NFTs have birthed a vibrant, new market for digital art by providing verifiable ownership to digital artworks, which previously didn’t exist.
Now, artists can create and sell their art in the virtual realm without having to worry about duplication or concern about provenance and authenticity.
In this guide, you’ll learn what NFT art is, how the concept has evolved over time and how it differs from traditional art. You’ll also learn how to make your own art NFTs as well as how to buy and sell on the Magic Eden marketplace.
NFT art is a type of digital art that “lives” on a blockchain in the form of unique, tradable digital tokens that prove ownership and authenticity.
Prior to the emergence of NFTs, digital art could be easily copied, and ownership was de facto impossible to prove. NFT art, however, comes with verifiable proof of ownership, which has opened up new possibilities for artists, creators and collectors in the digital age.
NFTs trace their beginnings back to 2012, when Colored Coins launched on the Bitcoin blockchain. The protocol made it possible to represent assets on the blockchain by adding metadata to bitcoin.
However, NFT art didn’t take its current shape until 2014 when Counterparty, a peer-to-peer financial platform on Bitcoin, was established. This platform made it possible to create early forms of crypto art, with Rare Pepe cards as the most well-known.
The earliest and most successful NFT project (as we know NFTs today) was CryptoKitties, which launched in 2017. CryptoKitties is a blockchain-based game in which users can breed, buy and sell unique digital cats. Each of these cats is minted on the Ethereum blockchain as a non-fungible token.
In 2021, the NFT art market witnessed some of the most profitable sales. Notably, Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days sold for about $69 million at the world-leading auction house Christie’s. This sale captured the attention of traditional artists and collectors.
The emergence of generative art NFTs by projects like Art Blocks has created even more possibilities in the blending of creativity and technology. What’s more, NFTs have become a critical component of the metaverse, where they are displayed as digital art in immersive, virtual environments.
“NFTs have redefined what it means to create, collect, trade, own and experience art. At Magic Eden, we provide the tools and the platform to make this creative movement accessible to everyone, artists and collectors alike,” explains Jack Lu, Magic Eden co-founder and CEO.
Now, let’s take a look at the differences between NFT art and traditional art:
The main difference between NFT art and traditional art is that NFTs represent art in the digital era, while providing verifiable ownership, democratizing access to art, and providing new ways for artists to monetize thier craft.
At the same time, traditional art continues to hold value through its physical presence, established institutions, and cultural significance. However, they can both come together and complement each other through tokenization.
Among the most famous works of NFT art are those that have been sold for quite a lot of money. The following are some of the most expensive NFTs ever:
The Merge is a dynamic NFT artwork created by pseudonymous digital artist Pak and bought by collectors in units called “masses.” The more masses they owned, the bigger their unique The Merge NFT would grow. Altogether, the artwork sold for $91.8 million on Nifty Gateway in December 2021 and remains the biggest NFT sale in history.
Digital artist and animator Mike Winkelmann, known professionally as Beeple, created Everydays: The First 5000 Days, consisting of 5,000 digital images made over 13 years and arranged in loose chronological order. It sold for $69.3 million at Christie’s in March 2021, making it the most expensive NFT sale until that point.
Another one of Pak’s NFTs is Clock, part of a collection called Censored that was created by this artist in collaboration with Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. The NFT art represents the number of days that Assange spent in prison before his release in June 2024, and continues to keep track of his freedom days from that point. It sold for approximately $52.7 million in February 2022, and the proceeds went to Assange’s legal defense.
Beeple’s Human One is a combination of a digital video and 3D sculpture, and it sold for nearly $29 million in November 2021. The dynamic video sculpture is in motion 24/7, changes over time and Beeple can alter it remotely. It shows an explorer walking through various landscapes that can look like the real world, imagined fantasy places, or whatever strikes the artist’s fancy.
CryptoPunks is a popular collection of 10,000 NFTs, and the CryptoPunk #5822 sold for $23.7 million in February 2022. This is one of the rarest CryptoPunks available due to its uncommon features, an alien with a blue bandana. There are only nine alien CryptoPunks, and the #5822’s blue bandana is among its most distinguishable features.
Creating your own crypto art is actually surprisingly easy if you’re using a platform like Magic Eden. Here’s how it works:
To begin, create your digital artwork using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Procreate or any other software you’d like to use.
After you’ve turned your idea into artwork, save it in a high-quality, compatible format like JPEG, PNG, GIF or MP4. Make sure the format you pick retains the quality of your work but that the file size isn’t too big.
Transforming your digital art into an NFT on the blockchain involves minting it as an NFT.
