Meet female artists building on Singular, the NFT platform built on Kusama

If you ever wondered where NFT artists find their inspiration, or what the key ingredients are for launching a successful NFT collection, keep reading, because Lady Kusama (Rachel), Yumi (Diana), Kate, and Marlua will bring you up to speed.

These four female artists have one obvious thing in common–they all chose Singular, a platform for minting and trading Kusama-native NFTs.

Without further ado, here are their stories, plans for 2022, and advice for those who are considering releasing NFTs.

Lady Kusama (Rachel)

Rachel’s NFT story started when she was introduced to crypto by her cousin and business partner, KBL.

“He was already interested in Dotsama specifically, and requested my artistic skills to launch an NFT collection together–the Kusama Kings,” remembers Rachel.

Rachel, who has since rolled out her own collection–Kutes, has been drawing for as long as she can remember, and got into digital art at 12 years old. She studied Computer Animation and Visual Effects and worked both in studios, and as a freelance artist.

“Most of my experience lies in digital art and illustration, particularly art tailored for the animation industry,” said Rachel, revealing that her inspirations include Claire Hummel and Lois van Baarle.

When asked about what’s in store for this year, Rachel revealed plans for launching two new collections in early 2022–once the final Kusama Kings are released.

Yumi (Diana)

“I was in crypto since 2017, but didn’t delve much beyond BTC and ETH. In 2021 I started to hear a lot about Dotsama ecosystem, bought my first DOT, then found Singular marketplace and got into KSM,” remembers Diana, the artist behind NFT collections Kitty Paradise and Dreamscapes.

Diana has been drawing sketches and doodles since childhood, and started using digital art tools like photoshop and SAI when she was 10.

“I tried myself in pixel art and really got into the style,” said Diana, revealing that her inspiration often comes from imagery of different gods and deities.

“This is the main theme of my Dreamscapes collections. At the same time, I also love drawing cute stuff–like Kitty Paradise,” she added.

When asked about plans for this year, Diana said evolving Kitty collection is on the top of the list.

“We are moving to RMRK 2.0, from pixel kitties to non-pixel mage cats. There are huge plans for this collection and I hope to show some artworks soon already,” taunted the artist.

“For Dreamscapes I want to finish the started collection and proceed with physical item rewards for holders–it would be great to see these items displayed in real life. Then again, RMRK 2.0 it is,” she added.

Kate

“I was 8 years old when I got into art school. I attended classes there for like eight to nine years. I made lots of canvas paintings there, and even sold some of them for a few dollars,” Kate revealed about her background.

As for crypto, she said–“three months ago I had no idea about it.” In November, a friend of hers told her about NFTs and, intrigued, Kate started to research.

“In a couple of weeks of Twitter exploring I came across the Singular link which changed my life radically,” remembered Kate, who launched her first Singular collection Chaos Giraffes on November 26.

The artist explained she can create different artworks in different styles at the same time and feel good about it. “My art is Chaos”–she summed it up.

“Now I am back to canvas after a three-year pause, at the same time I draw a collection about the girl satan on my iPad and make Giraffe items for RMRK 2.0,” she explained, adding that she takes her inspiration “from beautiful people and beautiful bodies.”

Marlua

Similar to Kate, Marlua also admitted not having a long track record with crypto.

“I started taking notice of Crypto when Covid-19 crisis started–my boyfriend helped me a lot because he is a big fan of the Dotsama ecosystem,” said Maurla, whose background as an artist started at an art gymnasium 12 years ago.

“I was always curious about art and I was admiring how people can translate thoughts or feelings on paper–that’s why my collection is named Marlua’s Emotions,” said Marlua.

She describes her work as a mix of abstract and expressionism art, and concludes her artistic inspiration is hard to pinpoint.

“Everytime it is something different and I try to relate and be guided by my feelings. For instance making ‘Corrector’ when the market crashed–everyone could relate and so did I,” she explained.

When asked about plans for this year, Marlua kept it short. “I think it will be–go with the flow,” she said.

“I would love to make some huge integrations of RMRK 2.0. because I really think it’s the most advanced NFT protocol in the world. Still not sure if it will be possible for my Emotion collection but I would love to have something made on RMRK 2.0 in future,” concluded the artist.

Key to a successful NFT collection

All four artists agreed that building a community is paramount to a successful NFT collection.

“It really depends on the collection/artist, but in most cases, community is crucial,” explained Diana, adding this includes constantly making events, communicating with the audience, keeping the conversation on social platforms alive, and participating in various activities.

“Community has been key to our success,” argued Rachel, adding that constant engagement with the community and frequent giveaways are an important piece of the puzzle.

Maurla, also shares the same view, explaining she tries to foster community engagement mostly with giveaways.

Kate had no different explanation. ”Community is everything”–the artist concluded.

All four of them had the same advice for artists who are considering releasing NFTs–build a community and make them a part of the journey.

“Build. Don’t drop your art and sit and wait for people to buy it,” Kate advised, underscoring the importance of being proactive in making people interested and involved.

Also encouraging artists to not be afraid to reach out to others for guidance, Rachel added:

“Create a limited collection and establish clear rarity within the collection–this allows buyers to be more confident that their NFT will retain its rarity,”

Finally, the last thing that CryptoSlate uncovered all four artists had in common were their reasons for choosing Singular.

According to them, the strong community was the main factor, alongside cheap minting, that attracted them to the Dotsama ecosystem.

“It’s really important to receive support when you are beginning your way and literally everyone here–staff, collectors and other artists were and are constantly motivating me,” Diana added.