NFT Discovery #3: Nikolay Krastev (alias Nick_Krastev)
the artist of “The Ancient one”
His name is Nikolay Krastev and he is a huge coffee abuser. Holding the pen names DirtyTactic and Svdsdragunov. He is a traditional and digital 2D artist. He prefer the monochromatic atmosphere, dark surrealism, cyber and steampunk themed works. He studied Industrial design and economy. Trying to master the craft of drawing and digital painting.
He really love standup comedy, music, video games and science fiction books. Actually, his love for video games and lord of the rings got him into drawing. Soon after he has started drawing his father showed him the works of H. R. Giger. This got his flame for art even brighter. Since then he try to expand his reference threshold and his understanding of the world.
1. What inspired you to become an artist?
I was drawing since I can remember, mostly out of boredom. It was just something to do. In high school, I studied economy, but I had no interest in it. around 9th grade, i already knew that i wanted to be an artist for certain
2. Please tell us about the artwork which, you are most proud of.
I am proud of every artwork that I'm doing, especially during the process. I don't have a favorite one. I just try to make interesting things. When you learn new things about your field of work you start to see mistakes in your old work. some concepts I outgrow, some I still hold dear. But they are immortalized as a moment of my thought process. My favorite work is the one I'm currently working on. and it's like that with every piece.
3. What main statement did you want to make with that artwork?
It's always different, It's very hard to come up with an original statement that somebody else hasn't said yet. When I'm painting, I'm usually creating a whole world around it, a story that leads to the point of that particular moment, a character at the end, or at the beginning of a journey. Sometimes the story has something to do with my life, experiences, or things that I'm going through. I like to put small details that are meaningful, yet, allowing you to create your own world around the painting.
4. What else you wanna tell us about your art?
It's a bit childish to say that I try to make cool-looking things. But this is what I do. and many of my friends artists would say the same.I try to make things that I would like to see but I haven't seen yet. This is why it takes me a lot of time to finish a piece. To think of a cool detail sometimes takes longer than to paint it. I stream my work process from time to time and you can see how I just stop and stare at the screen for minutes on an end.
5. What do you especially like on the art of H. R. Giger?
I like that his work is both cold and human. You can pull many stories out of it, It's a commentary. The same thing goes for Beksinski or Allen Williams. Their works leave more questions than they give answers. Even if you don't like the style of work or the subject, you can't stop yourself from studying the piece, the intriguing elements that are making the piece whole are the ones that tell the story.
6. Which is your favorite artwork from H. R. Giger?
I don't have favorite artwork made by Giger. I like his approach to all of his paintings and designs.
7. How do you see the future of NFTs?
NFTs are going to be the center of attention for the public in the short term. Until the market gets oversaturated. Then most of the content creators that are in it just for the quick buck will move to the next thing. But artists and collectors that have made real and meaningful connections will stay on it. The NFT based technology is expanding all the time, more and more stuff you can do with these tokens. Gaming assets, art, collectibles, and all kinds of other stuff are already out there. When I woke up this morning I was thinking about how this is the equivalent of the renaissance. I've witnessed how an artist paid his dept to a bank with the sale of just one NFT. Without the middle man, no curators, not galleries, just people like us. I've talked about it long ago. It puts the art back in our hands... Since 2018 I've been into NFT and never lost faith in it. It's going to continue to be a big deal. The only concern that i have is the stealing and minting of art. Hopefully, there will be a way to prevent it. But till then It's going to be the wild west, and this has it's charm too :))
thanks a lot Nick.
twitter: https://twitter.com/krastevnick?s=21