20 Artist Website Design Errors to Avoid

Millions of artists go online to showcase their artwork, hoping someone will buy it directly from their website, but knowing very little about website design. Not fully understanding how their art is perceived by visitors to their online portfolios, they are prone to making certain errors in design. Even having one or two design mistakes may leave a bad impression on the artist.

To stand out from the crowd and get your work noticed, avoid these design errors for your artist websites. Don’t try to make your portfolio website a work of art in itself. It should be simple and the emphasis has to be on the artwork.

 

 

Recently, we shared with you the first 10 of these errors in artist website design which artists should avoid.

Here is the link to the first 10: 20 Common Portfolio Design Mistakes – Part 1

... Continue reading

Reina Cottier Art - Intuitively Taking Each Moment as it Evolves

Reina Cottier
Auckland, New Zealand

Intuitively Taking Each Moment as it Evolves

 

Kiwi artist, mother of 2 and lover of life! Mostly self taught artist, who was born & raised Aotearoa/New Zealand and I am blessed to be a part of this wonderful land.
I have 2 awesome out-there daughters who keep me real in every way.

 

 

Festival ©Reina Cottier

 

 

 

I rediscovered my passion for creating beautiful shapes and colours after I had kids which opened up a whole new side to me, so I decided to experiment with painting, a media I hadn't explored in depth (I did art all through school winning many awards but gave it up for a career in hairdressing). I discovered that I can’t plan or think when I create, it just flows and what it will be... will be."

As a child I was always drawing and painting, creating in some way, I took art all through school and knew that I would choose something creative as my career. Hairdressing fulfilled an aspect of my inner creator for a while, but after 20 years I needed something else and as time allowed I picked up the paint brush and started experimenting. That was two years ago, and now I literally cant go for more than a few days without the need to paint something, anything!

... Continue reading

20 Common Mistakes Artists Make in Designing a Portfolio Website

In building and designing an artist website, the site should be simple, organized, fast and easy to navigate. The design should be easy to follow, and be interesting enough to keep visitors on the site.

The most important information should be readily accessible: contact information, the actual gallery, artist statement, and why the art is worth buying.

These are the very basics that portfolio websites must have. Sites that lack them and have mistakes in design and content will appear unprofessional, and will not attract visitors and art sales.

The internet is populated by portfolio sites with common mistakes in design.

In avoiding these, and fixing any errors you are making now, you will have an instant advantage over the vast majority of online artists. Hopefully, your artist website will be one that keeps visitors coming back, and will impress them enough to want to let others know about it.

The point of this article is not to criticize, but to highlight some typical design errors. We all have made some of these at one time or another. In emphasizing common design blunders for portfolios websites, focus on what you can fix in your own. Fix the most visible mistakes first, and work on the others later.

... Continue reading

Finding Art Licensing Agents, Contracts and Manufacturers

Licensing art, designs, photographs, and illustrations can be a very lucrative business for artists.

For artists with no experience, getting into the art licensing business can be a long and arduous process.

 

 

There is much that should be researched concerning learning everything about the industry, and if it is right for you.

Here are a few points to consider when doing your research.

1. What types of art is best for art licensing?
2. What should artists look for in a licensing contract?
3. Should artists look for an art licensing agent?
4. How do artists find a good agent?
5. Is your art suitable to be placed on products?
6. What is involved in signing a contract with a manufacturer?
7. What is needed to get started in art licensing?
8. How do artists find manufacturers to license their art?
9. What are some good resources for learning about licensed art?

The internet is filled with books and articles for getting into the art licensing business. Below is a list of some of the great resources from Art Licensing Blog, as well as links to helpful articles at other websites.

... Continue reading

How to Build an Email List With Mail Chimp

A mailing list is one of those things that is often overlooked by many artists. Many may feel they are too complicated to setup and maintain - or they do not have time to pursue a list. The truth is, though it may take a bit of effort to build, the mailing list, if used right, can be the best thing an artist ever did for their art career.

There are services available online for email management such as Aweber, but the one we will be talking about is free: Mail Chimp. This site is a great way to learn how to create an email list without any risk.

 

 

MailChimp has a limit of 2000 subscribers and 12000 emails per month for free users!

