We had the pleasure of interviewing NFT and digital artist James Suret!

1. What made you get into the NFT space?

Back in February this year I saw some other artists on Instagram talking about NFT’s and I had no idea what that meant. I spent about 3 days straight researching it all and became obsessed. I loved the idea of digital art being certified like traditional art and then living forever on the blockchain. It’s great to see digital art get the legitimacy it deserves.

2. How long have you been making art?

I’ve been creating digital art for over 20yrs now, I started by making pixel art for the small games I was programming. I’ve been working in 3D for about 15yrs now, but recently I’ve been trying to work on my 2D painting skills.

3. What is the inspiration for your dark and emotional art?

The inspiration for my dark and emotional art comes from my memories of moments and relationships, I try to remember the feelings I felt in those moments and then put that emotion into the piece. For me, it’s important to evoke an emotional response in the viewer in order to connect with them and leave a lasting impression. The best way to do that is to illustrate contrasting or mixed emotions, that’s why my artwork illustrates conflicting feelings e.g Love and grief or joy and sadness. The viewer will connect one at least one of those emotions and interpret the piece based on their own experiences with love and loss.

4. Where can people find your NFTs?

My main NFT platform is definitely makersplace – https://makersplace.com/jamessuret I’ve got a few dynamic/changing NFT art pieces on AsyncArt which is very cool – https://async.art/u/jamessuret I’ve also got a few on Foundation – https://foundation.app/@jamessuretart

5. With the rise of popularity, how does your NFTs stand out from the rest?

That is difficult now with the huge amount of artists coming to the NFT space. I only create 1/1 NFT art and that’s important because I want my pieces to be as rare as possible, just like a traditional piece would be. My art is centered around relationships and contrasting emotions, I hope that makes it stand out or at least helps people connect with it and remember it.

6. What advice would you give to new NFT creators?

Don’t change your style to match current trends in the NFT space! It’s very tempting to try and make something that looks like some of the better selling NFT’s. Think about the long game, the more popular NFT’s get the more people will come into this space and see your art. So eventually there will be loads of art collectors here and with all different tastes, they will appreciate unique styles and artists ..so be unique!

7. Plans for 2022?

I will probably not mint as many NFT’s next year, I want to keep that balance of availability and rarity in general. I’m looking forward to trying other blockchains though, perhaps Solana or Cardano. It would be nice to not have to worry about huge transaction fees when minting my art. I would also love to get accepted onto Superrare eventually, I love their strict 1/1 policy. I’ve recently been playing with the idea of minting 3D NFT jewellery, that’s something I might do in the future but I’m still waiting for a metaverse/game that would allow such things to be used in them.