Are you wondering why your artwork is not selling online? One reason might be the images you are publishing online. However, photographing artwork is a skill, and you will want to master this skill if you wish to own a thriving art business.
So many artists spend hours painting and drawing their masterpieces. Still, they often neglect what is essential for selling their artwork online, and that is the importance of photographing their finished pieces properly.
It does not matter if you are a master at content marketing, social media marketing, or have the most beautiful artist website; if the images of your art are not high-quality, your artwork will not sell online.
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Tips On Photographing Artwork To Sell
If you are selling your art online, you are showcasing your art online with images.
The quality of the images you publish online could be the difference between a sale and no sale.
You have spent endless hours creating your latest piece of art. It is essential to spend an equal amount of time photographing and editing the images of your artwork if you wish to have people purchase your art from your online art gallery.
Photographing art is a skill that can be learned just like painting or drawing. Investing in a digital camera, understanding, if it is better to photograph your painting in direct sunlight or on an overcast day, is the business side of selling artwork.
Selling art online is different from selling your painting at an art fair or local art gallery. People seeing your paintings online are observing your work on a computer or mobile device. They can’t see the texture of the painting, how lights racks to the painting and they can not have an accurate idea of the size of the piece.
If you find it difficult photographing your artwork, don’t worry. We have you covered.
In this post, we will talk about the best camera for professional photography and how to take great photos of artwork.
It is possible to showcase your artwork like the pros just by following the easy tips outlined below.
Before You Start Learning How to Photograph
The best way to get started is to research what other artists and crafters are doing online.
Take a look at images on Pinterest and Instagram.
- Search your favorite dessert.
- Search for furniture.
- Search for puppies.
What do all of the images have in common?
All of the Pinterest pins and Instagram posts that you stopped and looked at had high-quality images.
The Images that you scrolled past did not stand out and grab your attention.
Studying how other people and businesses are showcasing their products online will help you learn how to promote your artwork.
Pinterest is an excellent way for you to learn about images because it is a visual network.
When you are studying the images that caught your attention on Pinterest and Instagram, ask yourself:
- How can I create the same excitement with my pictures?
- What do I need to do to stop people from scrolling past my Pinterest pins?
- What do I have to do to have people purchase my art when they land on my site?
- What do I have to do to gain more engagement on my social media networks?
Research Other Artists
The next step to take is researching your competition.
Take some time out of your week to find other artists selling the same type of art you are selling.
Look at their blogs, gallery, and social media pages.
Take note of how they are representing their art and how people are reacting to the images.
Then, ask yourself, “What can I do to make it better?“
Go to KeySearch to discover artists who are selling similar artwork.
Click Keyword Research and type in keywords that describe your artwork.
In this example, we are using Horse Painting Artist.
On the left, you will see a list of the top nine websites that rank for the keywords “horse painting artists.”
Click on the links to discover artists who are ranking for those keywords.
On the left, there will be a list of related keywords.
Click on those links to discover even more artists.
Photographing Artwork Tips
Here are seven tips to help you take better photographs of your art.
- When you are taking photographs of your art, make sure the lighting is correct. There is nothing that could make a piece of art look flat more than bad lighting. The best light source is natural sunlight. You might find that a cloudy day might produce better results than direct sunlight. If you live in an area that does not have many sunny days you will want to use artificial light and stage your painting on a neutral colored wall.
- If you have a hard time taking your photographs, you might want to hire a professional photographer to take the photos for you. It is an investment to outsource your photography but you will be sure to get great photos of your artwork.
- Another option if you can’t afford to hire a photographer is to ask a friend to help you. Many people love to take photographs and are as good as or even better than someone you hire. You can even ask them to show you how to use proper lighting and how to use Adobe Photoshop for color correction.
- Take photos inside and outside. Like we have mentioned earlier, there is nothing better than natural sunlight when it comes to taking pictures.
- Stage your art. Take a photograph hanging on a wall. Potential art buyers like to see what a piece of art would look like hanging on a wall or sitting on a shelf.
- Add some décor near the art. Stage it just like it would be displayed in a home.
- Take close-up pictures of your art. People like to see the texture of the art. Another way to show the texture of the painting is to take different angles.
There are so many different things that you can do to bring life to your work. Once you do that, you will have an easier time selling your work online.
Editing Photographs
The last thing you will want to do before sharing pictures of your art online is to edit your images. There are many free online tools and photo editing software that you can use to edit your pictures.
Canva and Photoshop are two of our favorites image editing tools to use. Canva is free, but you can also purchase the premium services if you wish. Photoshop is a professional photo editing software that most professional artists and photographers use to edit their images.
If you are using social media for marketing, size the images to the social media site that you are using.
Unfortunately, all social media sites have different image sizes that they use for their posts. This makes it difficult because now you have to edit for each social media site.
You will want to crop and resize the image for the particular site for the best results. You do not want just a part of your artwork showing; people will scroll past your post. You want to catch their attention and have them want to learn more about your work.
Photography Gear
Unless you are going to hire a professional photographer to photograph your art, you will need to make an investment in some equipment.
Listed below are some popular digital cameras used by photographers.
- Canon EOS Rebel T1I Digital SLR Camera Body {15.1 M/P} – With Battery
- Canon EOS 50D Digital SLR Camera Body {15.1 M/P} – With Battery and
- Nikon D5300 Digital SLR Camera Body, Black {24.2 M/P} – With Battery
Prime Camera Lens
- Nikon Nikkor 70-300mm F/4.5-6.3 G ED DX AF-P (Limited Compatibility)
- Sigma 35mm F/1.4 DG HSM A (Art) Lens For Canon EF Mount {67} – With
Tripods
Lighting
Purchasing equipment is an investment.
To start off, you might want to consider renting equipment to help keep the cost down.
Over time your sales will start to increase and cover the costs of the equipment you need to operate an online art business.
At that point, it might be more cost-efficient to purchase the equipment instead of renting.
What are your thoughts about staging your art to sell?
What difficulties do you have in photographing artwork?
Photographing An Oil Painting
In this video, fantasy artist Ryan Pancoast (Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons) shows how he photographs finished paintings. This process works for both wet and dry paintings.
Final Thoughts On Photographing Original Artwork
There is a learning curve when it comes to photographing small and large paintings. One benefit of investing in a digital camera is that you can take as many pictures as you wish until you are satisfied with the final image. Photography gear can become expensive so be sure you do some research before you purchase a camera and lighting equipment.
Follow the tips outlined above and pay close attention to all of the important details. Make sure the image is not blurry, and it accurately represents the colors of your original paintings.
Don’t be afraid to use your smartphone camera to photograph artwork for social media. Smartphone cameras have come a long way.
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