What artists want, most of all, is for their work to be seen. Today it is easy and inexpensive to garner an audience of thousands, even millions by sharing artwork via online platforms. While artists should maintain their own website, there are also hundreds of websites that can also be used to share creative work and enhance an online presence. A few that I like are:
With 284 million users, Twitter is a powerful platform to expose your artwork. Using just 140 characters for a brief description, along with photos or videos, artists can implement Twitter to promote an event or show, to or to announce awards or sales.
In a blog, an artist can let clients and collectors get to know them a little more. It is a place to share and interact, and explain your artwork in a more personal way. It is where artists can tell their whole story and allow fans see into their world and their lives.
Instagram, a photo-sharing social media network with 300 million users, is perfect for artists to post visuals of their work from a smartphone. Through hashtags, work can be categorized and aimed at a particular audience.
With 217 million users, Tumblr is a cross between Instagram and Blogger. The layout of the page elegantly highlights photos and artwork and there is an opportunity to say more about the images posted.
With 1.3 billion users, Facebook is one of the most popular sites on the Internet, and a great platform for artists to post their work, process and exhibitions.
Pinterest is like a digital corkboard with 70 million users. Artists can add their images to a Pinterest “board,” or page, and through keywords, other Pinterest users can find and easily “pin” the images to their own boards to share with their connections.
With almost 100 million users, Flickr is an online photo-sharing website where artists can store and manage photos of their work in full resolution, and full screen scrolling shows off the images beautifully.
Saatchi Art is a wonderful online gallery. Well organized, well laid out, and well curated, it is a visual treat. Artists from all over the world can upload their artwork to exhibit and sell from this website.
Almost 10 years old, the very popular Etsy is an attractively organized and well-marketed site where artists and crafters can upload images of their work and sell from their own online store.
Deviant Art, a social network for artists, is the largest online art community with 32 million members. Artists can post their artwork, network with other artists, and also utilize Deviant Art’s print-on-demand option.
Launched in 2007, Fine Art America is an online marketplace for artists to upload images of their artwork and offer them for sale as prints and greeting cards. The site “prints on demand” when a purchase is made, and sends the royalties to the artist.
Another print-0n-demand site, Zazzle offers to print artists’ images as posters or prints, as well as pillows, cellphone cases, aprons, blankets and other fun items. The site is attractively laid out, and easy to use. Artists can upload images, and set their own prices for a wide variety of items selling right from the Zazzle site.
Other popular Print-on-Demand sites that invite artists to join and sell their images on a variety of items are Imagekind, Redbubble, and Café Press.
There are many social media and art-related websites for artists to show, share and sell their art, and more emerging all the time. With so many online options, it’s best to experiment and then choose only a few sites to focus on, and be consistent in updating and posting.
Artist Ora Sorensen (orasorensen.com) was born in New York but grew up overseas. She has owned a gallery in Delray Beach, Florida, for 20 years, and has also been represented by other galleries across the country. Sorensen now lives and paints in North Carolina, and her paintings are collected worldwide and have been shown in numerous exhibitions.
