As a professional painter, the pursuit of media attention and public recognition can be as essential as creating the art itself. While skill and creativity are the foundation, getting your work seen by a wider audience requires a strategic approach. Here’s a roadmap to help you achieve the recognition you deserve.
Participating in an art fair or exhibit is an exciting opportunity for artists to showcase their work, connect with potential buyers, and expand their professional network. Proper preparation is crucial to make the most of this opportunity. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you prepare effectively for an art fair or exhibit.
For painters, showcasing their artwork effectively is essential for gaining recognition, attracting buyers, and building a successful career in the art world. Artists have numerous platforms and strategies at their disposal to exhibit their work to a global audience.
In this article, we’ll explore practical and engaging ways painters can showcase their artwork to maximize exposure and opportunities.
Having an online presence is important for artists. Creating a professional website or portfolio allows painters to showcase their artwork in a curated and accessible format. Platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress offer user-friendly tools for building stunning portfolios that reflect the artist’s style and personality. Additionally, online galleries such as Saatchi Art and ArtStation provide opportunities for artists to sell their work and connect with potential buyers worldwide.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok offer powerful tools for artists to reach a broad audience and engage with art enthusiasts. By regularly sharing high-quality images of their artwork, along with behind-the-scenes glimpses into their creative process, painters can cultivate a loyal following and generate buzz around their work.
Using hashtags, collaborating with influencers, and participating in online art communities are effective strategies for expanding reach and attracting attention to their artwork.
Read 6 Factors to Consider When Photographing Your Paintings for helpful pointers.
Participating in art exhibitions, fairs, and events provides painters with valuable opportunities to showcase their artwork to a live audience and network with fellow artists, collectors, and gallery owners. Whether it’s a local art fair, a group exhibition at a gallery, or a solo show in a public space, these events offer a tangible and immersive experience for viewers to connect with the artwork on a deeper level. Artists can also leverage digital platforms to promote their participation in these events and generate excitement among their online followers.
Collaborating with other artists, designers, brands, and organizations can expand painters’ reach and introduce their artwork to new audiences. Whether it’s creating custom pieces for commercial spaces, collaborating on art installations, or partnering with fashion brands for product design, these collaborations provide unique opportunities for exposure and creative expression. Building mutually beneficial partnerships can also open doors to new avenues for selling artwork and expanding the artist’s brand.
Entering art competitions and awards can provide painters with prestigious recognition and validation for their work, as well as valuable exposure to jurors, critics, and collectors. Whether it’s a local juried exhibition or an international art prize, participating in these competitions can elevate the artist’s profile and credibility within the art community. Winning or being shortlisted for awards can also serve as a powerful marketing tool, garnering press coverage and attracting attention from galleries and collectors.
Showcasing artwork effectively requires a strategic and multi-faceted approach that combines online presence, social media marketing, live events, collaborations, and participation in competitions. By using these platforms and strategies, painters can maximize their exposure, reach new audiences, and ultimately, advance their careers in the competitive world of art. With dedication, creativity, and persistence, painters can transform their passion into a thriving and successful artistic journey.
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Online art galleries and portfolios are the thing of today in terms of getting the word out about your art. Showcasing your artwork online needs to approximate the real thing and having good quality images of your artwork is a must. As an artist, you also need to keep visual records of your work—and whether you plan on selling your art right away or keeping it for years, you should always have up-to-date images ready to share.
Position your artwork almost perfectly upright
Put your artwork against a wall where it can stand on its own. It is not recommended that you lay your painting on the floor because it will be difficult for you to take a steady shot and you’ll block your light source that will create a shadow on your picture. When you take the photo, remember to tilt the camera slightly down to match the angle that the artwork is leaning – this will help minimize distortion of the original image.
Make sure that you have a sufficient, indirect natural light
Bring your artwork and your camera to a spot that’s full of bright light. Natural light is best. If the sun is too bright directly, bring your piece to a slightly shady area that’s still quite bright. If you’re forced to use artificial lights, get them as bright as possible, and reflect the light off of a white wall, poster board or another light surface to avoid over exposed parts in your photo. Look out for shadows, as well. If you use a flash, try taping a single sheet of toilet paper over it so it’s not so harsh.
Take a picture of your artwork
When you’re taking your photo, look at it directly from the front, so that the edges of the piece are parallel with the edges of the viewfinder. This keeps everything correctly proportioned.
Use a tripod so you won’t have to worry about hand shake or instability, and you can take time to frame your shot perfectly. If you don’t have a tripod, you can use anything that can hold your camera and your hands in place like a table or a box.
Avoid too much post processing
I f you think that your photo needs editing, then, you may do so. You may bring them up in Photoshop or whichever photo-editing software you use. You can remove some imperfections like cropping out the background and adjusting the contrast to approximate the real image. Do not overdo your editing. Remember that you want to post an image of your actual artwork not an edited version of it.
Image source: www.adcfineart.com
Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon is discussing plans with about 100 art galleries in the US of selling fine art online. The e-tail giant plans to create another part in its site where it will offer unique paintings, prints, and other fine art pieces. Amazon has already organized cocktail receptions in Seattle, and other big art cities including New York and San Francisco, inviting galleries to join the plan.
