Most Expensive NFT Artist: The Story of Mike Winkelmann

05 July 2021

Mike Winkelmann in 2021 became the most expensive crypto artist in the world, who solds his masterpieces under the pseudonym Beeple. The sale of one painting put him on a par with the most well-paid and famous artists of our time. How did he get so fast and so high?
How did Mike Winkelmann start?The future crypto star was born in 1981 in the small village of North-Fon-du-Lac, Wisconsin. For a long time, creativity was fast sleeping in Winkelmann, so there is no story about the "hungry martyr artist".
For education, Mike entered Purdue University in the Department of Computer Science. In the course of his studies, it turned out that he spent more time on creative projects than on studies. Winkelmann created short films and simple illustrations.
After graduating from university, Mike took up web design. In his spare time, he continued to hone his skills in creative projects, calling his work "Bill's junk".
How did Mike Winkelmann become a crypto artist?At the beginning of his career, Winkelmann realized that in order to achieve heights, you need to learn a lot. In 2007, the artist was inspired by the example of Tom Judd, who wrote one painting every day for a whole year.
This was the starting point in the creation of the Daily series. Since May 1, 2007, Mike Winkelmann has been releasing one picture every day. He has been doing it for 14 years in a row without a break or a day off.
There is an Interesting fact: all paintings were released strictly on schedule, even on the wedding day and children's birthdays.
The original goal was not fame. Winkelmann was interested in honing his skills, as well as learning to use different tools. In 2012 Mike worked in Illustrator, then in 2015 he already switched to Cinema 4D.
In his paintings, Mike tries to portray a dystopian future. Some of them use imagery from politics and pop culture. If you look at the works in historical chronology, you can clearly see the change in the interests of the crypto artist.
Who is Mike Winkelmann now?In addition to digital art, Mike has released hundreds of VJ loops i.e. pre-created visual series for overlaying music. All of them are distributed free of charge. This attracted the attention of large corporations and world stars to him. Visual effects are created for them.
Of course, Mike doesn't stop painting. His most expensive work is the painting "The First 5000 Days". This is a collage of 5,000 of his works, collected in chronological order. At the auction, 33 people fought for him, and the total amount was $ 69 million.
If you want to try your hand at digital art and make it your own money, go to the OpenBiSea platform. Here you can create a new NFT token in a few clicks or place a job for sale.