Just think about it. Many of the people who are regular visitors of an art site are probably people who know or follow the artist. But others may randomly venture onto the website, and have a genuine interest in the artwork, but may leave forgetting to bookmark the page. With millions of artists on the internet, they may never find the site again. This is why I have stressed the importance of social networking and having links to a Facebook page, Twitter, and Google+ profile on a portfolio website. The visitor can follow an artist from whatever place they are familiar with.

Having a form to capture names and email addresses will give the artist much more control. If an exhibition is coming up, an artist will not have to wait and hope for visitors to return to their art website to learn about it. Just send out an email to the mailing list.

... Continue reading

Caution: Artist at Play - Shana L Rowe

Shana L Rowe
United States – Maine

Caution: Artist at Play

Observant, Creative, Artistic

My name is Shana Jackson, but in the art world I go by my maiden name Shana L Rowe. I'm a Maine artist and have been doing art all my life.

 

Inspiration -The Musician ©Shana Rowe

 

 

When did you first realize you were an artist?   

Before I was even old enough to go to school. I remember in 1st and second grade I had my artwork hung in the school library, and my art teacher would trade me acrylic paints for my watercolor paintings to hang in her living room. I started my first series by the time I was 8, which was based on different races coming together as one. My favorite part was mixing the many different skin tones. I still have those works today to look back on.

... Continue reading

Why your Artist Website is not Getting Traffic and How you can Fix it

I recently received a message from another artist stating her frustrations about not receiving traffic to her artist website. She has had a portfolio website showcasing her paintings for two years now, but has received very few visits. She has worked long and hard trying to optimize her website for Google search, building backlinks, including image alt and title tags, etc. Basically, she has used all the recommended SEO tactics but still receiving very few visitors.

She also has a Facebook page, Twitter account, and spends 4 or 5 hours a day trying to promote her paintings, but still very few visits to her actual art website. I can understand her frustration when she exclaims “What am I doing wrong, and what’s the RIGHT way?” This statement can be echoed by many other frustrated artists on the web.

 

The fact is, there is no easy answer to this question. There could be one reason, or several contributing factors. So I will explore some of the possible reasons why an artist website gets little traffic, and how it can be fixed.

... Continue reading

Vincent Van Gogh – Getting the Recognition He Deserves

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) is one of the most highly esteemed historical artists, yet during his life he was barely recognized, and only sold one painting. He was a poor and troubled artist, who suffered bouts of depression and often relied on his brother Theo for financial support.

Van Gogh committed suicide at the young age of 37, leaving behind 900 paintings and 1100 drawings (although a new book claims that he may have been shot by someone else).

Today, Van Gogh’s paintings are worth millions of dollars. In 1990, one painting (Portrait of Dr. Gachet) sold for over 80 million dollars.

 

 

 

... Continue reading

How to Setup an Artist Spotlight With EmailMe Form Builder

As I mentioned quite a few times here, our artist spotlight has been hugely successful. Artists from all over the world have been filling out the interview questions for our spotlight questionnaire. We have had artists from all genres of art featured here already, including photographers, painters, sculptors, digital artists, and more.

Today I will explain how you can set up an artist spotlight at your own website or blog.

 

 

For creating an artist spotlight, the best and easiest way to receive submissions is to create an online contact form.

Emailmeform.com is the one we use, and it’s free! The entire form or survey can be created online in an easy to use drag and drop interface without even having to know anything about html. Users can log into the form builder anytime and update it. This form can have a variety of uses, including polls and surveys. I will keep it simple by showing you the basics of Emailme form builder in this tutorial.

... Continue reading

Shukla Chowdhury – Abstract Expressionism Paintings

Shukla Chowdhury

India, Asia

Dreamer, Practical, Passionate
 

I am a contemporary fine artist from India. Abstract Expressionism is a school of thought I follow, and my work follows the tenets of this style.

 

Utopia ©Shukla Chowdhury

 

I attempt to convey my interpretations of the natural world around me through my canvases. Raw pigments & bold strokes best define my paintings. So far, I have exhibited across major metros in India, and am looking forward to enter the international art space.

