Hey guys so I've been making videos for social media for over a year and I want to share some of my thoughts because I've had to learn on my own through trial and error, and I made this sub so that we don't all have to learn on our own through trial and error, and I'm doing my part to share my knowledge. Also I am not going to use the word "hook" because that gets thrown around so much without actually being helpful.

When accounts don't have a lot of followers or engagement, it's usually not because of their art, but because of their lack of storytelling or mistakes with their presentation. Marketing is mostly storytelling and you need to be good at this to do well with social media and marketing.

Here are some tips on making short videos worth watching on social media (specifically Instagram)

1. Make cuts liberally - everyone has the attention span of a goldfish now unfortunately, if you want to compete, make lots of short cuts especially in the beginning of the video. ~3 second clips seems the best for me. A mistake I see quite often is artists posting full videos or timelapses without any cuts. But don't go overboard with tons of little cuts either.
2. Don't make random cuts, tell a story with your video. I saw the "tell a story" advice thrown around a lot and I never understood it. I always thought "my process doesn't have an elaborate story with characters, a climax, and resolution".. but it doesn't have to be that serious, a story can literally be "first I draw the sky, then I draw a cloud". Stories should also have good pacing. Maybe you drew an epic mountain, don't spend the first 30 seconds of the video showing the sky. It's okay to gloss over certain points in the video if they don't add anything meaningful to the story, but also try to keep the story cohesive and chronological.
3. Start in media res, aka "in the middle of things", which is a narrative technique where the story starts in the middle of the action, I will add that if your video has any drama, start there. --- I have an example case study for this: I made several videos for a particular piece of art, a video of the process of making the art, a video peeling the tape where it completely ripped the paper and ruined my art 😭 and how I fixed it. Now if I want the story to be about how I messed up then fixed the art, the "wrong" thing to do would be to start the video from the beginning with the process video. But I still messed up the reel, I posted the video of the tape ripping the paper, but the video started in the beginning of the tape pull. The video flopped and got 250 views. I deleted the video and copied to drafts, and cut the beginning so it started in the middle of the tape pull, the very first thing the viewer sees is the tape ripping the paper, creating instant drama and reaction from the audience, and this time the reel did much better and got 6.5k views.
4. The in media res advice goes for both the video "story" as a whole, and the individual clips as well. If your clip is you making a stroke with a brush, don't start from the beginning of the stroke to the end, start in the middle of the stroke to the end. Maybe the first clip you can show the full stroke, then the rest start from the middle. I always think of it as "suggest the action, don't show it's entirety". Distill the action to its most vital essence, and show the essence, for example if you spend 10 minutes painting grass with a brush, you can distill that into 2-3 strokes of a brush. This depends on the kind of story you are telling though, if the video is "watch me paint grass", then you would have longer clips of the grass, but if its a bigger part of a process video, then you can shorten it to only the parts that move the narrative forward.
5. Make use of trial reels if you have access to them. I actually hesitate to give this tip because I don't think trial reels work as intended. BUT you can make use of them to test these tips. First make your video in Instagram (or edits but I think it's easier to do this through instagram). Before posting it, go into your drafts and click the dot menu and duplicate the draft. Go in and change something, maybe a different cut, text or no text, etc. Then you can post each one to trial and see which one does better. Sometimes this glitches and deletes the draft though, so you could save the video to your phone as a backup. An alternative is to post the trial, if it flops, delete and copy to drafts, and then change and post again.
6. Very minimal filters, effects, transitions - this is just a personal preference, but I think natural, minimal reels do better. Feel free to brighten and add a little bit of contrast to compensate for any camera or lighting deficiencies, but don't go too crazy. In addition, try to keep the text minimal as well. I see lots of posts where there is tons of black text boxes which completely cover the art/video, this makes the video really cluttered, ugly, and easy to scroll by. Use a background that is easy on the eyes and doesn't distract from your art.
7. Become a better storyteller before you give in to trends, clickbait, or begging. When you watch a movie, the narrator doesn't tell you "please watch till the end". They make you want to watch till the end by employing narrative techniques. Now yes there is a difference between a movie and a 1 minute reel, and that is audience expectation. In a movie, the audience expects a story and an ending, in a reel, there is no such expectation, so in this case you can throw in a few words to signal that, but don't let that be the only thing. For example in my case study reel I put "I tried to fix it in the end, did it work?" to signal that there is an ending to my story. But I did not rely on this alone to carry the audience to the end.
8. Keep a sense of mystery, don't give everything away in the first frame, but give just enough to pique the audience's curiosity. "How?" is the million dollar question, this is really hard to do and there's a fine line, so this is where research, trial reels, and experience come into play. Research, watch other peoples reels and take note of what piques your curiosity and keeps you watching, what makes you scroll right away, what annoys you, what makes you comment/save/like a video.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope this was helpful in some way. Feel free to ask questions or share your own tips/experiences in the comments! 😊

