How do you get your artwork noticed? This is probably a question that every artist wonders about at one point of time. Some artists want to get their art out there on Instagram, others want to get their art in a gallery. This post will reveal 12 sure-fire ways to get your artwork seen – both online and offline. So if you wish to create exposure for your art, come on and read along!
You have lots of beautiful creations and now you wonder how to get your artwork seen by the world?
You know you want to get your artwork noticed – maybe you want to get your art out there on Instagram, get your art noticed on Twitter or TikTok, or get your art in a gallery.
But you have no idea how to promote your artwork and might be afraid that your art doesn’t get noticed. No need to worry – this post got you covered!
In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know to get publicity as an artist.
Deciding to make art your dream business can be quite overwhelming at the beginning. You might not know where to start in order to get noticed as an artist.
Related: How To Start A Digital Art Business (w/ FREE Art Business Startup Checklist)
But the good news is that nowadays it’s pretty easy and possible to promote your artwork successfully. There are lots of opportunities – both online and offline – to get the exposure you are looking for.
Many artists dislike the idea of self-promotion. After all, what you want to do is being creative and not becoming a marketing guru!
But truth is being successful as an artist takes a lot of dedication and commitment. Talent is just one part of the equation. You must know that a successful art career is made up of one third of creativity and two thirds of business. And one big part of getting your artwork out there seen is self-promotion.
How to get your artwork seen?
Luckily, there are plenty of possibilities to get your artwork seen by art lovers, buyers, and curators. In the following sections, I’ll show you different options to promote your art, both online and offline. By choosing the ones you like best, you can create more exposure and publicity, according to your very own marketing preferences.
Just remember: the trick is to get started. If you don’t take action, then no art collector or gallery will be able to find your art. You must take a proactive approach; this is the only way to get your art noticed!
So let’s see where you can start…
12 Sure-fire ways to get your artwork seen
1. Hone your artist message
This is a very important point. You need to have a relevant message that describes your art and yourself as the artist to your audience. Why?
Because people always want to know something about the artist whose art they admire and about the artwork itself. Now, you might think, ‘my art speaks for itself’. I used to think the same way.
But that’s actually not true. Most likely, your art is not as self-explanatory as you might think and speaking more about the art you create is a great way to engage with fans and customers.
Tell people about the meaning behind your works, how do you create them, what tools do you use, what inspired you, … People love to hear stories. Communicating the stories behind your art will help you get the attention of your audience and stand out from the crowd.
I used to struggle to find the right words to describe my surreal creations. But once I somehow got started speaking about my work, I noticed it was not as hard as I had thought and I actually began to enjoy talking about it. Now, I have an entire section on my website where I am showing my Making Ofs.
Another thing that you should have is an artist statement. It doesn’t have to be long but describe the main parts of your work and motivation. If you find it hard to speak about yourself, you can do ‘checklists’ – like 20 Facts about the Artist or 10 Reasons why I like Digital Art. That makes it much easier to let your viewers know something about yourself!
This is a must for every serious artist – you need to have your own artist website. If you don’t believe me yet, then read more about 10 Reasons Why You Should Make A Website For Your Art.
Why is having your own website important when you want to get your artwork seen? Because fans, customers, curators and galleries all rely on your website to quickly find information about the artist and their artwork!
Whether you want to network with art lovers, sell your art online, enter an art competition or apply to a gallery – it’s key to have your own little place on the web.
Your artist website cannot only host your online portfolio, but it’s also the ideal place to blog about your art, announce new work and upcoming exhibitions, publish your artist statement, and much more. Your website is also a unique opportunity to build your artist brand.
The site should be easy to navigate and include an About Me and Contact page. To make sure you have everything else on your site, too, check out the 8 Must-Haves Of A Good Artist Website.
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Making a website for your art isn’t difficult. Here’s a list of easy-to-use website builders that don’t require any coding skills at all:
- Squarespace (best overall website builder for artists)
- Wix (flexible website builder easy to use for newbies)
- Weebly (e-commerce ready with solid blogging platform)
- Pixpa (budget-friendly option geared towards artists)
- Jimdo (affordable and highly scalable website builder)
- Shopify (perfect for selling art on a larger scale)
Learn more about the Best Website Builders For Artists.
3. Use social media platforms
Social media is huge, but it should never replace your own artist website. Why? Because your website belongs solely to you and gives you full control over what, when and how you post it.
