Great Ways To Promote Your Art, and Build A Following Online As An Artist!

Here are some things that pretty much worked for me!

Quick overview:

+ I talk about instagram, youtube, and pinterest a lot so there’s the short version. 

+ For youtube do art tutorials (how to), and sketchbook tours

+ For pinterest create quick long how to images with your instagram handle or website at the end of each pic 

+ For instagram videos do better than pics so show speedarts/art process more than pics and do art challenges

+ You can also make short fun comics and share them on big comic platforms for promo

If you want detailed info you can read the bullet points below!

• First create an instagram. Post several times a week, and use a hashtag generator app so you don’t have to worry about which hashtags will get you views/likes. Honestly just posting won’t be enough. 
  • Make sure you comment on smaller instagram art accounts (less than 100 followers), and leave helpful/genuine comments (no one likes a fake). Also leave a follow if you honestly would like to see more of their stuff (that follow unfollow B.S. is just annoying no one likes that so don’t be one of those unless you like ghost followers or wanna be blocked). 
  •  Do “draw this in your style” challenges by other instagram accounts you actually like weekly to get more views on your account, and more chances of being followed while remaking art that you like. You don’t want to draw art you don’t like. It just takes the fun out of it all, and you’ll feel burned out. So only do challenges you enjoy, and would actually like to do.
  • Post to your instagram story often, and like/comment on the posts of those who follow you so you don’t end up having ghost followers. Sometimes my followers forget I exist, and don’t see my posts on their feed, but when I post on my story it seems they didn’t forget I exist, and show me love! I don’t know why, but it seems like I get a boost in likes whenever I post to my story, it’s weird. 
  • Art videos get a lot more of a boost than posting photos so showing your art process will be better than just the finished product in photo form. 

• Create a short, and sweet webcomic on a platform like webtoon, smackjeeves, tapas, or mangatoon. Then link back to your social media like your blog, instagram, twitter, tumblr, or facebook.  This is optional  so skip this you believe webcomics are just way too time consuming (which it is) or you have no interest in making one. Webcomic sites already have thousands users hungry for beautiful art storytelling so you can leverage those wealthy platforms to draw your comic readers to your own dead poor platform or to build a name for your art brand. 

• Pin some snippets of your webcomic pages on pinterest 🙂 I have seen many webcomic creators do this to boost their views/traffic, and gain readership. Chances are if they clicked on your comic image they want to know more about your story. Pinning your most enticing comic episode might do the trick.  My main source of traffic for my blogs come from pinterest, and most of my email subscribers who love my art tell me that’s where they found me to begin with so….it might work for you too! (do keep in mind that if your comic page looks really nice, and gets popular it will be stolen, but that’s fine since your followers will most likely call the thief out on it ). 

• Pin some of your instagram art pics, or instagram videos on pinterest as well (make sure you have a little logo at the bottom of your video with your instagram handle, and if it’s an image make sure your instagram handle or website url is somewhere on it so others can find you). Oh, and you can also like your images on pinterest straight to your site or instagram too!

• Create short speed art videos on youtube or instagram. You can link back to your socials or your blog as well. 

• You can also create “how to” youtube videos about how you draw your favorite things or even your art process. 

• Do a sketchbook tour, and post the sketches on social media platforms like twitter, youtube, instagram, etc.  A sketchbook tour does a lot better on youtube to be honest. For some reason people are obsessed with sketchbook tours. I have to admit it’s nice to see what others are doing in their own sketchbooks, and sometimes gives artists ideas on what they can add to theirs. 

• Do infographic like art tutorials in the form of long images (make sure to include your instagram handle or website inside of the graphic), and post it on pinterest. Pinterest is heavily used by other art lovers as well as fellow artists looking for tips/tricks, and the chances of you gaining popularity on there increases if you post helpful art tutorials yourself. 

• Using portfolio websites like artstation, and behance is a great way to get recognized by employers who are looking for your art skills. If you are looking for a chance to get hired as a professional or freelance artist I highly recommend using a website like behance. Every month I receive messages from local employers asking about teaching my skills at an arts high school, or coming in for an interview as an illustrator at XYZ company, etc.
  • If you want to get seen quicker on behance  you can do character redesigns. For example, your take on Disney’s Mulan, and how the characters would look like in your eyes. Or your take on Danny Phantom characters, Martin Mystery, etc. Just pick a character from a movie or show that you like, and illustrate them through your eyes. 

A facebook page doesn’t work much for me unless I’m in a facebook art group, and share my page there. Facebook without any groups to share it with is difficult to get going. So I highly recommend you join facebook art groups, and share a few pieces of your art (also link back to your socials) so that you can build a following. Also only post in facebook groups your interested in. Don’t post to promote/spam. No one likes a spammer. 

What else? Um…I got nothin. Everything else happens in real life.