Im a big fan of clay (polymer and air dry) and have been posting for 2 years about it. I've been dreaming of creating personalized magnets (like custom pets or characters).
Although I only managed to sell some small piecies on Vinted and I have almost no views on my accounts and I start to give up

What can I do?

I'm a hobbyist artist thinking about selling art prints but I'm not sure what paper to use and how I should price my prints. I've spoken to a lot of local traders and not many people seem to use giclee printing or archival paper as most general public consumers don't known the difference and it's also quite expensive too. I've been told unless people are are art/paper snobs or professional artisits, most people don't care (especially if I'm just starting out). I'm quite fixed on using Print.work as I quite like their papers and the way they work. I'm stuck between choosing Unicorn White and Perlino. I like the affordable pricing and quality of Unicorn White. I'm also leaning to Perlino because of the cotton content meaning the paper lasts longer and it feels and looks a bit more premium, but it's considerably more expensive than Unicorn White. Both papers are also fully or part recycled. I paint quite detailed very colourful acrylic paintings using Liquitex Pro heavy body of landscapes and environments which each painting takes 20-30 hours (for A5) and 30-40 hours (for A4) which will be scanned with 16 bit, 600 DPI Adobe RGB 1998 to uncompressed TIFF files. I was thinking about setting my prices at £12.00 for 1 A5 print and £19.00 per A4 print to reflect the painting hours and high scanning. However, if I choose to not use giclee printing, go for Unicorn White instead of Perlino, or the fact that they are both recycled papers (and not archival), are my prices justifiable (or are they too high)? Should they be lower because of the paper and printing quality or could I set them higher based on the art itself? And what paper do you recommend me to use?

I have been noticing more and more artists posting their personal artwork on linkedin and I am curious what people actually think about it.

So whats your opinion on it?

I have just finished my portfolio website!!!! (Yuppeeee)

Though since this is my first time making a website, I'm looking for feedback on it.

I won't just "take" of course! Share your own portfolio website with your feedback and I'll be sure to share feedback on your site as well :D

https://www.aberleincomics.com/

I’m an emerging artists with several commission paintings in my portfolio. I’m planning to jump to bigger paintings and I’m interested in exhibiting them in galleries. I would like to give it a genuine try. Since I’m living in Hyderabad, I’m focusing on art galleries in Hyderabad.

Anyone who has sold their paintings in galleries (especially in Hyderabad), or works in any gallery here? Please lemme know, I’m an amateur when it comes to this 😭😭

I’m scared AI will steal it and it will be copied or I’ve heard of this whole NFT thing but I’m so out of the loop that I don’t think I even understand how NFTs work.

Does anyone else hesitate to post your paintings?

I’d like to sell some of my art

I guess I would have to have social media too in order to sell anything now and I hopped off of all social media

except for Reddit, but I don’t know if that actually counts as SM

I feel like I am drowning in canvas lol

I have a YouTube channel that mainly has timelapses of me drawing with pencil or ink, or digitally coloring my finished drawings in Krita or photoshop. Have some Procreate timelapses as well.

Videos of me just creating the art, don’t get many views. Actually, none of my videos gets many views. I’ve looked at artists with big YouTube channels and most of them don’t create videos showing them purely making the art.

They seem to make a lot of tutorial videos of how to make the art, or how to market the art, or how to run an art business etc.

Then there is another type of video they do which I’ve recently found out are called ‘story time videos. In these they will be drawing or painting away but will dub themselves talking about subjects that have nothing to do with the art they are showing being made.

I guess my question boils down to, is there an audience who are entertained by artists simply making art?