When uploading your art to social media, you are at the odds of the network. They tell you what you may post and what not, they can change their community rules and algorithms at any time, restricting your account or significantly crippling your reach.
It already happened. Just remember when Facebook changed their algorithm many artists saw their hard efforts to build an audience being squashed overnight.
That’s why social media should never replace your own artist website – but rather complement it.
Nevertheless, social media is one of the major tools to get publicity as an artist these days. Especially visual-driven networks are ideal to get your artwork seen. If you get your art out there on Instagram, for instance, it has the potential to go viral and attract a lot of viewers.
People spend a good part of their days browsing on their smartphones, including gallery owners, curators, and art collectors. So you shouldn’t miss out on this opportunity to drive traffic to your website. Make sure to link back to your artist website (either in the post or in your bio depending on the network).
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Here are some of the social media networks you can try to create exposure for your art:
- Instagram (visual-driven platform)
- Pinterest (social media network and search engine based on visuals)
- Facebook (more and more difficult to create exposure)
- Twitter (focused on text but you can also post images)
- TikTok (latest platform for uploading short videos)
- YouTube (ideal for showing your creative process and tutorials)
Learn more about how to use social media as an artist:
4. Join art sharing sites and communities
Apart from promoting your art on social media, you should also consider joining art sharing sites and communities. These are great to connect with like-minded individuals and get feedback on your creations.
Many art sharing sites offer forums where you can join in conversations, find out about the latest news in the market, or learn from tutorials that other artists publish.
Many of the largest art communities cater to artwork of all types. Regardless of the type of art you are into, creating a free account on these sites is always a great way to get your artwork seen.
Other art sites focus on one specific type of art, such as digital art. If that’s your cup of tea, then you have the chance to connect with professionals of the industry on these sites, get peaks into their creative working process, and maybe even get hired by one of the major companies in that field!
So it worth trying out a few art sharing sites and then see which communities are best suited to get your artwork out there!
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These are some of the most popular art sharing sites that you might want to consider trying out:
- DeviantArt (largest community for all types of art)
- Behance (art sharing site run by Adobe)
- WetCanvas (originally for traditional art but also features digital works)
- ArtStation (popular for all things digital art)
Read more about art sharing sites here.
5. Upload your art to online marketplaces
Many artists offer their work for sale on online marketplaces, print-on-demand platforms and galleries. This is not only a way to generate an income stream but also to get your artwork seen by a huge audience.
Because some of the best-known online marketplaces have a large customerbase from all over the world. Uploading your art there will contribute to your exposure and get your art noticed by people in many different countries!
The various online marketplaces basically all work the same way: they offer a range of print-on-demand products that you can choose to sell your artwork on. The PoD products include art prints in different sizes, canvas prints, other wall art, mugs, t-shirts, mouse pads, phone cases, notebooks, cutting boards, and many many more.
Once a customer orders your product, most PoD providers will take care of production, packaging and shipping. But there are also platforms like Etsy and Saatchi Art where you will be responsible for packaging and shipping the product yourself.
All the online marketplaces and art galleries come with different pricing schemes and different terms and conditions. So make sure you read everything carefully before signing up!
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These are some of the best online marketplaces and art galleries to sell PoD products:
- Etsy (largest marketplace for art in general)
- Creative Market (perfect for digital downloads and printables)
- Printful (PoD provider that you can integrate with your web store)
- Printify (PoD provider similar to Printful)
- Fine Art America (popular for wall art and home décor)
- Saatchi Art (large online gallery and PoD provider)
- Society6 (easy-to-use with large audience in place)
- RedBubble (allows you to sell an unlimited number of products)
Related Post: Is There A Market For Digital Art? (& How To Make Money Selling Art)
6. Create a mailing list
A mailing list is one of the most valuable assets that you can have as an artist because it helps you to get your artwork seen by people who are genuinely interested in it.
So how to create a mailing list? Somewhere on your website, you’ll need to have an opt-in where people can subscribe to your mailing list. Putting such an opt-in on your website is easy. Once you’ve signed up to an email marketing service, you will get the code for the sign-up box that you can include in your website.
You can encourage people to sign up to your list by offering them some sort of incentive. This can be a freebie, such as the free-of-charge delivery of an art print or useful information in exchange for an email address.
It is also worthwhile to create a little eBook or PDF guide that you can give away for free to your subscribers.
