One can find many sites online to create free art blogs. Just doing a search on Google will yield several results. When choosing one, the best option is to go for what is most popular. The leaders of the pack seem to be Wordpress and Google owned Blogger. A great debate rages across some forums over which one is better and easier to setup for a beginner blogger.
As for myself, I prefer blogger for my art for several reasons. I will outline those in another article, but for now I will tell you that the main things I like about it is:
- flexibility
- the loads of options,
- and ease of use
When I first created my first blog a few years back, I was a complete newbie, but had no trouble diving right into the blogsphere. It just was so easy to setup, and with time I learned all the excellent features it had to offer.
I will show you how you can do that right now by giving a step by step tutorial on creating an artblog.
Step by Step Guide for Creating an Art Blog
Sign up for a Blogger account.
Go to Blogger.com and you will be presented with this screen.
Either sign in with a Google account that you already have, or create a new one. If you do not have one already, click the link in the top-right corner to go through the process of signing up for a new account. When finished, click continue to be taken to a page to create a name.
Name Your Art Blog
Pick a good name that summarizes the message you are trying to convey with your artblog. I chose just to include my name “Graham Matthews” followed for the word “art”. You can do the same, or search out other artist blogs and websites to for ideas. If you are still stuck, use the online naming tool! It is a great resource!
Just experiment with it and eventually you will come up with something original.
Pick a Template that Enhances Your Art
There are a few categories to choose from here. If unsure which one to choose, just pick a simple one as a starter. The main point, if you want your artwork to be displayed, is to choose a template that helps to focus on and even enhance the paintings, drawings, and photographs rather than take away from them. A template with neutral colors and white background in the posting area works best for an art-blog, in my opinion.
After becoming more familiar with the whole blogging experience, you may choose to change the template, either to one of the free ones there or something more professional. There are plenty of websites across the internet to find good free premium templates. I will show you how to install a new template from another source, in an upcoming post.
Click continue and it takes you to a page where two options are given:
- Start posting right now – Start your first post right now if that is your desire. This will familiarize yourself with the Blogger editor, which you will use quite often if planning on posting regularly.
- Customize your blog – Your blog can be customized in many ways. There are options for changing settings, the template design, background and font colors, adding various widgets, monetizing your blog, and much more. All this can be quite overwhelming at first, but I will show various features and settings you can use to make your blog more attractive looking in upcoming articles and tutorials.
Congratulations! That was quite easy, wasn’t it?
Stay tuned for upcoming posts on the following topics:
- Exploration of various widgets that can enhance your experience.
- Adding social networking buttons and widgets – art tutorials.
- Inserting a photo gallery widget from sources like Flickr, Picasa, and Photobucket.
- Using these sources for free photo hosting - art resources.
- How to setup pages, and display your artwork on them - art tips.
- Good formatting for blog posts.
- Tutorials on Windows Live Writer
- How to promote your art blog effectively to sell art – art promotion.
- And much, much more!
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