Interview with PhaseRunner - author of the upcoming FARLIGHT collection on Starly.io

Welcome to the Ayzd Artist interview. Today we have a very special guest, a great Digital and NFT Artist. Ladies and gentlemens, greet PhaseRunner.

PhaseRunner is a brilliant NFT and Digital Artist based in Wales, UK. He has 13 years experience working as a digital artist with such clients as Lucasfilm, Marvel, Amazon Prime Video, Middle-earth Enterprises. He owns a YouTube channel with 180k+ followers, where he shares a background view of his art creation process and many more. "The adventure begins in your own back yard." - this phrase perfectly describes our today's guest.

In this interview, he shares how and why he got in NFTs, where he finds inspirations for doing art, his impressions of the NFT space and its future, and many other interesting things.

Make sure to check his upcoming drop on Starly - starly.io/phaserunner

And his Foundation page - foundation.app/@phaserunner

Okay, let’s dive in!

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1. When and how did you find NFTs?

NFTs popped up on my radar a few years back after I was approached by a ‘now’ big digital art market. They were keen on helping me to get my digital paintings onto their marketplace. It wasn’t until early 2021 when some of the bigger artists I followed announced their upcoming drops that I really paid attention. From there I learnt everything I could as fast as I could.

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2. Why did you decide to join the NFT party?

Other than the obvious reasons, after some good discussions with fellow artists moving into the NFT space and doing my own research(a lot), I believed my current work would be a good fit. I was kindly given an invite to one of the digital market-places that was popping off at the time, and soon established some connections with collectors.

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3. What inspired you to create your collection?

I’m a Sci-Fi nerd and love to indulge in anything space-related from movies to books. The Farlight collection was an opportunity to delve deep into my love for world-building and story-telling. I’ve been painting environments for cards and board games for 13 years so Farlight felt like an organic step into my first NFT collection.

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4. What makes an artist successful in the CryptoArt scene?

A successful artist, in my opinion, is someone who has been able to transition into the CryptoArt scene and retain the original essence that made their work stand out in the first place. BossLogic, Billelis, and James White spring to mind as they have found success in the NFT space by continuing to make the art they’d always been making; collectors are buying into them as much as they are buying into their creations.

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5. Why did you decide to launch your collection on Starly?

I had received a lot of interest and offers throughout 2021 to launch a collection but they weren’t right for various reasons. What initially drew me to Starly was their gamification angle on NFT art - being an avid gamer and card collector in the past, this direction would offer me the chance to go deeper and hopefully create an engaging narrative that’ll help give the artwork that added dimension. Starly also felt like a genuine fit for my work, not to mention Starly’s portfolio of great artists that had already launched collections on the platform.

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6. Who are your favorite artists in the NFT space?

There are a lot of artists who I admire in this space. If I had to pick one artist then that would be BossLogic - like many others, I take huge inspiration from Boss, his innovation and quality of output, in and out of crypto art, has been a motivating force for my own work for many years.

Other inspirational artists I’d like to give a shout-out to are Benny Productions, Andree Wallin, James White, Exolorian, Seventh Voyage, Marco Zagara, Imad Iwan, and Marischa Becker.

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7. What is the future of NFTs?

It’s hard to say(for me that is) but I wouldn’t be surprised if NFTs root themselves more and more into our social identity, much like our music tastes and the clothing brands we wear. I’m pretty sure there’s already a coffee shop out there that’s crypto art friendly where people come to exchange and buy NFTs while drinking their coffee.

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8. What piece of advice would you give to artist new to the NFT space?

As an artist in this current climate of NFTs, it’s easy to fall into the trap of making art for the wrong reasons. I quickly learned that there is a difference between changing and adapting as an artist. My advice would be to keep focused on the art you were creating before NFTs hit. See this new space as another opportunity to share the work you had always intended to create. Adapt, don't change.

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9. Where can collectors buy your work or know more about it?

Collectors can find my work on Foundation and MakersPlace. To learn more about me as an artist be sure to check out my YouTube channel, Website, Twitter and Instagram.

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