 

Style

My preferred style of work follows the Abstract Expressionism philosophy. I believe in the dynamism of nature, and I try to capture this quality in my paintings. There is no brush-work in my paintings; all my work is done using various tools like knives, spatulas, cloth, sponge etc, and I consciously avoid the use of a brush, because I feel more connected with the creation when I'm in direct contact with the paints and surface I'm painting.

... Continue reading

How to Connect With Artpromotivate

Over the past six months, Artpromotivate has grown from a small website where I share art promotion tips to something much larger. With 8252 plus followers from combined Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Blogger, and RSS subscribers, APM has grown faster than I would ever have imagined.

I have all of you to thank for the growth of this website, which is why I have decided to dedicate this post to you.

 

Without readers, there is no purpose in having a blog at all. All of you give me the incentive to continually write at Artpromotivate, something which I enjoy doing very much. At APM, I post portfolio site reviews, Photoshop tutorials, art promotion tips, and much, much more. As you can see from the archive, the article count is up to 181. The majority of these I have spent countless hours and late nights writing. 40 artists have been interviewed in the artist spotlight so far, but there are still lots more to be featured! For those who are wondering when you will be featured, please be patient. I will personally let you know when your spotlight is posted.

... Continue reading

103 Topics to Write About for Art Blogs

Since I began Artpromotivate, I have been compiling a list of topics to write about for this art promotion blog, and my personal art blog. I’m sure you will agree that it can be difficult to come up with ideas to write on while sitting in front of a computer screen. I have already written about many of these, and plan on writing about some others.

It has been a very rewarding experience writing here every single day. I would like to thank every one of you for regularly visiting this blog. All your support and encouragement means more to me than you will ever know.

 

For those of you with art blogs, hopefully this page can be used as a reference. Feel free to add more in the comments section, and share this post with your art blogging friends.

... Continue reading

How to Get a Painting onto a Wall in a Room with Photoshop

Many art collectors like to see what a painting looks like in an intimate setting, such as a living room wall. Ideally, this image can be displayed along with the regular photo at an art website or portfolio.

This would hopefully give them a general idea of what the painting would look like in their own home.

 

 

 

The best way to do this is to photograph your own artwork displayed on a living room, rec-room wall, or gallery. But, that will probably not be possible if you have sold the original, and no access to it. If you still have the digital file, that image can be placed onto a wall inside of a room in another picture by using Photoshop. This will give the painting a setting, something that potential buyers can use as a reference.

What follows is a tutorial for placing a painting onto a living room wall inside a room space with Photoshop.

... Continue reading

Why Artists Should Create a Newsletter to Build an Email List

The number one way of marketing art on the internet is to setup an art website.  In my opinion, an email newsletter follows close behind in importance for online art promotion.

Many of us have had people who love our work but could not buy it right away. We may hand them a business card, or slip of paper with our phone number and email address.



The problem with this is that these are easily misplaced. The interested person may come across the card sometime, and vaguely remember you, but not enough to pursue the purchase.

To build a list of art fans and art collectors, an email list with accompanying newsletter is in order.

... Continue reading

How to Create a Popular Artist Blog that Attracts Visitors 2012

A blog about art is an effective way of building a larger audience for art and helping people find an artist online. Many artists choose blogs because they are free, easy to setup, and they can easily communicate about their art through them. Posts are easy to share with social networking widgets and buttons. Search engines love websites that are consistently updated. This is why certain blogs can rank high in a relatively short time with consistent posting.

Many artists who try out art blogs end up abandoning them. They may have reasons of their own, such as not having time to consistently post, not knowing what to write, or not getting visitors.

 

 

What follows are some tips to help in the creation of a popular art blog. By following these, hopefully your art blog will steadily increase in popularity.

... Continue reading

Lisa Aerts – Landscapes and Fish Paintings

Lisa Aerts

St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

My name is Lisa Aerts. I was raised in Pennsylvania, grew up in the 70's. I now live in St. Petersburg Fl. I met my husband here, we have one daughter, she just turned 21.

About four years ago, my husband was set to retire, and I thought I could take my hobby, and sell on-line. I have always been a stay at home mom, with my daughter it was important, she has Cerebral Palsy, so, lots of Dr’s visits, therapists, etc.

