An Interview with Nikita, Founder of Cute Doodles
We sit down with this wholesome illustrator to chat about expression, TikTok, and how to be happy!
AUGUST 20, 2021. INTERVIEWS. WRITTEN BY HYDRO.
You can’t read a book by it’s cover.
I’m sure we were all told some variation of that phrase when we were younger, and today, in the NFT space, it almost takes on a whole new meaning. Mint numbers, attributes – these are all details hidden from first glance, but are oh so important on the blockchain.
Today however, we talk to an artist that exhibits a feeling closer to the original meaning of the phrase. Behind a collection of adorable little characters lies an artist of outstanding ability – the collection in question is Cute Doodles.
There’s far more to the artist behind this collection than you’d think, and in this interview, we delve into all the delectable details.
Read through to the end of the interview for our Cute Doodles Interview Card, and our Cute Doodles collab!
Pssst… there’s three hidden claim links within this article. Happy hunting!
Hydro: Hey! Could you tell me a bit about yourself, your background and how you got into NFTs?
Nikita: Hey! My name is Nikita. I started my creative career in corporate design, developing logos, posters and other advertising materials. As my skill grew, I wanted to move away from the corporate side and do art for the soul, so I started painting. At first, these were simple drawings, but over time, they become more complex and beautiful, eventually turning into portraits and 3D art.
I started sharing my work on social media and found a lot of support. Tiktok has become my main social platform; at the moment, I have 1.1 million subscribers who constantly inspire me to create new pieces of art.
With the advent of NFTs, I saw a new opportunity – the ability to share your work with the whole world. It took me a lot of time to find the right platform for me that would satisfy all my requirements, and that’s how I got to know WAX.
How would you describe the Cute Doodles collection on WAX?
Cute Doodles are carefree, positive characters that make you smile. With each Doodle, I get completely lost in the process and get incredible pleasure from the experience. Each line is a joy to make!
What do you enjoy the most about creating your NFTs?
I like the opportunity to express myself and to share my work with the world. This is a fairly new and very promising area of creativity, but it already has a huge audience.
It’s also great to be a part of the best NFT community, in the WAX blockchain. It feels like there are no people here who will refuse to help you. It’s very nice. The WAX community is the best!
Where would you like to see Cute Doodles in the coming weeks and months? What do you have in store for us?
Recently, a new blending system for my collection has been released, so that anyone who collects my Cute Doodles can bring them to life! Two new cards have been developed especially for this project:
- Cute Pack Blender – a special card that allows you to blend packs from previous drops into an ULTRAPACK, which include all of the cards from previous pack drops (except Immortal cards, they retain a 1% probability), as well as one…
- Cute Card Blender – this card allows you to blend static Doodles to create animated ones! 3 identical cards + 1 Cute Card Blender = 1 animated Doodle.
In honour of this interview, I will soon be airdropping a large number of Cute Pack Blender and Cute Card Blender cards to Doodle holders, so that they can make animated Doodles! Announcements will be make on my socials at the time (see the end of the interview for social media links).
I’ve also just launched the Cute Doodles website – it’s quite barebones at the moment, but it should be finished soon, alongside our Discord server.
I’m currently working on a Cute Doodles Party Mixing system, and one secret project that I cannot talk about yet!
Sounds like you have some interesting plans in place! Who are the biggest inspirations for your art?
I can’t name a specific person or artist – I’m inspired by everything that surrounds me. Food, animals, nature, objects, life itself, and of course my subscribers! I’m often asked to draw one of them, and I love doing it!
Are there any particular artists or collections that you’re a fan of?
Yes, and there are a lot of them!
I like the way Anyo builds its collection. His YouTube is fantastic, and his monthly slice and airdrop model is one that just works brilliantly.
Alpaca Worlds is very cute, and their neftyblocks.com service is top-notch for creating packs, blends and drops.
I also like Digital Ducks. They’re just so cute!
‘Stache‘s collection is great too – just like Anyo, he makes a lot of useful content on YouTube.
…and of course, the NFT Insider collection! I’ve been following their development from the very beginning, and I love what they’ve grown into!
As for the game projects that interest me, there’s, of course, R-Planet. It’s great to be bringing good old-fashioned alchemy to the blockchain!
