible for us to have the space to showcase our creativity.”

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