 

Fish In A Vase ©Lisa Aerts

 

 

I used my talent to paint her room with Disney characters, painted gifts for teachers and aides that worked with her. I never though of myself as an artist, just a person that had a hobby.

Then I painted my first small canvas for E-bay, Cats, and it sold....I can't describe the feeling, and for some reason, it set me free. I started painting things I never thought I could, using mediums that I never tried before, and for the very first time, I called myself an artist.

... Continue reading

Monika Mori - Artmediator of the Unspeakable - My Roses for Cy Series

MOO | Monika Mori

Austria

Series: "My Roses for Cy"

free - independently - combative

     
“I was born in 1960 in Moedling (Austria) and had formal trainings by Prof. Anneliese Beschorner. Since 2008, my work has been internationally exhibited and is included in major and private collections.”

 

 

Rose 4 Cy 1/5             ©MOO | Monika Mori

 

 

 

When did you first realize you were an artist?   

I realized it when I was a young girl but it took many years to find the right medium to express it because I was very shy and did not believe in myself. To find my own style in art gave me strength and power to change my whole life.

... Continue reading

David Galchutt – Illustrations and Paintings

David Galchutt
California, United States

Illustrations and Paintings

Stubborn, creatively driven, dependable…
 
I was born and raised in Southern California. My parents met at Chouinard art school in Los Angeles in the 1950's. I decided to become an artist back in kindergarten. I graduated from Art Center College of Design in 1981 and have worked in many areas of illustration.

Eden - ©David Galchutt

 

I freelanced while holding a part time "day job" at a small design studio where we focused primarily on toy accounts (Barbie paid my bills for many years). I wrote and illustrated a children's book, There Was Magic Inside, for Simon and Schuster. After 20+ years the "day job" ended. I have worked as a giftware designer for the past 10 years while I continue to freelance. I am a regular contributor to Highlights Magazine for children, a relationship that I very much treasure.

... Continue reading

Tanielle Childers Art - Chasing a Dream

Tanielle Childers
Colorado, United States 
Chasing a Dream

Creative, Sarcastic, Adventurous

  
 
My name is Tanielle Childers and I am a self-taught artist from Loveland, Colorado. I'm currently a part-time artist and full-time mom to two wonderful kids, ages seven and three. I recently gave up my job as a graphic artist of 13 years to chase my childhood dream of being an artist and have never been happier.

 

 

Dreaming Tree - ©Tanielle Childers

 

 

At age 20, I was graciously given the opportunity to focus on putting together a portfolio over the course of about eight months. With my portfolio in hand, I jumped in with both feet and was able to get into a couple of local galleries and began showing and selling my work. I knew then that I could become the artist I always dreamed of.

... Continue reading

Sea Dean – Landscape, Seascape and Floral Painting

Sea Dean

Passion for Nature – Seascape, Landscape, and Floral Painting

My name is Sea Dean. At Art School I focused mainly on graphics and metalwork. I have experimented with and taught many creative arts. Currently I am exploring acrylic painting, constantly fascinated by new techniques and products as the medium matures.

Gaia Energy - 8 x 10 Acrylic ©Sea Dean

Themes

I have always had a passion for nature which has lead to landscape, seascape and floral works. I have a passion for the mystery and magic of the human form especially while in motion.

 

... Continue reading

Bob Hughes – Digital Portrait Artist, Painter and Art Tutor

Bob Hughes

United Kingdom

Digital Portrait Artist, Painter and Art Tutor
 

I am a Traditional & Digital artist, Art tutor and Demonstrator. As a demonstrator I travel to various Art Clubs and Societies including small businesses in and around the North West and Central parts of the United Kingdom and North Wales.

 

Super Trouper ©Bob Hughes

 

 

I also do workshops and can organise painting holidays in Switzerland, South of France and Tuscany in Italy. Details of the Switzerland and South of France painting holidays are on my website, by clicking the link below you will see my details of the painting holiday in Tuscany:
Art Tuscany Painting Holiday

As a traditional artist I use various mediums, i.e oils, acrylics, watercolour, pastel, pencil etc. My subjects vary from landscape to still life and portraiture. As a digital artist, I focus more on portraiture.