Through this process, your artwork’s metadata is permanently recorded on the blockchain. In essence, you are creating a digital certificate of authenticity and ownership for it, and that turns it into a tradable asset.
On Magic Eden, minting begins with setting up a compatible wallet (like Magic Eden’s wallet app) and funding it with crypto (that’s because creating NFTs involves paying some network fees).
You’ll then link the wallet to the Magic Eden Marketplace to access the Creator Dashboard, which you get to by clicking ‘Create’ in the menu at the top.
After signing up with your email, you’ll need to click on ‘Create a Collection’ and choose the blockchain where your NFT artwork will exist.
Magic Eden supports multiple networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Base and others.
In the form that appears, provide the name for your NFT collection and its symbol. You should make sure these are unique to help your NFT stand out.
The next step is to fill in the listing details like the collection description, upload the profile image, select relevant categories and add your X account, which needs to have more than 100 followers.
Enter the collection details, such as description, categories, social media links, and web links and so on.
Upload your artwork and approve the transaction through your wallet.
The last step is to confirm that your NFT art has appeared in your wallet and on Magic Eden’s NFT platform.
You can do this by opening the ‘My Collections’ section in your Creator Dashboard or visiting a blockchain explorer to verify that the NFT is present on the network. If you wish, you can proceed to list your NFT art for sale.
Buying NFT art on Magic Eden is simple. All you need to do is:
Navigate to the Magic Eden NFT marketplace at magiceden.io, where you can find a range of NFTs to choose from, art included.
To purchase NFT art, you’ll need to log into your account on Magic Eden (or set it up first, if you haven’t got one) and then connect your crypto wallet. The platform supports a wide array of wallet options to make the process smoother.
In Magic Eden’s NFT marketplace, you can check out popular NFT collections and keep up with the latest drops. Alternatively, you can use the search box to locate the specific collection you want to purchase and then buy it immediately or make a bid.
To sell your NFT art on Magic Eden, you’ll need to:
Once you have minted your NFT art on Magic Eden and it has appeared in your wallet, visit the ‘My Collection’ section on the platform.
In the ‘My Collection’ section, click on ‘List for Sale’ and select your desired pricing model. You can either set a fixed price or allow buyers to bid on your NFT artwork through an auction.
Confirm the details and your collection will go live on Magic Eden’s NFT marketplace.
Like any (relatively) new medium, NFT art comes with unique strengths and some potential challenges. Here’s a breakdown of the main benefits and limitations to consider:
NFT art is revolutionizing the art industry by offering new ways for artists to create and profit from their works. Thanks to these innovative approaches, artists can now be compensated for their work directly and without intermediaries and they can do so while having access to a wider audience from around the world.
What’s more, NFTs offer a higher level of transparency in the art market, since the artwork’s ownership can be easily verified, lowering the risk of fraud and forgery. Additionally, artists get more freedom to set their own commission percentage and receive royalties each time their digital artwork changes hands.
NFTs provide artists with a wide range of opportunities. They also offer collectors new ways to interact with art, including providing them with access to digital art that was previously unavailable. Thanks to Magic Eden, you can explore, create and trade art NFTs with just a few clicks.
To sell your art as an NFT, you’ll first need to mint it as an NFT through a platform like Magic Eden. This process permanently records your digital art’s metadata on the blockchain and establishes its origins, ownership and authenticity. On Magic Eden, that involves setting up a wallet, connecting and funding it, selecting a blockchain, adding relevant details and uploading the artwork. Once it is established on the blockchain, you can proceed to list it for sale on the marketplace and that includes indicating the price. Buyers can seamlessly pay the price and the system transfers ownership.
The high prices of some pieces of NFT art are the result of their scarcity, the artist’s reputation, social recognition, demand and/or utility. The price of NFT art is to a large extent determined by market forces that establish the prices of physical art. The blockchain helps to create and secure immutable digital certificates of authenticity, ownership and uniqueness. This allows the collector to truly own an item of digital art, something that was difficult to achieve before NFTs.
The latest trends in NFT art include the rise of Bitcoin NFTs, known as Ordinals, which allow NFTs to be inscribed directly onto the Bitcoin blockchain. Additionally, there’s a greater focus on real-world applications (like real-world asset or RWA tokenization), integration with artificial intelligence for certain tasks during the NFT art creation process and mass NFT generation.
The information provided on this website is provided for general educational purposes only and is in no way financial or investment advice. Certain information may have also been provided to us or prepared by third parties; these materials are provided for convenience and are not an endorsement by Magic Eden. Magic Eden is not liable for any errors, changes or amendments to such information, including any actions taken in reliance on such information.
