This guide will cover the basics for the art lovers out there seeking pixel art — so buying, browsing, sharing and supporting (liking) art.
Let’s get the housekeeping out of the way. Hopefully you will have followed some of the other articles and you are already setup and have funds, if not:
- Getting Started — guide here
- Add Funds — guide here
OK, lets open Pixel Whale and click on FOR SALE. This will provide a list of art for sale (including your own if you have some).
5 basic options are available on each piece of art:
- If we don’t own the art we can BUY. The price listed is in TAU, If we own the art, we can SET a new price in TAU
- We can also ‘like’ (thumbs up) an artwork
NOTE: Each of these options is on-chain — this means performing an action will commit something to the Lamden Blockchain and will also carry a small transaction fee.
- We can click the artist icon to look at all their work (top left of each picture)
- We can click on the current owner icon (beside artist icon), to look at the owners art collection
- Also, clicking on the art itself will reveal details about the art (this has no TX fee)
Buying
When buying art the entire process is handled by smart contracts on the Lamden Blockchain — the website takes no commission on sales and is simply the medium through which to view the art easily. The buying process is very straightforward but lets look at what you can expect to see:
- Clicking Buy will bring up the buy pop-up. None of the fields are editable as this was set during creation of the art. The only options are either to cancel the buy, or purchase the item with Buy for ___ TAU.
- Clicking Buy for ___ TAU will immediately initiate the smart contract to buy the art, so make sure before you click you want to purchase. You will get a pending notification, then approved — the art is now yours!
Perks for owners: you get the picture or gif without the watermark normally present which is a nice bonus for owners.
Setting a Price
Some people hold, others sell. Selling on Pixel Whales is on-chain, automatic and near instant once a buyer has committed to buying. So remember, when setting a price your art will be immediately be available for purchase by someone else without asking you (you gave permission when you set your price). Ok, lets sell some art:
1. All the art you own is, as you might have guessed, under the Owned section. However if you are adjusting a price on an existing work you might also see it when looking in the For Sale section.
2. Clicking Set on the art will bring up the pop-up and allow you to adjust or set your selling price (in TAU). In my example I am going to adjust my art up to 1500 TAU — who doesn’t love a whale:
3. Clicking List Item is your commitment to sell the item for the listed price. This will commit the change to the blockchain and immediately update the price (there is a small tx fee to change since this is on-chain). It also allows buyers to purchase your art automatically for this price. You will get a notification the change was successful in the bottom right of the screen.
Liking Art
Liking art is a great way to show your support for the creative talent of others. Maybe you can’t afford to buy the art but still would like to show your appreciation for it. Go ahead and hit the like — like other features in this section the ‘like’ is on-chain, so carries a transaction fee (1 TAU) to commit your like to the blockchain so don’t go too crazy but still get liking on those really special pieces you love.
Sharing Art
What is an art collection if you can’t show off some of your best pieces! Sharing art (even ones you don’t own) could not be easier — simply click on the art in question and it will bring up details about the art including links for Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and Reddit. This is a great way to get your art out there or show a friend a piece they might be interested in.
OK, lets cover watermarks:
If wondered why they are on some pieces but not others. A watermark will appear if you share a piece of art you don’t own (you can still share it, it will just have a small watermark).
Removal of the watermark is a special perk for the individual owners of the art — so if you own it, you need to prove you are the owner, by clicking Prove Ownership .
Proving is a smart contract action so it carries a small tx fee to prove and generate the link. This link is cancelled once the art is sold, so if you want to keep using the link you will need to own it.
Now go start building your art collection!
You can head back to the guidebook contents page here.
Interested to find out more about Lamden? Check them out here:
- Website — https://lamden.io
- Telegram- Join here
- Medium — Lamden
