This morning was spent reviewing all the online places I have put my art and some places I may want to put my art.
Among those places are: Deviant Art, Art Wanted, Zazzle, Etsy, Café Press, Creative Hotlist, and My Art Space. I also looked at regional, local and state online galleries.
Some of these places require a fee to make the most of their features. Some are more expensive than others. Some are quite impressive and have a big following. I go to them again and again. Some are lame and I have deleted them or at least deleted my information. FYI, I have not listed any of the lame ones. Some are good, but not a good fit for me. They may be for technical writers, graphic designers or crafters.
When you are contemplating online galleries and shops for marketing consider what will be a good fit for you, your art and your finances. Ask yourself if you need to have your art in several places if you already have a website. Can you keep up all of these sites? Whenever you create a new piece are you willing to visit each site and upload all of your new images? Are you willing to provide input to all of the forums? Which sites are worth paying for and which ones are good enough free? Is the site worth the price? Some sites are $40 a year and some are $40 a month. Is the free site worth the trouble? How is the art protected from downloading, if that is what you want.
Ask yourself why you are putting your art on these sites. Some artists are selling from the sites. Others are simply using them as a showcase.
I joined a few sites where the webmaster was a volunteer who didn’t know how to make the site functional. I found online galleries that didn’t work properly; where there were blank pages, impossible navigation and where the blog had not been updated for months. I had trouble uploading art or putting in information.
Some sites may not be well known enough to bring the world to your door, or feature lots of badly drawn “art” on lined notebook paper. Use your discretion and go with your gut.