According to WSJ, Amazon will charge the art galleries a monthly membership fee of $100 and will get a commission of 5-20%, depending on the sold artwork. Higher-prices pieces would be subject to lower commission rates. The membership fee would be waived for art houses which would partner with Amazon in selling high-end art until 2015. Amazon will be using a retail model, which means each artwork has a fixed price, unlike art auction houses where the highest bidder gets the art.
Online selling of fine art is a double-edged sword. Amazon’s plan is a great way for art galleries to reach more people. Art lovers outside the city such as New York would be able to buy great art without traveling to the city. At the comfort of their homes or offices, people can easily buy art, even without visiting the actual art gallery. However, a drawback of this plan is that people may be hesitant to buying expensive paintings without seeing the actual painting. Most likely, art buyers won’t pay six- or even seven-figures for something that they only see online. Unlike buying a book or a gadget online, serious art collectors would naturally want to see the artworks personally.
High-end online auctioneers such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s said there is a growing market for expensive art over the Internet. Sotheby’s BidNow program was able to sell a 16th century portrait of Giovanni Gaddi for $2 million in 2012. Christie’s have been accepting online bids since 2007. It revealed that 27% of its auction sales ($6.2 billion) last year came from online bidding and regular auctions. Christie’s was able to sell Edward Hopper’s oil on canvas painting entitled “October on the Cape” to an online bidder for $9.6 million.
As of now we’re not sure if Amazon’s plan to sell high-end art will come to fruition. In 1999, Amazon forged a partnership with Sotheby’s to sell fine art but it lasted for 16 months only because the jointly operated auction site, Sothebys.Amazon.com, failed to gain traction. Also, there are many online art galleries offering a wide range of art from numerous artists that already have established markets and loyal clientele.
Image source: www.gizmodo.com
Transporting artworks is part of an artist’s life. If you have an out-of-town exhibition or seminar, running an art business, or selling and collecting paintings, shipping paintings is very important. Shipping paintings can be a bit risky. Paintings are delicate and you must take utmost care in packaging, and handling them.
Here are some guidelines to help you in packaging paintings. Note that, despite best efforts, there are still some uncontrollable factors such as bad weather, untrained art handlers, rough roads, etc. that could damage your paintings while in transit. These guidelines will help you send your paintings safely and lessen the damage (if any).
Before shipping
1. Assess your shipping needs. Know the size, medium, and condition of the painting. Fragile, old, or antiquated paintings will be more damaged when shipped so it’s better to transport paintings which are less fragile. But, if you really need to ship a painting that is fragile, you have to take a different approach in packing and shipping it.
2. Consider the distance the painting has to travel. The farther the painting has to move, the more vulnerable to damage it gets. When the painting has to be shipped in great distances, remember that many handlers will be in between Point A to B.
3. Decide which transportation is best to use in moving your painting. Can you move your painting by hand, by car, by truck, or by plane?
4. If you will need a shipping company, search for a trustworthy company and determine the policies, restrictions, and cost of their service.
Packaging
Packaging your painting by yourself can save you money, if done correctly and with the right supplies. Here are the steps:
1. Make sure you have these packing supplies on hand, especially if you’re running an art business.
2. Measure the dimensions of the painting. Give a 2″ allowance all around the piece which will serve as a buffer against the outside world.
3. Starting from the back of the canvas, wrap the palette wrap tightly around the painting and cover the entire surface.
4. Cut small slits on the plastic at the back of the painting to let the piece “breathe.”
5. Put the cardboard padding on the table. Place the painting on top of the cardboard padding and measure the width and depth of the painting. Double these measurements and add few more inches if you want and mark these on the cardboard.
6. Cut the cardboard using the measurements. Create a second box using the cardboard padding. Put the painting inside and secure the box with the packing tape.
7. Tightly wrap the bubble wrap around the second box. Tip: Put another layer of bubble wrap on the edges of the box as extra cushion since the edges of the painting or the frame are more prone to damage when shipping.
8. Put the bubble-wrapped second box into the outer box. Fill any spaces with additional bubble wrap. If there are a lot of extra spaces, you can opt to cut the outer box to fit the second box.
For artists and art enthusiasts, finding great new inspirations from artworks from various artists is a must. For 2013, here’s a list of the best exhibits that made admiring art into new dimentions.
1. Angles, Demons, and Savages: Pollock, Ossorio, Dubuffet
An exhibition of work by American artists Jackson Pollock and Alfonso Ossorio, as well as French painter Jean Dubuffet held in Phillips Collection, Washington, DC last February 9- May 12, 2013. The exhibit displayed around 53 paintings and drawings that show a visual friendship enjoyed by all three artists.
2. William H. Johnson: An American Modern
An exhibition of the work of modern American artist William Henry Johnson, the self-described “primitive and cultural painter” held in Georgia Museum of Art last February 16- May 12, 2013. The exhibit included some of the artist’s famous artworks such as Twenty landscapes, still-lifes and portraits including the iconic “Blind Singer” and “Aunt Alice.”
