Artists, Take Pictures of Your Work

posted by MissFran, Jun 3, 2011 7:44 AM — 4 comments

If you are able to carry your art with you, great, like jewelry or small printed pieces. Then, you can show your work. But, if you have pieces on a canvas or in the form of a sculpture or as furniture or as photographs, then you need a better way to show your work. Setting up a website is a good solution for artists. Here are some things you can do to create your online portfolio:

Take Pictures of Your Artwork
Be sure that your art is in good light. Outdoor is best..not on a sunny day, but a bright cloudy day. Your work will pop with a grey sky and be the star. Too much sun creates shadows that take the focus away from your work. If you have access to a studio, great. Then you can set up the photo shoot no matter what the weather is like. Save your pictures for use on your portfolio website or even for flyers or postcards.

A great tutorial for how to take photographs of your artwork can be seen here: emptyeasel

Flickr is a great way to upload and update the photos along the way to sow recent artwork in your portfolio. Here is a tutorial for creating a simple portfolio of your work: kunocreative . It will look something like this: pictobrowser

Find a Web Developer
There are free sites to use and build your online portfolio, but if this overwhelms you, then find a local web developer that will work with you. Ask to see samples of their portfolio. Present to them a hand-sketch of what you want or samples of sites you like. Know the budget you have for this project and see of they can produce what you like within your budget.

Set Pricing for Your Work
If you have inventory ready for sale, put some pricing to it. If you are able to be commissioned to create custom work, make that noticeable on your website. May you have great success!

Fran, Owner and Creative Director of Dightondesign

Here are some good examples of on-line portfolios:

On-Line Portfolio for Illustrative Artist
aniavanian.com

On-Line Portfolio for a Make-Up Artist
anthonyjosephbeauty.com
modelmayhem.com

On-Line Portfolio for a Sculpture Artist
karenristuben.com

On-Line Portfolio for a Painter Artist
kurtcoleeidsvig.com

If you know of other excellent examples, from the simple and elegant web portfolio to the elaborate web portfolio, do share. The most important criteria, the art is the star and there is contact information so the artist can sell their work.