Artists: Do you want to sell more paintings, get invited into galleries and group shows, get selected for large corporate art projects, and have your artwork published in books? All these things have happened to me as the direct result of having an updated website.
I am an artist who has made a living selling my paintings through galleries and art consultants. It would be hard to count the number of times an opportunity for gallery representation or a large project came my way because someone was able to view my current portfolio on an updated website.
Artist friends often ask me how they can get their own career going, and I usually tell them that this is the main thing they can do right away: get a website and keep it updated. It isn't that expensive, or to put it a better way, it is money well spent. If I was able to teach myself how to build one using an online service, they can too. I've known a dozen or so friends who pay someone else hundreds of dollars to design their artist website and then it never gets updated because someone else has control of it. That's why I recommend doing it yourself. If you update it often, then it never becomes a big chore you don't want to do.
If you don't have one yet, you'll have to do some research to find the right fit. I am very happy with mine, and even though I don't get tons of traffic, I know it helps collectors see my latest work, and this assists in gallery sales. If you're one of the many artists who has a website but never updates it, let me give you five good reasons to change your ways!
1. People who see your work somewhere and want to buy it will search your name online, find your latest work and how to purchase it.
2. Collectors who have bought your work in the past will check back frequently to view your new work if they see that you keep it updated.
3. Galleries are on line looking at artist websites all the time! They may see an image on social media or in a magazine, look up the artist's name and browse their paintings. Most of the galleries I am currently represented by invited me in after viewing art on my website.
4. You may get into invitational group shows if the curator/gallerist can see your work online.
5. Corporate projects become within the realm of possibility for you. I have worked with several over the years and enjoy doing large, site specific paintings for them several times each year. Let's say an art consultant is putting together a proposal to provide the artwork for a hospital expansion. They have to make a presentation with budget to the selection committee. The ones that I work with know they can browse my website, download any images that fit the project and use it in their presentation (I have given them permission to do this). That existing art is used as the basis for a larger one for the project if approved.
You never know who is looking at your website. It could be someone looking for exactly the work you create. Don't you want them to see your best, latest art?