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Art Career Basics

It’s good to say yes to opportunities like being in group shows, helping on a large art project like a mural, gaining a social media presence for your art, etc. You don’t need to have all of this nailed down to start being a part of the art world. However,  you’ll want to have these basics in place before you start marketing yourself seriously to galleries and making sales online.

Artist Statement, Biography, & Resume

These three written documents are essential for almost every artist’s professional presence. You really need to have them in place as you pursue an art career whether you are showing in galleries, art fairs, or directly selling your work online. They will help your audience get to know you and what your work is about. Here are some helpful guides on how to craft all three documents.

Artist Statement:

  • GYST Guidelines

https://www.gyst-ink.com/artist-statement-guidelines

Biography:

  • Artsy

https://partners.artsy.net/resource/what-we-learned-from-writing-artist-bios/

Resume:

  • CAA (College Art Association) Resume Guidelines

https://www.collegeart.org/standards-and-guidelines/guidelines/resume

Website Building:

You need a website. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but you need some online landing page where people who are interested in your work can find you and learn more. Luckily, there are several platforms that allow you to build your own website with ease and much less money than paying a website builder to do it for you. If you build your own website, it’s also easier to make updates to it whenever you need. Before you start, do some research and look up several of your favorite artists and view their websites for inspiration regarding format and aesthetics. Make sure you include the basic information on your site listed below.

Your fine art website needs to include:

  1. High quality images of your work: See the information about how to photograph your work or have it professionally scanned or photographed. If your work is three dimensional, you should have multiple views of it in the round. Detail shots are great for all mediums.
  2. Artist Statement
  3. Artist Biography
  4. Resume (CV)
  5. Contact information: People need an easy way to get in touch with you. You shouldn’t list your personal address or phone number; your email will suffice. If your social media is art related, you can also add a link the sites you show your work on.

You can also add these features when you think it’s appropriate:

  1. News: Here you would post info about upcoming shows, lectures, where your art can be seen in publications or in any media.
  2. Shop: If you are ready to sell your work online, you’ll want to have a shop. Many artists use Stripe or the ecommerce feature associated with their web development program.

Website Building Platforms:

Here are some popular, user-friendly website builders to create and maintain your site. They are all easy to use and have customizable templates. You can find more platforms than this, but these are some of the most popular.

Art Specific Website Builders with Marketing Tools Included

Generic Website Builders

If you want to skip the “fine art” thing and go straight to simply selling your art/design products online, you can develop your own site that is made just for that or upload your work to existing art selling sites. Some of these have monthly fees and some take commissions on sales, check them out and see what platform you prefer!

Artwork Organization, Marketing, & Management Websites:

It’s important to stay organized and to market yourself well. Many artists use various methods to do this but there are some websites that make things easier. In addition to having your work documented properly, you will need to keep track of it. For each of your pieces, you want to record its title, dimensions, media, year it was completed, price, and any other important information, like if it was exhibited and where and if it was sold and to whom. It’s good to have the collector’s contact information so that you can keep them on your email list. You also want to be able to market yourself to an audience that will purchase your work and some of these sites help you do that with ease.

Email Lists:

Email is still a great marketing tool! Especially since we’ve seen how many issues artists have had with social media algorithms not showing their work. Once you start gaining interest in your art, you’ll want to collect emails from people who want to stay up to date with your career moves. You certainly don’t want to email people too often, but three to four times per year is a great way to stay fresh in the minds of people who may purchase your work or just be supportive fans. Give your email subscribers a newsletter about studio sales, shows you’re in, works in progress, any art related trips you may have taken, shows you’ve been inspired by, or whatever is relevant to your art career. Below are a few tried and true email list management programs you may want to use to promote your art business.

Tips on Email Marketing for Artists:

Email Management Systems:

Legal Help & Contracts:

You want to know your rights as a working artist. You’ll start asking questions like: What is and is not legal? How to write a contract? How to make an invoice? These resources will help get you started on being an informed and protected entrepreneur in the arts.

General Printing: Business Cards, Postcards, etc:

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