Creatives! Time to learn how to write an engaging artist's blog...

Are you a creative person? Are you already a blogger?
Do you have a website? What is your online presence like? 

Well, it’s time to start thinking about it! 


Blogging for artists is not just about making sure you are heard and seen by the people who you want to be heard and seen by, it is also an integral part of your practice.Thinking, talking and writing about what is essentially a visual process is a lot of the time a difficult process for artists, making you feel awkward, pretentious and vulnerable.

Writing, just like making, takes practice and if the studio is the place where you practice your making, I say the blog is the place where you can practice your writing. Thinking whilst writing, or writing whilst thinking is in effect another part of your practice – what leads you to the making. You can then step back and open up a space for a critical and analytical dialogue between yourself and your work.Your inner voice, is suddenly right in front of you and is in fact very clear. Dialogue is what art is all about, it’s what life is about. You don’t have to wait until a project or residency is complete in order to highlight it or draw attention to it and in this way prospective commissioners and curators can follow your development and get to know you.

Blogging is a new wave of thought making, a simple dialogue between you and your art, but also you and other artists.  It creates another dimension for people to view your work and understand your work. So, being able to blog your ideas, your words, your thoughts, your views, becomes not just about figuring out what you want to do, but it also becomes about creating this merge between the physical and the metaphysical, the artist and the spectator, the real and the unreal. Blogging is a new art form in itself. A blog, doesn’t have to be the crème de la crème of art writing; it is simply your words and what you wish to express.

You are in control of what is read and of what you write.  

So, HOW TO?

What Platform to use?

• Blogger – Google owned, easy to use, first dibs on search engine rankings.
• Wordpress – Good Design, Easily turned into website, lots of widgets, a bit harder to use, best for designers.
• Tumblr – image based blog – not for those that want to write.
• Artist Talking – part of a-n art community, engage more with artists and have more of a presence with a-n for potential features, use it as an art form in itself.
• IdeasTap – great if want to collaborate with others on this site, or if want to write for IdeasTap – good to get noticed by them. 

What/How to Blog?

•Incorporate a blog into your art portfolio website.
- Centre your blog posts around you and your art. 

•Build a blog as a separate entity from your portfolio site
-focusing on a wider variety of art-related subjects-which may directly or indirectly help to promote your artwork.  

Some of my blogs:

nataliaarts.com – THIS BLOG - writing about arts in general – my own and other art related things that interest me. Exhibitions, my creative life, Artists that Inspire, About my business and others I’m working with.

Being an Artist  - The ins and outs of being an artist, of graduating, the advantages and disadvantages, primarily talking about my experiences as an artist. This is a blog on Artists Talking through a-n.co.uk

Natalia Komis – My art practice – a work in progress blog. Showcasing work that isn’t finished, that I would normally put in a sketchbook, ideas, thoughts, an online art diary.

How to Write a Good Blog Post

• Write a good title
• Write 300-500 words
• Place great images
• Link back to other posts, other artists, websites
• Add Labels e.g. exhibitions, work in progress, art of the week, Fun Friday 

Content is King 

BUT you’re an artist SO Your Content Is already GREAT! 

• rename your image files with descriptive titles
• append correct alt attributes
• give your art a good on-page description
• make sure your page Title tags are optimised
• share your art on image sharing sites – don’t forget about Pinterest, Tumblr or ArtStack

Provide Great Post Titles

• Your posts need to be good enough for people to be late to work - make them want to stop and read!
• Your post titles have to be engaging.
• Great content is important, yes - but titles are the one thing that get people to read your posts in the first place.
• Be inventive about the language you use and remember - people tend to scan social networks very quickly so make your titles stand out!

If you want to know more about arts marketing and how to blog professionally, I run workshops specifically targeted towards this, but I also offer 1-1 sessions to help you with your own marketing needs. To find out more about what creative marketing workshops I am running go to my website. 

Or, if you're interested in 1-1 coaching or a more practical marketing session visit my website here >> 

The next in the series of arts marketing workshops is on the 24th August at 44AD Art Space in Bath. This will be on Writing a good Press Release and Newsletter Marketing 
5-7pm £20/£15 

You can find more info on Eventbrite as well as details on how to book a space.