Over the last few years, you have likely heard of NFTs a lot. The entire concept of the NFT has taken the world by storm and has gotten some serious press from nearly every single news outlet that is looking to investigate and figure out this futuristic, cutting-edge way of making art – and making money.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are essentially all-digital versions of real items such as music, art, and videos. They have become very sought after as a brand new way of creating and owning digital artwork. The person who buys any NFT is the sole collector who can claim ownership of the art via a complex and complicated process that ensures that while many people might see an NFT, only one really owns it. 

NFT Reality & Possibilty

Because of this, NFTs are now being collected like regular artwork and resold at a high price point for profit. Based upon the file, artists have made a lot of money in this burgeoning space that is providing ways for artists to express themselves and make a solid buck or two in the process. 

Some NFTs have been sold for very high prices, proving that this is a certified and impressive way to create and distribute art. Because so much money and acclaim are now associated with NFTs, there are plenty of artists attempting to create and sell their own.

You may be interested and might even have a few pieces of art that are perfect for the world of NFTs.

But how do you convert your artwork into a non-fungible token? And how do you create a cryptocurrency wallet, find the right buyers, sell your creations, and become an NFT star? It’s not as hard as you think, but it certainly requires a few steps. Thankfully, the process of becoming a budding NFT superstar isn’t long. 

Pick Your NFT Painting

Step 1: Pick Your Art

Of course, before you can do anything, you need to have some art that you think would make a popular and significant NFT. This goes without saying: if you don’t have artwork to sell, you won’t have NFTs to create.

There are actually very few rules about what you can and can’t sell as an NFT. As long as the content is yours and only yours, you can sell it. That means that you can’t use a copyrighted image as an NFT and certainly can’t use just any random meme that you have found online. It has to be yours and only yours.

Here are some articles which address this issue:

  1. How to Spot a Fake NFT: The Complete GuideHow to Spot a Fake NFT: The Complete Guide
  2. Is It Legal to Make an NFT of a Celebrity?
  3. Can You Sell Fan Art as NFTs?

You can basically turn any digital file into an NFT, so you don’t need to think about creating it as a certain type of file. Some file size limitations are specific to certain NFT marketplaces, which are documented in this article, “How Large Can an NFT Be? The Definitive Answer.”

Typically, most marketplaces that carry NFTs appreciate these types of files:

Before converting your art into an NFT, you should ask yourself some things. What is it about your art that will find an audience? What do you bring to the table that’s new, different, unique, and fun? Is this something that you’d pay good money to own? Do you honestly think it’ll find an audience?

Be very serious when asking and answering these questions. You don’t want to put your time and effort into creating an NFT only to find it won’t sell.

Part 2: Scan or Photograph Your Art

Time to either scan or take a photograph of your painting. Make your art digital so that you can actually turn it into an NFT and secure it to a blockchain.

It’s crucial that you use a high-quality camera or scanner for your art. These are the camera and scanners I personally use when converting my art to digital pieces.

Scanner

Camera

  • Canon EOS 6D (Amazon Affiliate Link) This is kind of a mid-range camera that gets the job done. Of course, there are better ones out there, and if you can afford it, a Leica Q2 is one of the best.

Once you have the correct artwork created, it’s time to set up your wallet, which is an essential part of the process because it’s the way you’ll make your money!

Part 2: Create Your Wallet

You might not know this, but the NFT world is all centered around and influenced by cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a digital version of money and is used to pay for goods and services. 

If you want to create and sell your own NFT, you will need to set up your own crypto wallet because when someone buys your art, this is how you will receive your money. Plus, you need a wallet to pay for your minting fees which we will get to shortly.

There are many cryptocurrency wallets available for you, so finding the one that feels right might be a bit of a process. You can rely on MetaMask Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow, etc.

I drop some essential details on Metamask (the wallet I use most) here.

Those are just some of the more popular options ready for you, but you should only rest on one that feels right, is easy to use, and can be employed often. If you play your cards right and sell your NFTs often, you’ll use this wallet a lot.

Kamp Geisha 1.0 NFT
I scanned this piece of art with the Canon Scanner and turned it into an NFT

Part 3: Buy Some ETH

Now that your wallet is set up, you have to put some cryptocurrency in it just to get the process started. You will need to buy a small amount of Ethereum to store in your digital wallet. You may be confused by this step: why do you need to spend money to make money?

This makes a lot of sense. Most NFT marketplaces online require small fees when you sell your work. Therefore, you need a little money in your wallet to cover those costs. 

Remember, the cost of Ethereum, or ETH, fluctuates often and is the most expensive blockchain to use. Therefore, you should keep in mind that you might be paying more – or less – than you expected.

Also, The caveat is that Ethereum has the largest market of buyers but costs around $75-120 to mint on. Other more affordable options are out there, like Polygon and Solana.

Or you can Lazy Mint an NFT on Rarible, which basically defers the minting costs to the buyer when they buy your NFT. Read how to do that here.

Part 4: Find Your Market

Now you have your artwork ready; you have your wallet too. That means that it’s time for you to find a marketplace you like, one that you think will allow fans to find your creations and buy them.

This is where you will have a whole lot of options. There are quite a few NFT marketplaces that now exist online. Finding the right one is a lot harder than simply typing into Google and blindly selecting the first option that comes up. 

Here are just a few marketplaces that can carry your NFTs and make you some money.

OpenSea

OpenSea is one of the first NFT marketplaces that made a splash, no pun intended. It’s a very well-known, reliable, respected NFT market that is great for your original artwork, music, or even video games. 

