The following is an amended transcription of the @HyypeHQ Artist Spotlight on May 13th, 2022 between @AnarothsNFT & @KrisK_NFT.
Anaroth: Welcome, and thank you for coming to talk with us today. I have been looking forward to learning more about Bull Market Girlfriends since we planned our conversation. To help people understand a little more about you could you share a little about yourself & your project?
KrisK: Hi, thank you for having me, I am KrisK, artist behind the Bull Market Girlfriends project. The project exists as a collection of 2,500 portraits of women from all over the world, all nationalities, in an effort to show the beauty of all women. Something unique is how I create the portraits, I use a singular line without lifting the pen. Not for the entirety of the piece but for each of the layers, so the visage would be with one brush stroke, the neck, the hair etc. After all the layers are complete I fill them in with our computer generated palette colors, which I really feel lends to the each piece feeling unique and having a Pop Art theme in the look of them that exists throughout the collection.
I do have to say though, even after all this time I still have a feeling of imposter syndrome. Like it has been some time but I still question myself. Yes, I am an Artist now, and our project is growing, but deep inside there is still this feeling of “I just like to draw”.
Anaroth: I appreciate you sharing that, imposter syndrome is very real and a common topic within conversations I have had with some other Artists, and I always appreciate the vulnerability. I read that you see this clear distinction between knowing you can do something, and the act of actually doing it. Can you tell us a little about your discovery of NFTs and how you transitioned from knowing about them, to creating them?
KrisK: I feel like I have always been a creative person, all my life from three or five years old I remember being creative. The creation would be with everything around me. My clothing I would remake myself, the furniture wasn’t safe from me. During this early time, I remember photography being something I enjoyed a lot. Another point of vulnerability for me is I am nervous with Twitter Spaces, if you asked me to sit and draw something it wouldn’t be a problem. However, sharing and talking through those things can be challenging, but that is also how we get better at things.
Anyway, I had always loved creating and drawing, but had a bigger desire to become a more well known Artist, and my husband Martin was really supportive of that. I remember the second day after he sold his business he came up to me and said “Ok let’s make this project.” He had always been the one that was more into Crypto, but he told me about NFTs and how that was going to be the way for me to explore my creativity further. I had never seen or used an iPad before, I hadn’t heard of NFTs before, but I had my mentality. Learn it, do it, boom. That’s exactly what I did. When I think about NFTs I feel like they offer great exposure for an Artist. A lot of people get to see your Art, if it was a physical painting it would be in a gallery or someones home. But with NFTs your work can be seen all over the world. The digital realm also offers a community, where now collectors and Artists are finally able to talk to each other, be closer, and that wasn’t as possible before. Martin has also been a big help with the organizing of the project and allowing me to focus on creating.
Anaroth: I know you do commissions and collaborations within the NFT space, How do you go about choosing what to say yes to and focus on?
KrisK: Collaborations are one of my favorite things to do, I always find myself looking forward to working on them. I dropped a piece just last week with the Artist EarlyWorm. The piece had been ready for a bit, but life got in the way and pushed it back, so I was happy to have it come out. Another piece coming is with the first female Artist I have worked with, all of my collabs have been with great Artists but I am happy that ArinaBBart is the first woman I collaborated with.
In regards to commission work, we have something setup on our website. People are able to reach out if they are interested in a commission and depending on the time I have available to me I can choose to engage or not. I remember at the beginning of Bull Market Girlfriends I was just way to busy to be able to offer time to any commission work. Afterwards after we built up or processes and I did have some more time I was able to go back and filter through them. I think being honest with your community is really important here, and that’s exactly what I shared with my community.
I personally feel that when someone is seeking you out for a commissioned piece it is a great form of recognition. Someone saying they like your work so much they want to get something personal and custom. I have one collector who reached out to get a Bull Market Girlfriend of his wife, then printed it and has it hanging in their home. To me this is mind blowing to have people that care so much for my work that they want to display it in a way they are proud.
Anaroth: I know you touched on it briefly, but tell us a little more about your affinity to portrait based Art.
KrisK: When Martin and I were talking about pursuing Art full time we knew I had to find my style. Something that would allow me to stand out from others around me. Before doing this project I had been drawing sketches and such, like I said I have always been artistic, but didn’t have a signature style. I don’t have a shortcut for finding that, it took a lot of time. I tried so many different forms and styles, but in the end portraits felt the most attractive to me, something I could see myself pursuing.
I hope I am articulating myself ok, I speak five languages and sometimes it is all a bit of a mess in my head when I translate things. But back to your questions around portraits, I knew even though I was passionate about them I needed to do more to stand out. That is where the singular line thought process came to be, allowing my work to have something unique that adds to the collection. I had done so many types of portraits and when I did the single line method it was challenging and hard. It attracted me to want to master it. When Martin and I both agreed that this was something special it became a natural starting point for the project. Martin has been so helpful, and the project wouldn’t be where it is without him.
Anaroth: I saw that you have really enjoyed being able to travel and create. Do you find that the culture of where you travel creeps into your work?
KrisK: I honestly don’t feel that it impacts what I create, but rather it gives me the freedom to travel which is one of my favorite things to do. Though I can say that after we started this project I wasn’t traveling much because I was creating so much. But more than anything I see traveling and creating as a sense of freedom.
Anaroth: I think it is important to reflect on some of the proud moments that you've had as an Artist. Would you mind sharing what one of those moments is for you?
Krisk: I think as a whole being able to be an active Artist. I’m so proud to say I am an Artist, this is what I do everyday, to create, and to have people experience and hold my Art will never stop feeling special. I’m humbled every time someone collects a piece of work I’ve created, every time someone shares their experience of my art. Every collaboration I do is a proud moment, to connect with another Artist, to create something inspired by their work, and them by mine, is such an exciting and beautiful process. It’s surreal to think that people have paid over $100,000 for a piece of my work, but in a way that ties back to that feeling of imposter syndrome. I can see my achievements, I can talk about them, but sometimes it just doesn’t feel like me. That being said I am so grateful for the place I find myself in, and couldn’t be more proud of that.
Anaroth: What is some advice you would give to those that are looking to create in the space now?
KrisK: Ok everyone says this, every Twitter space I am in I hear it, but community matters. The advice that I would give is to build your community, focus on them, give back to them. The most genuine advice I could give to someone who wants to create in this space though would be to create what you love. It’s difficult for me to articulate questions related to advice, words are not my best form of expression. I know what I want to communicate, but the way I do that is through my art. But I know that isn’t my strength, but it happens to be Martins.
Anaroth: As we close out this space what would you to share regarding any upcoming events you have planned?
KrisK: I am really excited for what is coming. We are going to be having a mint event where both initial sales and secondary sales go to a charity. We are in the process of finalizing those charities now. At the same time as the mint event we will be launching our Decentraland gallery. The construction has been completed, it’s across six plots, a beautiful architecturally designed building, I can’t wait for people to see that too!
Don’t see your NFT community listed on Hyy.pe? 👀
We are expanding to as many collections as fast as we can. We are actively seeking partners in the NFT community, and if you would like to work together, please join our discord and reach out!
Docs: https://docs.hyy.pe/getting-started
Join us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/cbHN3V7wvf
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hyypeHQ