From my post 5 Mistakes Many Artists Make, I always harp on the fact that visual artists hurt themselves by their lack of having a website that showcases their work and their background as an artist.
I would leave the issue alone, but the irony that I see is that many of these same artists use the internet a great deal every day, visiting social networks, email and websites but still have no site of their own.
These artists have admitted their need for a website, want to eventually have one, and even have spent 5 minutes here and there shopping other artists sites to get ideas for their own…but for one reason or another it’s still not there.
So I ask you, my community of fellow artists…why do you think this happens (or rather, DOESN”T happen)?
- Is it lack of knowing where to start?
- Concern about affordability?
- Failure to move and launch a basic site as a start due to waiting for a “mega site” first?
- Old fashioned procrastination?
What say ye?
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I’m a web designer, and the best solution for art sites I’ve found so far (ESPECIALLY if you don’t know anything about making a website!) is WordPress software from WordPress.org + the Next Gen Gallery plugin to manage your gallery. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nextgen-gallery/
WordPress is easily customizable with TONS of free themes and plugins (and you can make your own if you know how.) It’s very secure and is primarily blogging software, so you have a built-in art blog.
NextGen gallery supports galleries (based on media or whatever you want), albums (collections of galleries, i.e., you might put “dogs” and “cats” galleries into your “animals” folder) and it also has tag support- you can even insert galleries based on tags into pages or entries (all of your work tagged with “photoshop” for instance.) NextGen Gallery also automatically generates an RSS feed of the art you upload with it, so fans can follow your work via a feed in the feedreader of their choice.
I’ve tried tons of solutions for my own sites, and WordPress + NexGen Gallery is what works the best (also, it’s free.)
You can see an example on my site here: http://snowfoxcreations.com/my-art/
I’ve inserted the “custom ipod cases” “my art” and “portfolio” albums and the galleries I placed in them automatically show.
Hey, Dave!
I didn’t realize you were building sites, also!
GREAT!
TS-
Gimel:
Your artwork is GREAT, and I’m glad you launched your site/blog so that your work can be shared.
It’s a shame that so many others are out there with great work but we can’t see it because they have no website!
John:
Excellent points, especially the DIY delima!
And about the plug…can’t plug your website if you don’t have one!
That’s a perfect example!
Tony-
I build websites. If you need one, let me know
Dave
Personally,
I think it may be two-fold.
I think one reason is that artists try to use the DIY method. They say, “if i can create my own site (since i am a creative type anyway) it will look the way it’s supposed to look…the way i want it to look.”
I mean, we all know that artists are proprietary (i know I am) and we know what we want and we feel like we are the only one’s who can accomplish that. But what happens is that you start trying to get out of your lane and both your website and your work begin to suffer. So stay in your lane and you work your work and leave the web designing to the professionals.
The second reason, in my opinion, is that artists think it may not be affordable. It doesn’t take a $5000 website to make you look good. You can opt for a smaller website and showcase a few of your pieces. It cuts your cost down. If you are a “starving” artists, you can even go with something like a WordPress site, which doesn’t cost you anything except a little time (but don”t get caught up in #1).
Of course, you could always go with a recommended web designer like, oh i don’t know…J. Sharp Studios and you can reach us at http://www.jsharpunlimited.com (sorry Tony, shameless plug)!
Where do I start?
I can tell you the reason I didn’t start a website, until recently, was because of…fear; I was afraid of exposing myself, thoughts, ideas, etc. as well as, I was afraid of getting out there and finding out that I didn’t have what it takes (whatever that means).
Rejection/Acceptance is a big deal in our design, especially artist. I was under the strong impression that what people said about “my art” defined me, so I allowed the enemy to cripple me with fear.
Now I understand it was a lie to keep me from moving beyond the “wilderness” (so to speak), of this gift and into the “Promised land;” the Lord will go before me.
There’s only one thing that keeps my feet moving forward into the World Wide Web with this “art thing”…I love God more than I hate failure and everyday I draw and post artwork, by faith.