June 27, 2000

While the Internet can't duplicate the feel of marble, the smell of turpentine or the gloss on an impasto surface, you can still be moved, amused or informed by an artist's work or words.

Artists make things to be looked at, handled, put on a table, hung on a wall and, hopefully, sold to a happy patron. But art is as much about communication as making a product. And most of what happens on the Internet is about communication. It's a two-way street.

Research
Visit online galleries, learn about competitions, grants, classes and studio space, and view other artists' work and discuss their ideas and techniques. Art Library (artlibrary.com), for example, lists three million artists and images.

Pullquote template can't be opened. Exposure & promotion
Artists can sell their work online, post resumes and statements, share ideas and techniques and offer consultation and art criticism.

You can develop your own website or join an online gallery. Dialogue Gallery (dialogue-gallery.com) in Seattle has had 100,000 visitors since 1994 and garnered a number of Web reviews and awards. It's difficult and expensive for an individual artist to get that kind of exposure with traditional promotions.

Your website will only be visited by people who know about it, so it's extremely important to get the word out.

List your site and trade links with as many galleries, art organizations and search engines as possible. And don't just get lost in the big search engines, submit your site to other art-related sites -- local art groups and galleries online list members and even set up Web pages for artists. National groups provide listings for a fee; also look for art-related search engines.

Getting Hits, by Don Sellers (Peachpit Press, 1997; peachpit.com/) has good tips for getting your site to the top of the list, including the use of special HTML code and keywords.

For specific events, mail and email everyone you know. Artists and art organizations, like all small businesses, should keep a current mailing list. This is the most precise tool for communicating with patrons, supporters or members, because your mailing list IS your target audience. Online it's just as important because it is immediate, keeps you and your audience directly in touch and is inexpensive.

But what about all those people who've never heard of you? Try traditional publicity -- submit a calendar listing or press release to the Chronicle/Examiner, Art Calendar, ArtWeek, Bay Guardian and East Bay Express. Media Alliance sells a wonderful database and mailing list -- called People Behind the News -- that contains all the important contact information for media in the Bay Area.

Your art online
High-end photo labs and desktop publishing service bureaus offer scanning services. To save download time for visitors, use thumbnails that link to full-size images.

Art on the Internet will have a more limited palette and less detail than the originals. However, your digital images can still be vibrant and complex enough to intrigue potential buyers and gallery owners.

ArtQuest, a website that lists artists and their works, reports over 1000 visitors a day and is generating sales, though they admit that it is difficult to determine exactly how much work is sold, since the artists handle the sales themselves. ARTwork in San Francisco posted only 23 images by member artists one month, but sold two pieces online.

Online galleries might also handle sales and publicity. Check out the gallery first. Find out how many visitors they have, whether they sell work frequently and what their commission is.

Do not send the work without receiving a contract and payment. If an online gallery accepts your work, they will design the Web pages. Some art organizations, like ArtistResource.org or Art.net will build online portfolios for artists in exchange for volunteer labor or membership dues. Art Listings (artlistings.com/artlistings/) will post two images at no charge.

Internet theft?
If your full-frame images are large and detailed they can be copied off the Internet, re-sharpened and printed without your knowledge. The general public may unwittingly purchase a "bootleg" copy of your work printed on a placemat.

If you are concerned about intellectual property or copyrights consider registering your work with an online service, like IRAA (iraa.artcalendar.com/), or look for shareware that allows you to watermark your online images.