We get it! As an artist, the creation is what matters. But without marketing, it is even harder to get noticed or get exhibitions in galleries and other places outside of your family or local community. Here we bring some ideas on how to market yourself as an artist to get your work noticed by a broader audience.
Build an online portfolio
Having a place where galleries, collectors, or art lovers can find your best pieces is crucial. If you apply for funding, a project, an art competition, or would like to build networking opportunities, an online portfolio is a must.
This applies to every artist and creator, call it illustration, tattoo, fine art, or mixed media. Your portfolio is the first impression for a lot of potential clients that are finding out more about you.
Use an easy website builder
Finding the right web designer could be difficult, so you can save money and time by using one of the easy builders online. You can check those with free trials, to see if it is something for you, like Squarespace or Zenfolio.
Find a template that reflects your brand and style and is consistent with colors, fonts, and branding elements. Fine art marketing is also marketing, so think of this website as an attractive and easy way to navigate and get clients closer to you.
Curate the artworks on display
This selection will help you for the curation of the website, but also when creating a compilation for other exhibitions (like the one in 4ART App, more on this later).
Visitors do not want to feel overwhelmed while landing on your online portfolio. 20 to 30 of your very best images is the perfect amount to give prospective clients an idea of your work.
Review your portfolio every 6 months, so you can keep it up to date.
Write an artist statement
An artist statement describes what your art means and how you work. An artist statement is a great marketing tool because it can be used in other collaborations or PR efforts during your career.
Once you have the online portfolio on a website, you can add your artist statement on the about me page and engage visitors with your story and other aspects of your work.
Have a virtual gallery in 4ART Exhibition App
Selling your pieces or prints is an excellent way to generate more income. You probably have heard of NFT and with the 4ART App, you can even have NFT+ that adds security and a new standard to intellectual property rights.
Visitors found your portfolio interesting, now you can send them to your online gallery so that they can explore your artworks with augmented reality in your virtual gallery at 4ART App.
If you sell, once your work is on the walls of collectors, they can spark interest in other buyers, effectively doing more art marketing for you.
In 4ART App you can create compilations and share them with your friends and potential buyers. There is a chat function and you can decide the price of every piece and send the physical paintings professionally with art insurance providers as well as handling companies, like Hasenkampf, which has transported Da Vincis.
Enter art competitions to get more promotion
Another great opportunity to expand your reach is with art competitions. If you manage to win, you will earn attention for your creations. And having an award is always a way to build a reputation.
Many competitions might have more than 1 winner, as in honorific mentions, or a set of finalists, and all that helps market yourself. A good example is the 4ART Award, where we had 10 best artists and of course one artist of the year.
You can find art competitions on these websites:
Artconnect
Infodesigners
Intercompetitions
Create your own art virtual opening or NFT Drop
Organizing your own art virtual show is a wonderful way to learn more about art marketing. You can create a remarkable compilation in 4ART App and announce it on a special date. With NFT drops, you could do the same if you mint some work in 4ART Marketplace and announce when it would be available.
- Think of a theme to tie the whole compilation together. This gives visitors and viewers an idea of the concepts and ideals behind the show.
- Consider making it a group exhibition. Recently we had a great drop called Digital Baroque with several artists.
- If you have contacts, find a venue and do both: physical and digital, as some of our artists do.
- Create posters, flyers, and videos to have assets for promotion. You want to stand out.
Get help from 4ARTechnologies experts
When you have already worked on curating your material, you can easily upload your work to 4ART App. If you have physical artworks you can certify the provenance and documentation by creating a 4ART Passport for each one of them. There are several benefits when having the 4ART App as an artist.
You can also get a marketing package with a button inside the app. We want artists to succeed with simple processes and the tools to be part of a new standard secure, transparent and beneficial for all art stakeholders.
Focus on what you can do best: inspire the world through your art.
About the author:
Paulina Lara Franco
SUPERPOWER: beat the blank page’s fear
Paulina is grateful that since high school she has had the chance to express herself in both communication and theater????. Her experience in communication has been mainly developing content strategies for education and startups.
The best advice she received was from her great grandmother: “happiness is easy.”
