http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMarch 2021 61
CASE STUDY
Eleanor Havsteen-Franklin
Q What channels do you use to
promote yourself online as an artist?
A Instagram is great: it is visual, quick,
easy, and a great way to connect with
other artists, gallerists, clients and art
lovers. It is a good platform to let people
know about your work, what you are
currently working on, exhibitions and
projects in an informal way.
My website is another important
platform, which gives viewers a chance
to have a more in-depth understanding
of you as an artist. For potential
collaborators, gallerists and buyers, it
also shows that you are taking your
career as an artist seriously. I have
been told by gallerists, looking to put
exhibitions together, that the artist
having a website was an important part
in their decision-making process.
It is also good to be linked to different
groups, such as societies, councils, studio
groups, etc. Here your work is included
with other artists, which can attract more
interest and widen the audience.Q How did you go about creating your
own website?
A I made my first website many years
ago, using a platform recommended
to me by an artist friend. However, it
became harder to navigate as more
people used their phones to view it and
I wasn’t representing my work in the
best possible way. In consultation with
Parker Harris, I decided to have a new
website built, and to get a professional
involved. Having art professionals and a
web designer was incredibly helpful both
in the sense of creating the website and
making it more visually stunning. For an
artist the visual aspect is so important,
and also communicates much more to
the viewer than just text. It was very
helpful to be able to discuss which partsto keep and which to leave out, decisions
that I can find hard to make on my own,
and it was great to have their ‘bird’s eye
perspective’. Together, we discussed creating
the different sections, content and holding
the viewer’s interest. We wanted the website
to be much more accessible and easier for
the viewer to navigate on whatever device
they use.
Whether you build it yourself or ask a
professional to do it for you, you need
to consider different factors such as
cost, expertise and what you are hoping
to achieve. Either way, I would always
recommend discussing the build ofa website with a few people who
understand the art world and what you are
trying to achieve.Q Is there anything else you’d
recommend artists do to promote their
work online?
A Ask for specialist advice! I also took a
few consulting sessions about Instagram
and I got great tips on how to market
myself online. For instance, I learned
that I need to have a clear strategic goal:
promoting my art. Another thing was
to keep my social media feeds cohesive
visually in order for them to be an accurate
representation of my work. This means I
need to think about posting only my art –
not images of my personal life, trips, etc.
which may not make sense in this context!Next month: Online exhibitions and selling
onlinep Emergent, etching 2019, edition of 20,
23¼ 3 21¼in (59 3 54cm)t Tundra II, etching and thread on
Japanese paper 2020, edition of 20,
173 14½in (43 3 37cm)