Should Artists Have Their Own Blogs?

Professionals artists and novices alike would agree: art lends itself to solitude. From the studio to the gallery—both creating and viewing art tends to be an individualized experience. But is this a necessity of the field, or just a bad habit?

Art blogs help artists to reach beyond the canvas or the computer screen and to make contact with thousands of other creatives all across the world.
Many artists have done just this. Blogging provides any creative-minded individual the opportunity to share their work with the world at large. Blogging, combined with social media and online art communities offers artists a unique opportunity for self-promotion, expanded viewership, and ultimately, contacts with buyers.
Although galleries are still important to the professional artist, gone are the days of galleries and exhibition as the primary means of sharing and selling art. Today, online art communities like finearttips.com, conceptart.org, and behance.net allow artists to showcase their best work. But individual blogs have their place as well in connecting the artist to a larger community of viewers, fans, and fellow artists. While most artists strive to create finished pieces ready for display and sale, the creative process itself is equally, if not more important.
Blogs allow artists to show works-in-progress. Thus the artist can receive feedback and criticism before the work is finalized, make changes, and contemplate new ideas and suggestions. Posting works-in-progress on blogs can also help budding artists learn about new artistic techniques and see the creative process from start to finish as presented by the more experienced blogger.

Tutorials, essays, and experiments are extremely valuable in revealing details about the process of art creation that is all too often overshadowed by final pieces. Perfection is certainly laudable. But sometimes the bad ideas are as revealing, interesting, and thought provoking as the good. The artist can see what parts of his creative process work, what parts don’t, and why. But artists’ blogs need not only showcase personal works. A creative mind sees the world in a different way, and an artist blogger brings a unique perspective to other artwork, current events, and other forms of creative expression.
A blog like Book Paper Scissors is a collection of some of the most unique illustration being created today by both professionals and casual artists. Such blogs not only provide budding illustrators with publicity, but also present a fascinating picture of the zeitgeist of modern illustration. Glancing over Book Paper Scissors reveals a common love of complex line work, simple but vibrant colors, and odd cutout type shapes.
Art Hound, another artist blog, not only displays the bloggers’ work, but also offers a unique service that pairs buyers with art that would fit with the design and style of their home. Individualized services like this help connect lay people with ‘good art’ and also bring the artists revenue.
So, if you are an artist and wondering ‘why blog?’, consider this:

• Blogging can help bring the world to your art, and your art to the world.
• It can help share your unique perspective on the world as a creative individual.
• It allows you to connect with budding artists and become a mentor, role model, and teacher. It can broaden your artistic horizons, teach you new things about art creation, but more importantly, about your own work.

So, should artists write blogs? No—not just write—but illustrate, design, and create a blog? Emphatically—yes!

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Guest author: Blogging expert and SEO genius, Yan Susanto Yan and I met on Twitter a few years ago. I was really impressed with his blogging knowledge and friendly advice. He and I have remained good friends and I am grateful he took time away from his busy schedule to share some great tips with my readers and me.

Yan Susanto has retired from blogging scene to focus on behind-the-scene SEO gigs for a group of private clienteles. Some of his latest works involve e-commerce sites that capitalize on the growing popularity of Kindle covers and Kinect Games. Thank you, Yan!!! ~Lori

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The Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Twitter Image & Following
6 Free Ways to Promote Your Art Business Online
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SEO Tips to Rank Your Twitter & Facebook Pages Higher on Google
5 Reasons Why Artists Need Social Media & Eye Opening Stats to Back it Up!
PS. Let’s meet on Facebook and Twitter!