Create the Perfect Artwork Listing
When it comes to making sales, providing collectors with enough information about you and your artwork is essential. We’ve already written blog posts about taking a great profile picture, writing an excellent bio and making sure your art looks its best, however we’re yet to cover the perfect artwork listing.
For any prospective collectors, feeling uncertain about whether or not an artwork is ready to hang, not knowing what the medium is or even wondering how something is framed can be enough to prevent a purchase. Similarly, knowing the story and inspiration behind an artwork might be the extra push that collector needs to feel confident they’re making a great decision.
Join us as we go through the process of listing an artwork from start to finish to make sure you’re giving yourself the best chances of selling.
It’s worth spending a little time to get your artwork listing looking swish!
Artwork Photos and Video
Taking high-quality photos of your artwork is one of the most important things you can do to sell it, so we’ve dedicated an entire blog post to the subject here. Try to show the sides and back of your artwork too, so that collectors know how it will be hung, and whether the sides are painted. If you’re listing a work on paper, it can be helpful to show how it looks in a frame too, even if the frame is not included in the price. Click here for more info on framing.
As you can see, we’ve added an option to share a video from YouTube. This step is optional in case you want to show the whole process of creating your work, prefer to talk about it on camera or, perhaps, have footage from an exhibition in which it was featured.
Click here for all our tips on taking a great artwork photo!
Artwork Details
Artwork Description/Influence
This section is where you can tell collectors everything you want them to know about your artwork. First and foremost, we advise you mention any logistical details:
- Is your artwork framed?
- What are the dimensions of the piece when framed/unframed?
- How should the artwork be hung? Does it come with a wire or D-rings?
- What is the medium of the artwork? This is especially important for prints or anything listed under ‘Other Media’. Be specific! What was the medium of the original piece, or what do you mean exactly by ‘other media’. The more information the better.
- Is there anything affecting the deliverability of the piece? For example, could there be a delay in order to have it framed?
- Anything else that you think you would want to know before purchasing the artwork.
Once you’ve covered these important details, you can go ahead and get creative with describing your inspirations and artistic process. Don’t be shy – collectors love to know more about your intentions for the piece or how it came to be. Is it part of a series or an overall theme? Did you create it for a particular exhibition or art prize? We want to know it all.
Don’t skimp on the details! Tell us all about the inspiration behind your piece and the the nitty gritty details.
Keywords
The keywords (or ‘tags’) that you use are mostly important for your visibility on Bluethumb. This helps your artwork appear when people search for certain subject matter or medium, such as ‘beach’, ‘resin’ or ‘large’. Think about the most appealing characteristics of your piece and increase your own exposure. Click here for more keyword tips.
Medium
This one’s pretty easy – just choose your correct medium. If you’ve used a couple of mediums then you can select ‘Mixed Media’. Go into detail in the box marked ‘Medium Description’ – what sort of paint or paper have you used (don’t be afraid to mention the brands!)?
Collection
Art doesn’t always fit into a neat little box, so choosing the right collection for your piece can be tricky. Just go with your gut here, but please be honest. It’s frustrating for our collectors if they’re trying to browse ‘pop art’ but can only find hyper-realistic landscape images.
Remember to be specific when it comes to the medium! Is your work oil? Acrylic? Varnished with gloss?
Artwork Size
When listing the size of your artwork, make sure the dimensions reflect the artwork as it is unframed. If you’re selling it framed, include the dimensions of the frame somewhere obvious in the description.
To obtain the weight of the piece, we recommend weighing yourself on a set of scales, then weighing yourself when holding the artwork. Subtract your own weight from the sum total and you’ll have an accurate answer.
Knowing the proper size of an artwork allows collectors to imagine it in their home.
Shipping
Choosing whether your box will be shipped in a box or a tube is usually dependent on whether or not it is ready to hang. Anything on paper or unstretched canvas can be shipped in a tube, whereas frames and stretched canvases will require a box. That said, some people do prefer to ship works on paper flat between two pieces of cardboard, so we’ve also given you the option of de-selecting ‘ready to hang’ if you decide to choose the boxed shipping option.
Click here for our tips on shipping your artwork correctly.
Our art supplies store is currently unavailable due to Melbourne restrictions, but you can find plenty of advice from the packing pros on our Facebook Artists Group!
Availability
The availability section allows your artwork to appear on Bluethumb even when it is in an exhibition or you’re out of town – if this is the case, just select ‘unavailable’. It’s also a good idea to make a note of the reason for its unavailability in the description.
If a collector is interested in purchasing the piece then we’ll get in touch to check how long it will be before it can be shipped. Many people are happy to wait for a couple of weeks or even longer for their new artwork, but it’s still very important that you list your work as ‘unavailable’ if it cannot be shipped within a few days, so as to avoid disappointment on the buyer’s behalf and maintain a sense of trust.
We’re always happy to hear about our artists’ exhibitions! Just remember to mark your works as unavailable until they’re ready to ship.
Artwork Price
We’ve done our best to make sure the pricing system is as transparent as possible, and you can clearly see the price at which your work will appear on Bluethumb, as well as your own payout. Unfortunately, we can’t give you specific advice on pricing your work as this is really up to you, but we do recommend looking around Bluethumb to get an idea of how other artists price their work. The Just Sold page can be a good place to start!
All photos by Megan George.
Thank you that was really helpful information. Sandra Messner.
Glad you thought so, Sandra!
Great post. Thank you for all the useful information. Often you think you are doing your absolute best but it is always great to lessen how you can improve.
I would love to know more about how to post a video clip to my works. Don’t know where to start. Thank you again.
We’re so glad to hear that you found it useful, Hayley! Good to know – we’ll have a think about any tips that we can offer regarding the video clips.
Cheers!
I love reading your newsy updates.
Thanks lots.
Julie.
I admit I needed this badly, and have been putting things right this afternoon, we want to put my Url at Bluethumb on my website, is there any specific button , or just the url itself?
Its ok , thank you, my husband has donr it.x
Fabulous points and so easy to navigate each section. Thank you so much for encapsulating the essentials .
I noted in your advise that you said that paper could be sent rolled. This not good advise for high quality water colour paper as it can crack it is quite thick. Try bending it, i checked myself, it does crack, cheers and good vibes
Thanks for the tip, Chris!
This is a great page of tips and I really love being part of Bluethumb. I think your system is very well designed.
Thank you for all the great information. I am constantly trying to open up to new ways of doing things, we are living a world that is forever evolving keeping up is challenging. I appreciate all the help I can get.
Great article bluethumb team. Thank you all so much. The information is great. Will be definitely adding more info on my next paintings and ones already on my gallery. Sandra Messner
Great advice, thanks. I sometimes wonder if I say too much or not enough in my description but now I feel confident adding my little quotes and stories…
Julie xo
Hi, the online art supply store link for the boxes you have posted is not working. That’s would be really handy if we can purchase customised boxes for packing and shipping.
Regards Priya
Hi Priya,
Unfortunately due to the current restrictions in Melbourne, the Art Supplies store is temporarily closed. We’ll reflect this in the article now – thanks for bringing it to our attention!
Grace @ Bluethumb
Thanks for these tips, I shall have to make some changes. Arches watercolour paper is best not rolled up for posting. Yes they could crack. Better between firm cardboards.
Cheers !