Because in the end, it’s so much easier to sell to people who are already familiar with your art than attracting new customers. Every time you have new work for sale or some exciting news to announce, you can send out an email to those interested in your art.
This is the best way to get your artwork seen by a large number of fans and collectors!
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This is a selection of email marketing providers that allow you to easily embed an opt-in on your website:
7. Blog about your art
Adding a blog to your website is a great way to create some buzz about your art and get it noticed by a lot of people.
So how to get your artwork seen through a blog?
Well, a blog significantly helps to optimize your website for search engines. When potential fans and buyers find your blog through search engines like Google and Bing, you have the chance to reach a large clientele from all over the world.
In your blog posts, you can speak about your art and thus get some publicity as an artist. But your blog is much more than that.
You can prove that you are of real value to your readers by giving them insights into your creation process, publishing tutorials, and other helpful tips and advice.
You can let them know what inspires you, the meaning behind your work, the tools you are using to create the art, and so on. That way, your blog also helps you to establish authority in the art world.
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Great platforms for blogging are:
8. Visit local galleries and exhibitions
This is the first offline option on the list but it isn’t any less effective to get your art noticed!
Wherever you are, there a usually a couple of local galleries around. Visiting art exhibitions is a great opportunity to meet other artists and become an active member of your local art community.
By regularly attending art shows, you can actually learn a lot of things for your career as an artist. You will see how other artists promote and price their art, how they frame their work, what techniques they are using, and anything else that might be of interest.
But most importantly, you’ll be able to expand your network. And once you know some of the exhibiting artists and the gallery owner, it is much easier to get your artwork in a gallery!
Start by looking for venues and events in your area – you will see there is always something going on!
Related Post: How To Make Money As An Artist *OFFLINE* [7 Real World Examples]
9. Consider making a group show
Once you gained a foothold in your local art community, you might want to consider making a group show.
Organizing a group show doesn’t have to be expensive. Team up with other artists and then together look for a venue where you can exhibit your artworks.
No need to rent an art gallery. There are many non-traditional places that are perfect to get your art noticed by a wide range of potential collectors.
Coffee shops, bars and hotel lobbies, for example, are visited by a lot of people on a daily basis. In many cases, the owner will be more than happy to show your art because it’s also publicity for the venue and attracts more customers. It’s a win-win for everyone!
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Some venue ideas to organize a group show are:
- Coffee shops
- Restaurants
- Wine bars
- Salons
- Night clubs
- Hotel lobbies
- Office buildings
- Community centers
10. Print business cards, flyers and posters
When you visit a gallery or have your own group show, don’t forget to bring your business cards and other promotional materials.
It’s important to give people something, so they can remember your name and know how to contact you.
You don’t need to stick to standard conventions when designing your business cards. It’s allowed to go a lil’ bit overboard as an artist. That means your business card does not necessarily have to have the conventional format, it may also be the size of a postcard.
That way, you can print one of your artworks on it, which makes it even easier for people to remember you.
Flyers and posters are still a fantastic way to create publicity for an art show or exhibition. You can distribute flyers and pin posters in public areas where you can reach a lot of people.
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11. Take part in art competitions
Art competitions are another possibility to get your artwork seen – both by professionals in the industry and art lovers.
If you win the competition, you will also be able to raise your profile and reputation as an artist.
But even if you don’t win, you can still benefit from the publicity. Competition entries are often viewed by a large number of people. Organizers share the images with colleagues and art experts, fans share the works on social media.
Art competitions usually focus on one specific type of art. So if you wish to take part in a competition, I suggest you run a quick search for the art style you are interested in. For example, you can look for ‘digital art competition’ or ‘oil painting art competition’.
Chances are you will quickly find a number of suitable art competitions that are currently taking place. Check out their submission guidelines, and then there’s nothing in your way to get your art noticed by joining the contest!
12. Publish your own press releases
My last tip to get your artwork seen is by publishing your own press releases.
Self-publishing a press release is an effective way to get the word out about your art. As your release appears in a magazine or on a website, you gain more credibility as an artist and collectors might feel more confident buying your work.
At the same time, your press release will remain visible in the search results across the major search engines, like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Some platforms allow you to publish a press release for free. However, if you want your press release to appear on relevant websites, industry-curated Twitter feeds, and prominent blogger networks, you will have to go for one of their paid packages.
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