The best thing about OpenSea is that it’s completely free. That means signing up for OpenSea is easy and takes very little time.

The minting process, which is the conversion of your art into an NFT, doesn’t take much time at all either. Minting isn’t very complicated, it’s essentially just uploading your file, but some sites and marketplaces make it far more complex than it needs to be. Not with OpenSea; your NFT can be ready to go in just a few minutes.

Plus, they have multiple blockchains that you can mint on, like Solana, that are not as costly as Ethereum. It’s a great place to start!

SuperRare

SuperRare is precisely that: a collection of rare NFTs that are for the most serious-minded creators and collectors. The sign-up process for SuperRare is a bit more complicated and lengthy because the marketplace is exceptionally curated. You actually have to sign up and wait for your art to be selected by their strict onboarders. They heavily curate their NFTs.

But if you do become accepted, your art will be shown to people who are very dedicated to buying artistic NFTs and take the whole process and concept very seriously. So your chances of actually finding a buyer are a lot higher when you use SuperRare assuming you qualify.

Rarible

If you are looking for a popular NFT marketplace, you should look to Rarible. Since its launch, it has made hundreds of millions of dollars for creators since its launch, and it’s easily one of the most accessible sites for non-fungible tokens. 

Creating your account and uploading your art is straightforward. You don’t have to be an expert or even have a lot of experience to get the job done and get your art out into the world. 

Plus, they have that Lazy Minting feature I was talking about earlier.

Foundation

This is another excellent platform dedicated to outstanding artists. Unlike OpenSea and Rarible, you have to be invited to get in. How do you get invited? Well, you have to be invited by an artist that is already a part of Foundation.

The cool thing is that if you can convince someone to invite you, then you will be able to pay it forward with two more invitations (this amount has changed).

I have listed my NFT art for sale on Rarible and Foundation. Check those pieces out here: Foundation & Rarible.

Part 5: Connect Your Wallet  

Once you have settled on the right marketplace, you need to get your wallet connected to it. This is definitely a part of the process that you can’t miss because if you do, you won’t have any way to get paid. 

Connecting your digital wallet isn’t very complicated; it’s about as easy as connecting any bank account or debit card to a site.

Most major NFT marketplaces will have a prompt to initiate the wallet connection. If you skipped that process, you will usually see a tab on the site like “create” that will allow you to set up a compatible wallet.

If you are already using MetaMask, you can add the app to your Chrome browser, and every time you hop on a site that is compatible with it, you will have an automatic prompt that will allow you to connect if you choose to do so.

Once this step is concluded, you only have to do one more thing.

Connect Your Wallet

Part 6: Mint Your NFT

Now it’s time for you to take your art and literally convert it into an NFT. 

Uploading your art and minting it isn’t very hard at all. In fact, it usually takes just the click of a button. As long as your file is saved as one of the specific types accepted (and correct file size) by the marketplace of your choice, the entire process will take a short amount of time.  

Keep in mind that some NFT marketplaces will charge you small fees due to processing and “gas fees.” Yet, those should be minimal. Marketplaces need to make money to stay in business, and they usually take a percentage of the sales price; for example, OpensSea has a 2.5% commission fee.

Once uploaded, you will choose your title and description too. This is an essential step because it’s yet another way to attract buyers. So spend some serious time on a good title and description!

Also, spend more time on making your NFT more valuable, which we discuss here.

Part 8: Royalties

Yep, that’s right; you can include a royalty percentage. A royalty percentage is an amount you will receive on all secondary market future sales.

For example, let’s say a collector bought your piece for $1,000 and sold it to another collector for $2,000, and you had a royalty of 15%. That means you will receive $30 worth of crypto or whichever blockchain you used.

Need more specifics on royalties? Here you go: Do NFT Creators Get Royalties? 8 Things to Know.

Pretty cool, right?

Part 7: Set Your Price & Sell

You need to decide if you want to sell your NFT at a set price or use an auction model instead. With the set price, you ask for a certain amount of money for your NFT. Of course, with an auction model, you could make a lot more – or a lot less – money depending on the demand for your creations. 

Still not sure which strategy to use? This will help NFT Auction Vs. Fixed Price: Which is the Better Option?

If you are just starting out in the NFT space, you don’t want to go overboard with your asking price. If it’s too steep, it’ll scare people away. Yet, if it’s too low, it’ll not be worth your time and hard work.  

Part 8: Sell, sell, sell!

Now it’s time to advertise and sell your NFT. You should invest a lot of time into creating social media accounts like Twitter, joining Discord channels and message boards, and generally just trying to find ways to connect with buyers and be a part of this blossoming, exciting world.

I know easier said than done. I made this guide to help you increase sales and get exposure: How to Get More NFT Exposure: 13 Effective Methods.

The more you interact with others and the more time you spend advertising your creations, the more chances you have of finding a fanbase and turning your NFTs into some serious profit. 

Closing Thoughts

Hopefully, I was able to show you how easy it is to turn a painting into an NFT. If you mint just one painting, I feel confident you will easily mint more.

Selling the actual NFT is the hard part, as you really need a loyal following or a group of interested collectors. I genuinely believe NFTs are great for artists, especially after getting over the learning gap. To do so, I highly suggest you continue getting educated by reading these articles:

  1. 11 Essential NFT Tips for Beginners
  2. Understanding NFT Floor Prices & Essential Sales Stats
  3. 11 Surprising Benefits of NFTs for Artists