DasNeves NFT Artist Interview

Where are you from?

I am originally from Portugal. With work I have moved around a lot, my first work experience abroad was in Shanghai China for my first bigger commercial project. After that I have moved to Frankfurt, Germany to work on my first TV project: Game of Thrones. To chase my dream of working in Film I moved to London where I spent many years. I had a three month work trip in Mumbai, India and then moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a year. With covid I moved back to Europe and worked for 1.5 years in Stuttgart, Germany. With the ability to work remote I was able to move to Antwerp where my partner is from, where I’ve opened my own VFX studio to provide my services to other overseas studios and companies.

Can you tell us about your background and what lead you down the path to becoming an artist and ultimately experimenting with NFTs?

I have been a digital artist since I was around 14 years old. I remember seeing my sister doing architecture visualization and found it interesting. That prompted me to download a 3D software and start playing with it. I quickly fell in love with it and starting doing my own personal projects, which then landed me some of my first jobs. My dream was to work in the Film VFX industry, which back then felt like a very far fetched dream… The VFX industry was inexistent in Portugal and there were no schools that I could attend and my family couldn’t afford to pay for me to study abroad.
I was still able to build enough portfolio to start working in small companies and build my way up and into the Film Industry. Feel free to check my IMDb for projects I worked on:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6582602/

I have been in this industry for about 12 years now and being involved in crypto for a while I got curious about giving NFTs a go. Late 2021 I started doing some personal projects again, which I didn’t do for many years, and was able to mint and sell all of them. I noticed after spending so many years in the Film industry that I lost touch and contact with any artist outside the industry, so my following and network in the NFT space was minimal. That is what I am working on now, networking, meeting other like minded artists and sharing my experiences

When did you mint your first NFT? What platform did you choose and why?

In November 2021, minted on Foundation

Can you tell us one thing you cannot live without? (and why)

Sports. As a Digital Artist we spend so much time in front of the computer that it is both physically and mentally needed to exercise and do sports.

Who is your favorite artist(s) (Non NFT)? What about their style resonates with you

I am a big fan of directors like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve and I uncoincidentally get a lot of influence from their work.

Who is your favourite NFT artist? What makes this artist unique?

I am still looking for that person, at the moment there’s a lot of good and unique NFT artists. Clementmor1 is up there on my list.

What made you pursue NFT art?

It is a new medium for art, and specially for digital art. Having been interested and invested in the block chain technology I believe NFTs have a lot of potential and use cases. That prompted my curiosity to pursue NFT art.

What is the one NFT you wish you had purchased but missed out on

An art piece from Clementmor1

If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go? Why this location?

Japan. I have always been curious about living and experiencing daily life in Japan.

What are your other passions besides art? Why?

Sports and nature. I love rock climbing, bouldering, cycling, camping. Anything that takes me out of the digital world and allows me to enjoy piece and nature.

Do you make other forms of art?

Yes, Film and Visual Effects. As well as some photography

Are you self taught or trained?

Self taught

How did you come up with your specific style?

My style comes from a merge of influences from working with different Directors, directors of photography and other artists in the industry. But most of my art has a strong influence from my daily life and daily experiences. Such as sports and hobbies.

How has your style evolved over the years?

Mostly through the work with varied different clients and teams.

What is coming in the near future?

This is the time to build, to network and potentially to do some collabs. I found that some of the things I like to do the most in this community is helping others, sharing my experience and exposing some of the ins and outs of the industry I work in. I am hoping to be able to do more of this and create more educational content that is hard to find, and not just 3D tutorials.

If you could collaborate with one artist who would it be? (and why)

I’d love to collaborate with an artist like Pwnisher, to try to merge both digital art and film visual effects.

What was your greatest failure and what did you learn from that?

My greatest failure was a very hard project whilst living and working in London. The quality wasn’t the best, and it hurt. I saw this as a lesson to learn what I could have done better, and how.

What is your biggest piece sold

https://foundation.app/@dasNeves/foundation/116212

How much did it sell for

0.60 ETH

Do you have any upcoming drops?

Yes, currently have one piece going for the Neal Space contest. If it doesn’t get selected I will drop it or save it for an application with Super Rare.