... Continue reading

Semi Abstract Paintings by UK Artist Sarah Shaw - Monolith Series

Sarah Shaw

Brighton, UK

I make semi abstract/semi figurative paintings from draughty corner of a draughty studio.

MEDIUM

Oil on canvas

THEMES

Time, memory, the nature of the mind, the awareness of self, ego, higher powers...beauty, mortality... loss

How often do you create?

Every day

 

Monolith 1 ©Sarah Shaw

 

 

... Continue reading

Tina Marie – Nature and Flower Photography

Tina Marie

United States

Flower and Nature Fine Art Photography

Real, Compassionate, Intuitive

STYLE: Mostly macro floral photography

INFLUENCES: Just nature!

 

Marvelous - Tina Marie

 

... Continue reading

Tracey Snyman – Wildlife and Equine Artist

Tracey Snyman

Wildlife and Equine Artist

South Africa

“Genuine, loving, fun”

I was born in Krugersdorp, South Africa in 1976. I've always had an intense love and fascination for animals, and after graduating high school I began working at Blouberg Conservation Project on a nature reserve in Limpopo province, South Africa, where I had the privilege of working with a wide variety of African Wildlife for almost 14 years. When the project sadly had to close down, I took up a position on one of the local farms as cattle manager for two years, and during this time discovered a love for horses.

 

Leopard, oil on board

 

I now work as a stable manager at a livery yard in Pretoria, South Africa. Throughout my adult working life I have been sketching and painting. What started out as a hobby though has now become a passion, and I am now building a small business out of my art. I love sharing my love of! animals with others, and my art is one way in which I do this.

 

... Continue reading

ArtisanHQ – Watch Free Art Video Tutorials Online

Firstly I would like to say thank you to Graham for enabling this facility so freely and allowing artists to pitch their sites to further benefit the art community – So a big thumbs up from me and I’m sure many others who use this wonderful website.

 

My name is Ian Thomson and I am a keen figurative artist not necessarily specialising in a certain medium as they are all equally fun to use and possess their own unique qualities and traits. If I was to choose one though, I would say pencil and charcoal purely for their rawness and at times rough appearance on the paper. As my passion for art has always been alive and kicking it is until only recently I have had the opportunity to get my website established and now present it to you.

Artisanhq.com is the site where you can watch free art video tutorials handpicked and critiqued by myself to allow the viewer a much more concise feel for what it is they are actually about to watch and what determines it’s key content.

... Continue reading

Heidi Keyes – The Outlaw Process and the Art of Slaying Dragons

Heidi Keyes

Denver, Colorado

The Outlaw Process & the Art of Slaying Dragons

  
I'm a travel artist. I fly, I drive, I paint what I see from sea to shining sea. My work as a landscape, cityscape, and cultural painter began with my career as an international flight attendant, which I started shortly after I graduated with my bachelors degree in fine arts in 2009. Previously, my work focused primarily on the figure and the human condition, but with my introduction to different cultures and cities around the globe, I started to paint the world.

View from the Rialto Bridge- Venice, Italy ©Heidi Keyes

 

My work is characterized by connected forms, strong lines and vibrant colors, that aren't always necessarily in the "right" places, but somehow together, they make sense... at least to me.

I ended my career as a flight attendant last summer, in order to focus more on my work. I am currently living and working out of Denver, Colorado. I paint daily, travel often, and am an internationally exhibited and collected artist. It blows my mind every day that I am able to do what I love, and I am so grateful to those who support my work.

 

... Continue reading

10 Featured Artists – How are they Promoting their art Online?

Artists are great at giving advice for promoting art. I have asked the question “What are your top two methods of online art promotion?” We have received some very interesting answers that may be very helpful to other artists wanting to know where to promote their art on the internet.

What follows is our third set of 10 artist interviews. If you have missed our previous artist spotlight summaries, please visit these pages:

10 Talented Contemporary Artists
10 Artist Interviews

... Continue reading

11 Tips and Tricks to Get Facebook Fans and Likes 2012

Building a Facebook fanbase often takes time and effort. There is much more to it than just posting somewhere and asking people to like your page. That kind of approach rarely works. The best way to build of a legion of Facebook followers is to do what the successful pages are doing.

