YOU MUST READ THIS!! - Interview with Our Spooky Artist @marty-art for the Steemit Art Centre

Today is another lucky day! We have an interview with the brilliant artist @marty-art! Be sure to read and enjoy.

@marty-art has been exhibiting on Steemit for nearly a year. His special art is well-worth viewing so I hope you look him up.

So, here is the interview:

Dee:

We joined Steemit around the same time. In fact, you were the first person I followed. You already had a strong online footprint and presence including your own website (maartenwydooghe.be), YouTube videos (jazochromatic) and Facebook before you joined Steemit. So what inspired you to become a Steemian and what benefits has it brought you?

@marty-art:

Hey, yeah, looks like we were both newbies around June last year, that's one year coming up soon! I remember you posting photos of clouds, which got my attention right away! To properly answer your question: I'm always looking for online (and offline) platforms to showcase my work and when I heard about Steemit, I was intrigued by the combination of a blogging platform based on a cryptocoin. There are many platforms out there, where you can present your art, but you usually end up putting in a lot of effort in return for little or no value, whether that translates as attention, or fans, or customers. I reasoned Steemit was worth a shot – even if I wouldn't get much result, I may end up with some cryptocoin.

I must say there was a big learning curve, to understand the way Steemit and the steem blockchain works. But I had time, and as the steem and SBD came trickling in, along with some people enjoying my art, I got motivated more and more to keep posting and trying to use some experimental ways of presenting my works.

Now, almost a year later, I'm glad I've decided to stick with Steemit. It's still a platform that can absorb your time, but you get rewarded in many ways: interaction with people, games, feedback and some crypto!

Dee:

You are highly skilled and talented artist. What is the history of your art career outside of Steemit?

@marty-art:

Thank you! I've been painting for almost 20 years now, and I guess I have found my 'technique' – which is a contrast between thick paint and transparent, very wet, dripping paint. I've done quite a few solo and group exhibitions, most of them in Belgium (I wish I could do some international exhibitions, though!). And I found a few ways to get my paintings 'out there' in fun and creative ways. And there's always more coming...

Dee:

I know you as the creator of interactive games involving stories and your marvellous paintings. What inspired you to create this niche on Steemit?

@marty-art:

I guess it just happened... At first, I presented my paintings on Steemit as I would present them on any other portfolio-site, but I thought there was more to Steemit: the comments, the way a post grows and pays out over seven days, the dynamics of the voting... It all added to bringing my paintings in an interactive manner, which allows for me, as well as for the Steemians to interact and create a more fun and enjoyable way of dealing with art. I don't think there's any other platform out there that has similar dynamics or that can do the same as Steemit!

Dee:

I see on your Steemit posts that you are developing an exciting new game called ‘Nevelspoock’. Can you give us any more details about this project?

@marty-art:

'Nevelspoock' started as a series of mysterious portrait-paintings, based on old photographs. A friend and computer-programmer started to make an interactive world based on those paintings and his world kept growing bigger and bigger, until the point he asked me to come up with a story, tying all the portraits together in one big, mysterious family. As I'm writing the story, the world keeps growing and changing, the plot keeps thickening and we're on the way to making a complete game, especially since we've found a professional musician to support the game and the story. You can follow our progress on @nevelspoock.

Dee:

Do you foresee your Steemit input developing in niches other than interactive games featuring your art?

@marty-art:

That may or may not happen. I really haven't got a steemit-strategy. I tend to try out little experiments, and when I get some good response to it, I follow through. I then try to keep it up until I feel I and my active followers have gotten the most out of it. If there's little or no reaction I try something else. So, I have no idea what the next thing will be.

Dee:

Over the past year, Steemit has changed remarkably. There have been a couple of hard forks and it has become a viable social media. How do you see Steemit developing in the future?

@marty-art:

I wish I could say! You're right: in the year we've been on Steemit, quite a few interesting, weird and fascinating developments have happened – too much to make a conclusion though! And I'm expecting our next year to be more of the same, following the unpredictable dynamics of crypto. Anyway, if I knew where Steemit would be heading, I'd let you know, but I don't!

Dee:

Could you please choose one/some examples of your drawing art to show us?

@marty-art:

Here are some drawings that, to the best of my memory, haven't been published on Steemit (or anywhere else online, I think!)

Dee:

Anything else you would like in the interview?

@marty-art:

Thanks for doing this! It can be pretty tough to start out on Steemit, and I've seen many people start and fade away in the course of a few short months. I'm glad I've stuck to it though. It's been a great ride already so far! Let's see what another year brings us!

Thanks so much to @marty-art for sharing his interesting views and some of his unpublished sketches.

Would you like to see another interview? Click here for @organduo

Click here for @MagicCleatus.

Click here for @cobmaximus

Last but not least, please, please, please spare an upvote for this interview!