We were lucky to catch up with Riki Prosper recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Riki thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

So for a while I was struggling put a specific label on my type of art. One day I realized that my lack of label could be my label. I decided to consistently switch up the theme to my art. At the beginning of 2022 I started posting 3 projects a month, all with one main theme. This both limited my creation as well as helped push my limits to new heights. If you had to put my art under a label, I’d say the best way to describe it is ‘Pop Culture Concepts.’ One month could be Pokemon themed while the next one could be sports. Next year I want to switch to a more fluid way of creating art where its a new theme every post, while occasionally revisiting older themes.

Riki, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Riki Prosper, and yes that is my real name. I’ve loved art my whole life. I remember in middle school I wanted to work for a skateboard company as a board and merch designer. I’ve took a few detours in my life like photography and video but art has always been my true passion. Learning about photography and videography really help my art out though. It really helped with composition. I love designing art that makes people say ‘I can’t believe (a major company) hasn’t made these yet. Wether it be popsicles based on famous musicians or emojis of your favorite rappers. I’m really proud of my ability to switch styles while always adding a new dimension to the art. I’ve always been a fan of comedy and wordplay and I try to incorporate that into the artwork.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Over the past 9 months I’ve learned a lot about social media. The biggest piece of advice is to not let social media dictate your art, but also use it as a sort of focus group. Always make what you want to make, but at the same time don’t spend your life on “the perfect art piece.” People think that Beethoven died one the piano writing his masterpiece, and they strive for the same instant big success. Some of the best advice I think about all the time, is from the creator Community and Rick and Morty, Dan Harmon. He said that a spider doesn’t spend its whole life working on one web. It makes the web, and then moves on to the next web. Sometimes this web will be see in morning light and will shine like a diamond, while other times it just gets swatted down by a broom. It’s the same with art, sometimes the right person will see your art at the right time of day, while listening to the right music at the right level of hunger. It’s all just happenstance, and the best thing you can do is just keep pushing and keep making art. Another big piece of advice is to just comment more on other people’s art, send them a message saying how much you dig it. Creating relationships with other artists will really help integrate yourself into the community. Share other people’s art, and maybe one day they will share yours too. Just keep on pushing and having!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice

I think NFTs are both helpful and hurtful to the digital art community. On one hand, since digital artists work on computers and iPads, we don’t have an original like a painter would. NFTs can stand in as those originals. I know a lot of artist that live off of NFTs and I think thats amazing. NFTs have really helped shine a light on a lot of amazing digital artists. On the other hand it also has hurt the digital art community. Unfortunately with anything that becomes big, some people try to use it for their own personal benefit, not realizing that it makes the digital art community look bad. I’m talking about the people who only saw the financial benefit and not that it was a way of showcasing art. Way too many people saw it as a get rich quick scheme who would just pump and dump. I think because of these people, NFTs started to get really watered down and started being seen as more of a scam or spam. I don’t think we’ve seen the end of NFTs, I think they just came out a bit too early and big. As we evolve towards a more digital world everyday, I can see NFTs coming back into the limelight and hopefully people will realize the difference between real digital artists and scammers.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://rikiprosper.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rikiprosper/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RikiProsper
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE50hj1fyBNrzJjZ3EoubvA
• Other: Pretty much @RikiProsper everywhere (Except TikTok where its @RikiProsperr)

Image Credits
All is my art