Artist Interview: Digipoppa

Digipoppa is a self-taught digital artist from Brooklyn, New York. He creates trippy animations using AI to create the base image and bringing them to life using special effects, editing software, and various mobile and desktop applications.

A lover of sci-fi, dragons, and cyberpunk, the artist has a background in design for over 15 years and is celebrating his fourth year in the NFT space.

We asked Digipoppa about his art, creative process, and inspirations.

*AI-assisted Animated Digital Art by Digipoppa*

Can you tell us about your background as a digital artist? How did you get started in this field?

I've been a digital artist in the NFT space for 4 years. Prior to that I gained over 15 years experience employed as a web and print media graphic designer in the nonprofit sector.

When I first heard about NFTs in late 2019 it was via media for some of the huge amounts being spent on them. After becoming familiar with the space I saw none of the art was moving and figured that would be my niche and set about using my skills and learning new ones to create moving pieces.

“Prolific. Abstract. Unique. Surreal. Weird. Trippy. Visually hallucinogenic.”

What inspires your art? Are there any particular themes or subjects that you enjoy exploring through your artwork?

I'm a huge scifi, anime and fantasy buff so most of my work covers those themes.

What is an event which you consider a milestone in your digital art career?

My work Martian Solstice was selected and featured at NFT NYC last week. That was very big for me as it was the first time my art was exhibited publicly.

Can you tell us about some of your favorite pieces? What makes them special to you?

My favorite piece of course is Martian Solstice because it was my first exhibited art. Currently I'm working on a series titled “The Gatekeepers” which basically is art created around the theme of dimensional portals and their "Keepers".

What does your creative process look like? How do you approach brainstorming and conceptualizing ideas?

Usually my process takes inspiration from something I've seen or thought about. I then use my AI to create drafts of the concept. Fine tune the ones I like most and begin brainstorming how to bring motion to them in a creative way. Most times though I create the images and after reviewing for a while it just comes to me what to do and I just kind of wing it lol.

How do you handle the criticism against AI art? Do you think your work was influenced by these debates in any way?

While I use AI in the completion of my work and sometimes it takes a while to get the images you want...I kind of can relate to the criticism as while the users' ideas make the image it isn't the same as the time, creativity and skill used in traditional art. At the same time I feel if someone is honest about the use of AI and a patron still wants to buy it nothing is wrong with that.

I find balance between my conflicting feelings on the matter by doing so much more to what the AI gives me most of my pieces averaging 4-20 hours.

How do you think technology is impacting creativity?

I think technology is impacting creativity positively in some ways as it is a huge time saver in the creative process.