3. Chagall: Beyond Color
A look at the paintings, sculpture, ceramics and collage of the Russian-French artist, Marc Chagall held in Dallas Museum of Art last February 17th – May 26th, 2013. The exhibit also includes a display of costumes made by Chagall in 1942 for the production of the ballet “Aleko,” choreographed by Léonide Massine with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
4. Kehinde Wiley: The Memling Series
Displays a new series of paintings by the New York artist Kehinde Wiley, who is known for his knack for re-envisioning classical styles of portraiture held in Phoenix Art Museum, N. Central Avenue Phoenix, AZ last February 20th – June 23rd, 2013. The exhibit includes eight paintings based on the work of Hans Memling, the Flemish master painter of the Northern Renaissance.
5. Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity
The exhibit displays survey of the fashion trends that appeared in the works of the Impressionists and their contemporaries held in The Metropolitan Museum of Art last February 26th – May 27th, 2013. Around eighty major figure paintings seen in conjunction with period costumes, accessories, fashion plates, photographs, and popular prints that also show the relationship between fashion and art at this time.
6. Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Masterpieces of Modern Mexico
An exhibition of works collected by Jacque and Natasha Gelman, Eastern European ex-pats who became Mexican citizens in 1942 and subsequently acquired art by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo, David Alfaro and more. The exhibit is now being held in Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art started last May 25 all the way through August 18, 2013. There are more than 100 paintings, sculptures, photographs, and drawing in the exhibit.
7. Fernand Leger and the Modern City
Using Fernand Léger’s 1919 work, “The City,” as a jumping off point, the exhibit showcases the French artist’s array of paintings, all of which incorporate forms of cultural production central to modern cities, like graphic and advertising design, theater, film, and architecture. To be held in Philadelphia Museum of Art on October 2013 – January 2014. The exhibit will display over one hundred Leger works from collectors and institutions across Europe and the US.
8. Wayne Hollowell’s “Drama Queen”
This exhibit features a dazzling display of pop culture portraits just in time for NYC Pride held in Michael Mut Gallery, New York last June 26-30, 2013.
9. Enrico David
An exhibition of Italian-born artist, Enrico David, known for his figurative multimedia works that reveals a dark underworld of surreal, craft-informed creatures held in Hammer Museum last January 12th – May 5th, 2013. The collection included paper mummies, hand-crafted tapestries and cavernous paintings.
10. The Artist and the Poet
Planned to coincide with the institute’s “Picasso and Chicago” exhibition, the array of prints and drawings reveal the collaborative relationship between artists like Pablo Picasso, Robert Motherwell and David Hockney and poets such as Max Jacob, Rafael Alberti and Wallace Steves, respectively. Held in The Art Institute Chicago last February 1st – June 2nd, 2013. The collection includes “Skin with O’Hara Poem” (1963–65), a print by Jasper Johns that was inspired by the poet Frank O’Hara.
Source:Huffpost Arts & Culture http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Selling your precious artwork can be a little bit frustrating most especially when you are a newbie in the business and don’t really have a market for them. The only way to go is to reach out and attract as many people as possible and make your work known so you can find possible buyers. Here are some tips on how to promote your artwork.
1. Create an Awesome Portfolio
Remember that your goal is to impress potential clients. A detailed portfolio is the first step to establish a first good impression. Showcase what you can offer by having well-photographed, high-resolution images of your work on your portfolio. Put some details about your art like the materials and technique that you used and you may also add a short story about what inspired you to create them which makes it more interesting.
2. Set a Social Media Page
Social media has been the most useful tool to disseminate information nowadays and you can use this to your advantage and it’s free! Set up a social media page and make it as your second portfolio. Organize and specify the category of the artwork that you are promoting either by size, by subject or by material then add relevant keywords to increase the possibility that you will be searched.
3. Participate in Art Contests
This may sound stressful but think again. Remember that your goal is to promote your artwork to as many people as you can. If an on-site art contest is not your thing, you can join online art competitions instead. It really doesn’t matter if you win or not. What’s important is you have exposed your style and what you can offer through your entry to thousands of people who visited the site.
4. Hold Local Exhibits
There’s no better place for your artwork to be known than in your own local community. Make yourself known as an artist and share your artwork with your community by organizing a local exhibit. It doesn’t have to be grand and expensive. What’s important is you are able to showcase your artwork to possible clients. Find an interesting venue that will serve as a beautiful backdrop for your artwork such as lobbies, cafes, or even malls to attract various kinds of clients.
Doing your exhibit at your local art galleries also has its own advantages. Since they have already established a network of art collectors, there is a better chance of bringing interested patrons to buy your work and you will be able to meet other local artists as well. Why is this important? You will find out next.
5. Get To Know Other Local Artists
More often than not, every city has its own local art community or council composed of local artists and art enthusiasts. Being part of this group will expand your network and will surely give you more opportunities to meet more potential buyers. They usually put on events like exhibits where you can display your work for free. Get involved with community art projects that will expose your talent even more and will introduce you to local businesses as well. Through these events, your chances of being recognized is way much bigger.