Metal War is also a very cool game. The developers have come across very well, the project continues to evolve and the community behind it is great! Good luck to them!
Every day, there’s new projects that are worth paying attention to. Green Rabbit Game, NFT Panda and WAX Arena are three projects amongst many others that I’ve been keeping an eye on.
What is your favourite NFT that you’ve made so far?
I’m very proud of my first piece of R-Planet fan art, which won first place in one of their contests!
What have you enjoyed most about working on Cute Doodles so far?
Most of all, I’m happy that the community love my Doodles and have accepted them so positively! This is very important to me, because it’s for the smiles of the community that I draw these Cute Doodles!
WAX has had a fantastic year so far. Where do you see WAX in the future?
One of the biggest strengths of WAX is its audience, which is incredibly active, positive, and friendly. I try to play a role in as many NFT communities on WAX as I can, and I love doing so!
Being on an environmentally-friendly blockchain is very important too – I don’t want to be involved in something polluting to the planet.
WAX is underestimated, and its true potential has not yet been realised. We’ve already seen many large projects and IPs appear on the blockchain, and I think WAX is just starting to bloom like a flower. The future of this blockchain is incredibly bright, and if you’re reading this, you’re in the right place at the right time. WAX is #1!
Are there any artists you’d like to collaborate with?
I love doing collabs and am always open to dialogue about cooperation!
I’ve already worked with the likes of YoshiDrops, Ishiki Arata, NOA Collectibles and a whole lot more, and there’s several more in the pipelines that I can’t disclose just yet!
The community is increasingly asking for utility from collections. Do or will your NFTs have any use case?
Perhaps in future. There’s no stakeability plans with Doodles yet, but there’s blends, drops, airdrops, events, free giveaways etc. already underway.
More recently, there was an airdrop to the holders of animated Doodles in which I gave away NFTs from my own wallet!
Is there anything you’d like to add? Anything you’d like to say directly to the reader?
Firstly, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who follows me on social media or who believes in my project – thanks to you, this project lives and grows, and I feel a great responsibility towards you.
Secondly, I want to say thank you to the WAX team, the creators of the AtomicHub marketplace and the amazing NeftyBlocks! These are incredibly cool services and platforms that allow artists to share their creativity with the world!
I also want to say a huge thank you to NFT insider for this interview. It’s very cool when such a project allows authors to share their thoughts and plans, and talk about themselves to such a wonderful audience. Thanks for the interview, it was awesome!
Quick-fire time!
What fuels you?
Nature, fresh air, delicious food, positive surroundings, community support. I can’t say that there’s something specific, but all of this should be in your life in order to feel happy. When you are happy, inspiration and energy comes easily.
Favourite altcoin?
WAX, of course!
One unusual fact about you?
In my opinion, it’s that I’m the most ordinary person to gain a huge audience on TikTok. I don’t know how it happened!
You can invite three people, real of fictional, to dinner. Who do you choose and why?
If I was fluent in English, I would definitely like to talk to Will Smith – he’s an amazing actor! I would also call Kevin Smith and Louis Szekey to cheer everything up. This is great company with which to have a fun evening!
What is your purpose in life?
For me as a creative person, the main goal is to leave something behind. I want to be great.
How can we follow you and your work?
Nikita’s artistic range is simply astounding, and to hear how much love he has for the WAX community and everyone in it was so uplifting to hear!
Someone who’s art is as versatile as his is is almost destined to have a great future in the NFT space, and we have no doubt that whatever art he decides to make next, he’ll have a loyal community waiting to enjoy it alongside him!
To mark the interview, we have our Cute Doodles Interview Card dropping at 22 UTC tomorrow, and our Cute Doodles collab, coming soon!
The Social Savant
Collection: nftinsiderio
Max mint: 150 (1 reserved, 99 public, 30 OGs, 20 Promo Holders)
Drop price: 25 WAX
Dropping: 21/08 22 UTC (public), 22:05 UTC (OGs), 22:10 UTC (promos)
Cute Timmy
Collection: cutedoodless
Max mint: 150
Drop price: 20 WAX
Dropping: 21/08 22:30 UTC (public), 22:35 UTC (OGs), 22:40 UTC (promos)
Drop link: Check Nikita’s Twitter!