Top 5 Tips for Daily Painters

This guest post by Diane Hoeptner shares the Top 5 Tips for Daily Painters. As an introduction to this post, I thought you might enjoy learning a bit about Daily Painters.

There is actually a new artistic movement called, The Daily Painters Movement.  It really got its momentum going in 2006, and now The Daily Painters Movement has a directory of over 400 serious artists. According to the Daily Painter Review,

“Daily painting is the practice wherein an artist produces a piece of art every day, or every weekday, or almost every weekday – or just periodically. As that rambling sentence shows, there are no steadfast rules. Heck, a daily painter does not even have to be a painter, just an artist dedicated to their art.”

These artists paint their hearts out, and then blog about it! In hopes of helping them, here are the Top 5 Blogging Tips for Daily Painters:

1)  Post accurate photos of your work.

Part of daily painting is photographing paintings that are still wet.  That’s a challenge!  …especially with darker passages which will appear speckled with white where the light reflects off of wet paint ridges.  Invest $40 in a photo tent, use the “macro” setting on your camera.  If necessary use a tripod.

2)  Resist the urge to explain how you might have painted it better. 

This one is a toughie.  When I started blogging my paintings, the thought of someone else calling me out on perceived errors was agonizing!  But daily painting is about getting better over time in small increments.  —  Keep the critique to yourself, it’s a buzzkill.

3)  Keep your text brief (Part 1.)    
One of the joys of blogging your paintings is receiving comments.  Visitor comments will provide a wealth of inspiration, guidance and fellowship.  They’ll also boost your blog post up in internet search results.  Don’t make your visitors feel obligated to read a lot of marginally related text before they get a chance to leave a comment!  Write a few meaningful lines about your daily painting, ask a question or post a good quote, then call it a day.

4)  Keep your text brief (Part 2)
Your blog is a great place to share good news.    But do yourself a favor and proceed with caution…   You may pin hopes on a project or an idea that never actually materializes.  You might enter a juried show and get a rejection slip the next week.  A great commission might fall through at the last minute.  Most artists experience this…  If your next “big thing” isn’t a sure thing, wait and let things pan out first before you share.
5)  Make it easy for people to contact you. 
A daily painting blog will not only sharpen your painting skills, it will provide a unique opportunity to connect with people who “get” what you do.   Your fellow artists, artist representatives and art buyers shouldn’t have to search far and wide to shoot you an email!  There are opportunities begging to be explored and questions un-answered…make sure your email and/or phone number is clearly posted and easily accessed.
I hope these top 5 blogging tips helped you! What is your top tip?
For more information about Daily Painters, please visit http://www.dailyartpainters.com/, or  http://www.thedailypainterslist.com/, and  http://www.squidoo.com/paintingaday
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