NFTs: 5 online courses for digital artists

Up until very recently, very few people worldwide knew or even gave NFTs all that much consideration. In fact, one could quickly agree with Sky News when they wrote that “before 2021, for the majority of people, the likelihood is the word non-fungible wasn’t something that ever came up in day-to-day conversation. But now it is coming up in headlines, and lots of them, about digital artwork, with many pieces selling for huge amounts.”

Artist Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, sold his NFT artwork for a staggering $69.3 million in a Christie’s auction in January 2021.

And then it’s simply been one news article after the other announcing the number of international personalities and companies getting involved in this up-and-coming collectible’s sector.

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, Nike, NBA, NFL, Samsung, Louis Vuitton, various European football clubs, Paris Hilton, Tom Brady, Mark Cuba, Kings of Leon, Shawn Mendes, Rapper Azealia Banks, Lebron James, Lindsay Lohan, and so many more, have helped bring this sector to the mainstream.

As evidence of the exponential NFT market growth, The Wrap reported on 13 April that there were twice as many NFT buyers as sellers during Q1 2021than in the previous quarter. There were 73,000 NFT buyers versus 33,000 sellers from January to March 2021than there were from October to December 2020, they added.

They also pointed out that those buyers spent more than $2 billion on non-fungible tokens in that same period. Just to put this into perspective, in all of 2020, according to a report by Nonfungible.com, the NFT industry grew 50% to $315 million.

What are NFTs?

Simply put, they are cryptographic tokens, much like a cryptocurrency, which means they are recorded on a blockchain. The blockchain token proves authenticity, ownership, and provenance of artwork, collectible cards, or real estate, among other many use cases. The non-fungible part simply means the token is unique and cannot be duplicated or swapped for anything else.

However, while an NFT could be like a Picasso, a Claude Monet, or like a van Gogh, where there is only one basic version, NFT could also be issued like trading cards.

NFT use cases

So while artists of all genres and sectors are finding NFTs to be the one way they can actually start effectively protecting the copyright on their work and make a fair revenue of their artwork, ETN-Network Marketing Manager Jonathan is holding conversations with various entities on how they can use NFTs for promotional purposes.

That comes after Jonathan, who leads AnyTask™ Platform’s NFT efforts, worked closely with some fantastic online freelance artists and helping them become the first six to form part of AnyTask.com’s NFT artist’s category, which now has 11 very talented NFT freelancers.

E-Learning resources for freelancers interested in NFTs

AnyTask.com has put together a series of resources available to online freelance artists who want to learn more about NFTs and get involved in this fascinating sector.

1. UDEMY: Simply NFT

What you’ll learn

• What an NFT is
• How to create an NFT
• Why NFTs are important
• How to present art & design in a new way

Description

Created by Christopher Perceptions, the Simply NFT 30-minute course teaches students how to create their own NFTs. Many artists and digital art creators are interested in NFTs, yet there is a slight learning curve. The instructor, a fine art photographer who has exhibited in museums, galleries and has made connections to collectors, is here to help you.

He says NFTs will change the learner’s art practice if they’re looking to do something that will last forever. In less than 30 minutes, students will be able to create their own NFTs! From zero to hero, that fast. This course will be constantly updated.

2. UDEMY: Create Abstract NFT Crypto Art with Cinema 4D + Photoshop

What you’ll learn:

• In this series of lessons, students will discover many topics that will provide them with a solid understanding of the crypto art space.
• The creative and technical process involved in creating crypto art with an overview of four pieces covering 3D modeling, texturing, lighting and post-production.
• Resources for educating yourself about the crypto art space and cryptocurrency.
• The potential risks you may encounter, including high fees, failed transactions, and missing artwork.
• How to submit your artist profile to various curated websites.
• Creating your first NFT.

Course description:

The course covers a series of topics providing students with a solid understanding of the crypto art space including, the creative and technical process involved in creating crypto art with an overview of four pieces covering 3D modeling, texturing, lighting and post-production. The instructor will also go over resources for students educating themselves about the crypto art space and cryptocurrency. And then the potential risks, art submissions, and creating your first NFT.

3. UDEMY: The NFT Guide for Music and Art

What you’ll learn

• How to make an NFT (for musicians and artists)
• What is Blockchain
• What is Crypto
• How to set up a wallet
• How to mint an NFT
• What is an NFT
• And much more

Course description:

Instructor Clarian North created the course for those looking for a step-by-step guide to learning how to make your own NFTs. Whether you are an artist interested in creating NFTs for the music industry or are a musician or DJ, or an artist, this course is for you.

Mr. North claims he’s put together the first NFT course designed for musicians and artists so that they can learn how to benefit from this fast-growing asset class.

This new course was born out of a necessity to demonstrate the power of decentralised blockchain technology for the independent arts. Those NFTs should be something everyone can learn and use. There’s a lot of hype out there with NFTs, but the instructor will objectively examine the pros and cons of this course.

Join a live online school and community mentored by industry producers and engineers with challenges and opportunities to get your NFT checked out by thousands of artists worldwide. Level up with a curriculum by an instructor who has worked in audio production for majors, international publishing houses, has tens of millions of streams on multiple platforms grown organically and independently, and has collaborated with Grammy-nominated and Award-Winning Production teams.

This course covers everything from minting an NFT for a musician, DJ, or artist, from the ground up, says Mr. North.

4. SKILLSHARE: Learn to Make & Mint your Non-Fungible Token (NFT) for Beginners

What you’ll learn:

• Get the basics of cryptocurrency to mint an NFT
• Learn about Ethereum and why it is important for the Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
• Learn about Gas fees and how to reduce the Ethereum gas fees required to mint your NFT
• Learn how to use Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere to create a Video NFT
• Get an introduction tour to the Opensea platform and how to create a Digital NFT collection
• Learn how to create a Gasless NFT on Mintable

Course description:

Learn to create a Video Non-fungible token (NFT) using Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere for the Opensea platform. Opensea is one of the larger NTF platforms and doesn’t require an invitation. As a bonus, the instructors will also share how to mint your NFT on the Mintable.app for free.

In this course, the instructors will take you through creating your Video NTF that meets the platform requirements right to the end, where the learner can mint their digital art on the blockchain. This course will be the learner’s one-stop-shop for getting their first NFT minted, whether it is a digital image, audio file, but the focus will be on the Video NFT.

5. SKILLSHARE: Turn Art Into An NFT — Join The World Of Digital Art

In the modern world, things are constantly changing, including in the Art World.

Most art is now down in the digital world, and very recently, thanks to the technology of NFT’s (Non-Fungible Tokens), you can now uniquely register and own your art in an open marketplace.

By registering your NFT, you are protecting your rights as the original artist. With your minted NFT, your work is legally yours, and you have the rights over it. ​ To protect your artwork and join the modern world of art, minting your first NFT for your artwork is easy.

Join the instructor Benji Wilson for a dive deep into the world of Digital Art as you follow along and create your NFT artwork during this course. Your course project will be creating an NFT, which you will then share with the Skillshare community for feedback.

“You will need to a piece of Digital Art that you have created, and then I will show you how to set your crypto account and register your Art on the blockchain,” explains Benji. “This is an easy process, but it can be scary for many people, so sit tight, and we will work together to create your NFT protecting your artwork and in turn completing your project for this class.”

Originally published at https://news.anytask.com on May 25, 2021.