10 Artist Tips for online marketing in 2012--it all begins with capturing sensational images of your work

by Theresa Franks, for Fine Art Registry®

Hey artists, how about starting off the New Year with a bang?!

We get questions from artists all the time on all sorts of subjects and we consult with many of them on marketing issues. However, the most frequent question we receive from artists is: how can I have more success in marketing my work online?

There are many factors and elements that go into successfully marketing online, but by far, the most important is capturing exciting, arresting, and sensational images that will grab a prospective collector’s attention—stop them dead in their web-surfing tracks and compel them to click on your portfolio to learn more—like the photograph to the right, for example. Fabulous images will cause collectors to want to buy and you don’t need a professional photographer to do it for you. With today’s digital cameras, anyone can capture quality images and while it may seem obvious that images are critically important to marketing one's work--it is astounding the number of artists that don't think twice about uploading inferior images to the web and then wonder why they aren't selling which often leads to discouragement and ultimately giving up on any hope and dreams of selling their work.
 

Here are just 10 of many tips to capturing images of your new visual art creation that will make your images scream for a collector’s “CALL TO ACTION” – meaning the kind of image that says, click-me-now-to-buy-you-know-you-can't-resist:

1. Buy a good, quality digital camera. You don’t need to spend a fortune—just be sure it shoots nice, clear images. Depending on what kind of artwork you are photographing, you might also want to pick up an inexpensive tripod, too. It’s almost impossible to go wrong these days on digital cameras. There are many artists who are also photographic artists. You may think that being a photographer would give one an advantage in marketing their artwork over artists that say, paint on canvas or create sculptures. This isn’t always the case. There are some great fine art photographers, but many make the same mistakes when it comes to marketing their work that other artists make. When displaying artwork online…images must absolutely be the best they can possibly be. Keep in mind that as an artist you have competition—a lot of competition. There are no statistics kept on how many artists there are worldwide. However, to give you a rough idea of the magnitude of your competition as a visual artist, try sitting outside on a clear night—look up into the sky and try to count the number of stars—this is the number of artists you are competing against for a collector's attention. There are far more artists than there are collectors, so the idea is to get your artwork noticed and consistency is the key to success.

An example of a set up for photographing your work

2. Set up a dedicated area in your studio or in your office or wherever best to photograph your work once it is completed. The photo to the right is an example (perhaps a bit over the top--but you get the idea). Choose a place where the lighting is good. For example, set up a card table with some black or white or other colored fabric or material that can be draped over an easel or tacked to the wall so that it creates a solid color background behind and below your artwork. You want the images you capture of your artwork to pop.

Power of Color by Silvio Jimenez-FAR ID No. 38538

Something from Above by Silvio Jimenez-FAR ID No. 385

3. Remove all of the background noise and obstructions before capturing images of your work--meaning any objects that appear in the background, above, below, or to the side that may interfere with a pure image of your artwork. Setting up a spot dedicated to taking images of your artwork will go a long way to shooting excellent images of your work. Keep in mind that prospective collectors want to see your artwork—not your brother’s Penn State sweatshirt draped on the back of an office chair on which you have propped the artwork, or any other paraphernalia that distracts or interferes with the image of the artwork. The image of your work should look as professional as you can possibly make it. Having a human being or any other living creature (no matter who or what it is) standing beside your artwork may be okay if you are making a scrapbook or a photo album, but it does nothing to market your work and it can actually be a complete turnoff and might very well chase collectors away who may have otherwise purchased your artwork had you left Uncle Bobby out of the photo. Many artists include people in the photos of their artwork in an attempt to show scale. Don’t do it. Just simply advertise the measurements of the work—trust us when we say that collectors will figure it out—and besides you to create questions in a prospective buyer's minds and encourage potential collectors of your work to email you or to make contact with you in any way you choose so that you can strike up a dialogue with them that may very well lead to a sale. Take a look at Fine Art Registry artist, Silvio Jimenez's work (above) as an example of how he digitally represents his work in images for the web. His photographs are clear, crisp and colorful--nothing to distract and interfere with the work itself.

4. Proper lighting of your images cannot be stressed enough. Dingy, gray or washed out images of your work will discourage sales. Sometimes it may be necessary to take your work outside into natural light to properly photograph it. However, the same care should be taken outdoors as indoors. Make sure there is no background noise that interferes with your image—such as the next door neighbor mowing his lawn or autos parked in the driveway.

5. Don’t photograph your artwork on carpeting (no matter how clean), leaning on a floor against a grimy wall, or in a garage where boxes and junk line the wall in the background. 

6. If your artwork is a size that works with the size of your scanner—than it is recommended you scan your work. This is a fantastic way to really show off the detail and color of your work. Below is an example of a scanned pen and ink drawing. 

Scanned Pen & Ink Drawing-FAR ID No. 34960

7. If at all possible, resist the urge to photograph your artwork in a frame, and especially if it is behind glass or Plexiglas as this material will often reflect images of objects that you don’t want to be seen—including the reflection of you dressed in your leopard Hoodie-Footie shooting the piece (yes, it has happened). If you have no choice but to photograph the piece in a frame which has glass or Plexiglas, do not shoot with a flash and try to step off to the side and capture the image at an angle in order to minimize the glare and reflection of objects. While there are those that would disagree, it is our opinion that framing is a subjective thing and unless the frame is a work of art itself or unless it is specifically designed by the artist to actually enhance or accompany the artwork, don’t photograph the work in the frame. James McNeil Whistler, for example, designed and sometimes painted his own frames to enhance or complement his work. Unless you are doing what Whistler did, lose the frame and photograph your artwork without it.

8. This one may seem like a no-brainer, but we have seen this over and over again. Do not even think about uploading a blurry image or an image that might even be a smidge out of focus, unless it is specifically intended or the “blur” is part of the artwork itself.   

9. After capturing what you believe are satisfactory images of your newest masterpiece, upload them to a good photo program and if necessary make corrections to the lighting, contrast, color, or any other adjustment you believe is necessary so that the photographic image represents exactly or as close to exactly what the artwork looks like in person. You always want your collector (upon receiving your work) to tell you that your artwork looks even better in person than it did in the image you used to market it online.

10. Practice, practice and practice photographing your work. The beauty of digital photography these days is that you can review your photographs on the spot and reshoot immediately if necessary (does anyone use film anymore--seems so archaic these days, doesn't it?). The best way to get quality photographs is to practice capturing images of your artwork and experiment with lighting and with the space in which you are photographing—color, depth, etc.

There’s nothing more important than presenting your work as you would like to see it if you yourself were the one doing the shopping and the buying. As artists, it is difficult sometimes to put yourself into the shoes of a collector, but it is absolutely necessary if you want to effectively market your work online and actually have it sell.

Artists--feel free to comment with tips and suggestions of your own on photographing your artwork for the web.

Best wishes to all artists for marketing in 2012! 

Stay tuned as we offer more practical tips on how to better market and protect your body of work and intellectual property.