Most of the successful Facebook pages have a lot of activity. They post regularly and keep their audience entertained with new content.

 

 

A while back I wrote about How to get Likes for Facebook Pages. Facebook has changed a lot since that article, so I decided to provide you all with a more in depth exploration of the subject.

Listed below are 11 tips and tricks for increasing the likelihood that a visitor will like your page.

... Continue reading

Using Blurb to Self-Publish an Art Portfolio – Part 2

Recently I posted about Blurb, the self-publishing website where anyone can create a book, and buy or sell it online. I decided to explore Blurb a little more, and try out the Booksmart software for myself.

The Blurb books are print on demand. Many may be familiar with print on demand services, such as Fine Art America and Redbubble. The advantage with print on demand is that anyone can create a professional looking book online and sell it through Blurb’s online store. The book can be updated, added onto, and reprinted anytime. 

 

 

Self-publishing an art portfolio is a great way of displaying artwork in book form. They are great for handing to people who are interested in seeing more of your art. People who actually purchase an art book are more likely to follow you – they will have the book as a constant reminder of your artwork. They may browse through it occasionally, and even show it off to their friends and family. The portfolio book serves as a promotional tool not only for artworks printed within, but for all art that an artist creates in the future. I would even say that they are better for marketing art than an art website. People are much more likely to buy if they see reproductions in a book as opposed to on a computer screen.

... Continue reading

Kickstarter – Crowdfunding Art Projects from Donations

Kickstarter is an incredible opportunity for crowdfunding creative projects by means of donations.

Crowd funding or crowdsourcing is a way of funding by receiving help from many people.

 

Kickstarter helps filmmakers, artists, illustrators, curators, inventors, writers, designers, musicians, and more, fund projects by donations from the public.  

Kickstarter may be an alternative to art grant funding, especially for emerging artists. Anyone who has applied for government grants and art grants know all the scrutiny artists have to go through. There often are numerous forms to fill out and they often require an artist resume with proof of exhibitions and awards. The artist may even have to undergo an interview. With all the trouble writing a grant proposal, there is no real guarantee that the artist will receive the grant at all.

With Kickstarter, all the artist needs is an original idea and the know-how to present it in a convincing way. There is no risk or monetary commitment. If the first proposal is unsuccessful, figure out how it can be improved, and submit another. It’s as simple as that!

... Continue reading

Lynette Williams – Fabric Collage Art

Lynette Williams

Michigan, USA

Detail-oriented, Inquisitive, Creative

Art: Realistic/Impressionistic

    
I am a fabric collage artist and interior design seamstress. The former gives me great pleasure, the later pays the bills. I make my home in beautiful western Michigan and am the mother of two grown daughters.

 

MEDIUM

My medium is fabric of all types from sheer fabric to upholstery weight. I look for unique patterns with variation in colors. I rarely if ever use a completely solid fabric because there is no depth to it.

 

Clematis – Fabric Collage – Lynette Williams

... Continue reading

Imagekind – Poster, Canvas and Framed Prints

Imagekind is a print on demand service, owned by Cafepress, and has a membership of mainly  professional artists and photographers.

 

I have been an Imagekind member for 5 years, though I have placed my emphasis on my Fine Art America profile. Personally, I like Fine Art America more than Imagekind. (This is my Fine Art America portfolio)

But, Imagekind seems to be better than FAA in two areas – customer service and print quality. For this reason, I am writing this article for those who are curious about Imagekind as a viable POD option.

Art and photography at Image Kind can be sold as posters, framed prints, and canvas prints. Imagekind is free to join. Free members receive unlimited uploads of images, with unlimited storage. The number of image galleries are limited to 3.

Free Imagekind users also receive a 5% commission of framing sales, though that amount can be increased to 15% with a paid upgrade. If you are one who makes lots of sales through Image kind, the cost of the upgrade may be basically paid for by this percentage increase. I do not recommend upgrading immediately after joining, but this can be a big incentive to do so for those successful with Imagekind.

... Continue reading