Blog on Art Marketing and Selling Art

Selected Upcoming Exhibits by Informed Collector Artists [...]

Steven paints directly from his own life experiences, attempting to capture with honesty and immediacy his impressions of the world around him. [...]

'Donshay' by Elizabeth Taft was selected as a Finalist - Outstanding Pastel in the March FineArtViews Painting Competition. [...]

Someone who’s done me many favors in the past called me on a Friday. His 15-year-old son had a school assignment to work for an artisan for 20 hours. The assignment was due in...one week. In desperation (and with much embarrassment), he begged me to help out. I looked at my calendar. It was doable, so I said yes. He really was a nice kid. Shy. Quiet. Totally oblivious to women's jewelry or sewing. Not used to thinking about color, design, fashion. This could be painful, I thought. I was wrong. [...]

When no minimum (reserve) price set for a work, the buyers return each year to pick up artwork at bargain prices, and they rarely contact the artist to pay full retail price on additional paintings. This kind of exposure does more harm than good. [...]

'The Cat Series III' by Sabina Haas was selected as a Finalist - Outstanding Pastel in the March FineArtViews Painting Competition. [...]

'Autumn Canopy' by Brian LaSaga was selected as a Finalist - Outstanding Acrylic in the March FineArtViews Painting Competition. [...]

If you are uncertain or afraid of failure as you work, your art will manifest that fear to the viewers. They will sense it. It shows in the tentative application of paint or clay or whatever your medium is. [...]

'Entering Westminster Abbey' by Patricia Sweet-MacDonald was selected as a Finalist - Outstanding Watercolor in the March FineArtViews Painting Competition. [...]

Art Links for Artists Who Want to Change the World [...]

Selected Upcoming Exhibits by Informed Collector Artists [...]

In my last article, I outlined some of the factors that we think Google uses to determine how to rank search results. This needs some more discussion. After all, if you're going to "optimize" your website for something, it helps to know the factors you're optimizing for...What you need to understand is that there are actually two types of SEO - on-page SEO and off-page SEO. [...]

We have integrated Facebook "Like" buttons on all blogs for artists who have upgraded to our Enhanced templates...The first option we have added is Facebook "Like" buttons to our standard blog post options bar, which appears at the bottom of all blog posts on our Enhanced templates. [...]

Our esteemed judge, Ned Mueller, has completed the judging of the March 2010 FineArtViews painting competition. [...]

'Striped Blanket' by Logan Hagege was awarded 2nd Place in the March FineArtViews Painting Competition. [...]

I was thinking about this question recently, mainly because I have times that I feel uninspired, too busy, too anxious to fail, or just lazy. So I decided I need to strengthen my art-making habits, and to do that, I have to find ways to be inspired and encouraged even if I don’t feel like it. [...]

Over the past two decades, I've worked with half a dozen commercial galleries, and although I enjoyed the prestige of being able to say that I am represented by a gallery, the truth is that I've been able to sell my artwork better on my own. [...]

March 2010 FineArtViews Contest Winners Announced! [...]

'Aurora' by Craig Srebnik was selected as a Finalist in the February RayMar Art Fine Art Competition. [...]

'Temptation' by Keming Shen was selected as a Finalist in the February RayMar Art Fine Art Competition. [...]

I believe that it is possible to stay true to yourself and your instincts even in the face of outside influences. But before we talk about that, let’s look at who you are. [...]

Selected Upcoming Exhibits by Informed Collector Artists [...]

In art school, the most stressful part of any class was always the critique. This was when you put the results of your hard work up in front of everyone, explained your ideas, and waited for the criticisms - ahem, feedback - to come rolling in. This was when you put it all on the line to find out if anyone else thought what you were doing was valid. [...]

'Morning Market' by Susan Ploughe was selected as a Finalist in the February RayMar Art Fine Art Competition. [...]

And so I left my art as a young person. I thought it was the right thing to do. There was some relief in “letting go” of that dream. But something in me was sad, too. I pushed it down and tried to forget about it. [...]

We recently discussed SEO and URLs over on FineArtViews. So how to you include search terms in your URLs with a FineArtStudioOnline website? The easy answer is - we do it for you. When you enter a new artwork in your FASO control panel, naturally you enter the title of the painting (or sculpture etc). We use that title to create an "SEO-friendly" URL. [...]

I've become known as the "anti SEO" art marketing guy. That's because I've been quite public in my opinion that, for the most part, SEO is not a great use of an artist's marketing time...but...in the interest of "giving the people what they want", I'm starting a series called "SEO for Artist Websites" that will be a regular feature in FineArtViews from this point forward.....or at least until I run out of things to say. [...]

I naively thought I could take one or two paintings down to Scottsdale, walk into a gallery and wow the gallerist. As I said, I didn't have a clue about how to get started selling my work [...]

'Wild Places' by Chuck Law was selected as a Finalist in the February RayMar Art Fine Art Competition. [...]

Today we've unveiled the Canvoo "toolbar" on many of our sites. (You can see it right here - it's the green bar at the top of this page) What is Canvoo?   To answer that, you have to understand that we love art and we love working with artists.   Consequently, over the years, we've developed quite a few different but loosely related products that deal with art in different ways.  We started with FineArtStudioOnline, which is an easy turnkey system for artists to set up professional art websites.  Later we added FineArtViews, a daily newsletter about art marketing and inspiration.  Still later we created InformedCollector  - a [...]

'Soho #2' by Jim Beckner was selected as a Finalist in the February RayMar Art Fine Art Competition. [...]

Without close watch, there is a traffic jam there every five minutes. Arguments and conflicts abound. Discursiveness fills the space much of the time. It is never quiet. No space, no room to breathe. I am talking about the mind. [...]

Why do you create? Are you asking or answering questions? Are you oblivious to any purpose whatsoever with your art? Does art need a purpose? Is the simple act of creating the fulfillment of the purpose of art? [...]

'Metamorphosis' by Margret Short was selected as a Finalist in the February RayMar Art Fine Art Competition. [...]

Art Links for Artists Who Want to Change the World [...]

Selected Upcoming Exhibits by Informed Collector Artists [...]

'Sundown on the Mesa' by Kate Keisler was selected as a Finalist in the February FineArtViews Painting Competition. [...]

Valerie felt that art institutions and collectors were not taking her seriously, because she neglected to take her website seriously. She felt she was losing both credibility and business. [...]

Here's your chance to ask me those burning questions about how to market and sell your artwork! Don't feel like any question is too naive or silly. I bet you'll find that many others are wondering the same things. So, Ask Away! [...]

'Approaching Storm: Brocolli Harvest' by Warren Chang was selected as a Finalist in the February RayMar Art Fine Art Competition. [...]