From SNL and The Tonight Show to Sotheby’s: NFT Creator Bryan Brinkman – Cointelegraph Magazine
From working on Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show as an animator who now has more than 1,000 collectors of his NFTs, Bryan Brinkman is an example of how a digital artist can thrive in ways never before possible.
Best described as a digital pop artist with an emphasis on animation, Brinkman’s fans include high-profile NFT collectors such as Pranksy, J1mmy.eth and Whale shark. He has also been featured at Christie’s and has had his fractionalized art auctioned at Sotheby’s.
“Before NFTs, I spent 15 years working in various industries such as fashion, MTV shows and animated TV shows. I have also worked a large part of my career on late night TV shows Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Showwhich revolves a lot around humour, says Brinkman.
“When NFTs came along, animation finally became a medium that could be quantified and collected. It immediately clicked with me. There are many branches you can do as an animator, but this is the only one that allows you to be truly independent and in control. »
“In its simplest form, I describe myself as a digital pop artist, but I also think mixed media is a term I also use. I like mixing 2D and 3D as well as playing with different mechanics and shapes.”
Brinkman also understands how to market his work and build community—important ingredients for an NFT artist today.
“I’m thinking of dividing your time into thirds. Spend a third of that on making art, and spend another third on promoting your art, whether it’s making cool teasers or videos talking about your art, or maybe writing Twitter threads about how you made it. It is very important. Then the last third is spending time in the community, learning from other artists, talking to other artists, just connecting in general,” Brinkman says.
“I learned from a lot of the artists that came before me, whether it was Sarah Zucker, Coldie, Josie Bellini, Alotta Money, Hackatao, Matt Kane and any number of other OGs out there.”
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Influences:
Brinkman draws inspiration from many styles and artists, but animation is his core, and he studied it in college.
“Don Hertzfeldt [American animator, writer and independent filmmaker, best known for animated films World of Tomorrow and It’s Such a Beautiful Day] is a big one. He influenced me with many of his short films which are simply brilliant. Bill Plympton [American animator and cartoonist best known for his 1987 Academy Awards-nominated animated short Your Face] impressed me with his work ethic and how he was able to maintain an independent animation artist lifestyle all these years. I think he is almost 80 years old now, says Brinkman.
Brinkman also quotes pop artist Keith Haringan American graffiti-inspired pop artist, and NFT artist Killer Acid.
“I think Keith was able to ride the line between pop art and commercial art in a way that still kept his integrity. I also have to give a shout out to Killer Acid, who inspired me to join the NFT space. He was a very early SuperRare artist.”
Actual, “Peace Sign Dude” by Killer Acid remains his favorite NFT in his collection.
“J1mmy.eth actually owned it and he offered to give it to me as a gift, which was amazing. It is now my never-sell grail gift. Pretty cool story because it’s the artist I discovered NFTs through and it’s my collector who first supported my career, so it’s my most special NFT.”
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Notable sales to date:
Hot new NFT artists to watch
Brinkman is a prolific NFT collector himself, with a reputation for spotlighting and uplifting other artists:
Alimo (@alimofun): Best known for curvaceous post-pop imagery, highly saturated colors, vibrant hand-drawn lettering, and worlds inhabited by figures arranged on flat tonal surfaces.
“I think Alimo does really beautiful landscapes that are very simplistic and kind of pop art. The colors he uses are very calming. I’m a big fan of the stories he tells about surfing and snowboarding.”
Ykha Amelz (@ykhaamelz): Indonesian artist specializing in 2D. She combines her inner-child nostalgia and chaotic mind into a living universe populated by a family of cartoon characters.
“With Ykha, I think the world she builds is extremely funny. It’s sort of a mix of skater artwork, but then she has all these characters that go from scene to scene and tell a story. Visually, it’s eye candy.”
Jesus (@JisuArtist) – Korean-American illustrator based in Los Angeles.
“With Jisu, her work has these tough angles on the faces, but there’s a lot of color and almost like a glitchiness to it. I’m a huge fan. I think they’re really cool. All three of them are crushing it. I imagine they all will eventually become big names.”
Also read: Breakdancing medic’s NFT auctioned at Sotheby’s — Grant Yun, NFT creator
Process:
Brinkman takes the process of creating art on the blockchain seriously, as there is a record of the work forever, he points out.
“It usually starts with sketches. Sometimes this is done in physical form on a sketchbook, or sometimes it’s Procreate on an iPad, but it unusually starts with thumbnails – which goes back to my background in animation, where you start with storyboards, says Brinkman.
“I usually think a little initially and then decide whether it’s an idea or an opinion and how to convey it visually. Not everything has the same deeper meaning, but usually that’s the thought process I go through and then I refine it. From there the building process starts and I will use some animation software when I start building the pieces and it starts to develop into its own thing. It takes many layers of refinement and customization, as well as making the timing and movement feel right.”
“When it becomes an animation, I have to decide, is this going to be a video with sound or an animated GIF? Is it going to be tall, wide, or square?”
“Finally, I want to consider how I think it’s going to be displayed, because everything is on the blockchain forever. I’m thinking about building things for TV screens because that’s going to be how people look at these things in the future. It are many different steps along the way, but each of these steps can have a completely different detour that turns the work into something completely different.”
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The Lack of NFT space?
For Brinkman, discoverability is the missing piece of the puzzle.
“It is very difficult to find artists. We need sites that let you see artists and new artists. We need to create algorithms that show you other artists who are in the style you might be looking for, he says.
“For now, it’s all word of mouth and based on influencers on Twitter, which is fine, but it’s still a very curated way to do it,” says Brinkman.
“I think, for better or for worse, artists need liquidity in their secondary markets. To the extent, maybe some sort of universal artist bidding mechanism where I want to buy a piece by this artist for X amount. That way, there’s always a low level of liquidity like you see in places like Blur.”
“Some artists might say that’s a terrible thing. I do not know. But that’s the problem right now. When you buy art, it’s hard to get out of it if you need it in a pinch. I think if it is, it will attract more people who might see it as more of a liquid asset than a long-term investment.”
Debate on royalties
Since the explosion of Blur in the last four to five months, the royal debate has been a hot topic. The incentives to use Blur to receive future airdrops have been a significant driver in OpenSea’s market share hit.
Blur does not recognize royalties, which was part of the value proposition for NFT artists in the early days when the narrative was that creator royalties would be paid in perpetuity via a smart contract. However, royalties are actually captured at the marketplace level, and many artists have understandably been outspoken about missing out.
“I realized very early on that creator royalties were a social contract, not a smart contract,” says Brinkman.
Also read: 4 out of 10 NFT sales are fake: Learn to spot the signs of a wash trade
“People would trade my SuperRare one-of-a-kind and not pay royalties. So early on, I knew that not everyone was going to pay royalties. So how do we look at this situation? I think some of it is an incentive issue.
Brinkman says that if there are secondary hubs where everything is listed, there’s discoverability and royalties are paid, then “that’s going to be the place you go to buy art, and that’s where artists send people. I think 70% of people just want go there and buy it.”
“You pay a premium because they have everything in one place.”
“Then there’s going to be these people who are going to go off and try to find the best deal. Maybe my 70/30 prediction is off, but I think it’s always going to be the dynamic of ease of access versus avoiding royalties.”
Links:
Linktree: linktr.ee/bryanbrinkman
Twitter: twitter.com/bryanbrinkman
Website: bryanbrinkman.com
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