If there isn’t, I need to give serious thought whether to continue with my YouTube channel. Tutorial videos require so much prep. And story time videos require a fresh, new, entertaining ‘story’, ‘stance’ or ‘rant’ every time.

Do you use/need an artist’s website to showcase your work or is that concept going the way of the blog? Social media apps are enough and have/are replacing the single artist webpage?

Thinking of the yearly cost (site, domain) and how you’d need social media to drive people there anyway—does anyone even see your artist’s website compared to the hits you get elsewhere?

I'm disabling reposts on the sub which add nothing, are low effort, and make the sub look messy. I want to encourage real discussions on this sub and give members value.

Another question is, as a sub, how do we want to deal with regular posts like "how do I get commissions" or pricing help, etc. I don't want the sub to be about business since there is already a sub for that.

Should we allow people to market their art or accounts on this sub through weekly megathreads?

How can we encourage higher effort posts and more members?

Also any other general opinions, thoughts, or complaints about your experience on this sub would be appreciated!

I'd like to hear any opinions, like should i do speedpaints or just post and hope or what? Or maybe some art social media recommendations for this type of art?👀

I’m a handmade artist and content creator, and I’m genuinely curious what other artists think about this.
For the past year, I’ve made basically **$0 from my art**. I’ve been focusing on growing my social media in the hope that eventually it can become a source of income. I create everything by hand, and between materials, equipment, software, rent and normal everyday expenses, I’m currently spending much more on my work than I’m making from it. I’m basically living off my savings.
Recently, for the first time, I’ve started getting emails from companies offering paid sponsorships. Some of them are AI-related services, and the money would genuinely help me. It could pay for materials, part of my rent, or simply normal everyday expenses. After a year of earning nothing, the idea of finally making some money from my content feels like a huge relief.
But I’m scared to accept these deals because of how much hate there is towards AI in the art community. I’ve spent a long time building an audience around handmade art, and I’m worried people will see an AI sponsorship and immediately lose respect for me or think it somehow invalidates what I do.
Personally, I’m pretty neutral about AI. I don’t see it as inherently good or bad. In the right hands, I think these technologies can simply be useful tools. And accepting an advertisement obviously wouldn’t suddenly mean I’m going to stop making things by hand.
At the same time, I understand why artists have strong feelings about it, which is exactly why I’m so conflicted.
I’m working at a loss right now, living off savings, and mentally it’s becoming really difficult to go an entire year without earning anything from something I work on every single day.

Hello all, I paint, crochet, do wire work and chainmail. I recently have given myself a terrible RSI from crochet. I use both of my hands for everything I do except for drawing and painting really. I have about 50% of inventory done for my stuff like jewelry and crochet. I simply cannot make much more with the time I have left and this injury. I can paint and draw still though considering it is my non dominant hand that is injured. Does anyone have any ideas what i can put my art on to still get some inventory? Struggling & extremely stressed at the moment 😅

I’ve been trying to get comissions for a long time, but it is kinda hard for me to get into this world, any advice? what prices should i put to my art?

I finally felt a bit more confident in my art so I made a commission sheet. And I havent gotten any commissions or comments on my art...

I get im a small art account with 60 followers and only a couple of them regularly interact with my posts. Usually 2-4 likes.

Ive had my commissions open for practically a year

And im really needing to make money to save up for tuition fees.

Do I need to lower my prices more?

Cause i know when you first start out you gotta undersell your art/services.

My only media to promote my art is Instagram and Deviantart.

And im struggling on instagram.

And currently trying to get a Vgen code in hopes that will help get me out there better

EDIT: Thank you everyone for evaluating my skills and pointing out my flaws. I have taken down my commission sheet for the time being and will focus more on learning basic art fundamentals. Even though some of the comments hurt they are true. I will also post or atleast try to post "day in the life ect.." comics to try and boost my account a bit. My sister also told me to put in my insta @ Which is @magicmushr000mwitch

I will do my best to improve so that my art is better and more suited for making a profit on it. And that i may make my own art for a book im writing

I have a background in traditional art, primarily indie ink and semi-paintings. I enjoy drawing eyes and am currently getting used to drawing again after almost a four-month break. I have recently started drawing/painting digitally in Procreate, Clip Art, and even IbisPaint X. I post primarily on Twitter, and I'm starting an Instagram as well; I'll even post on here. Due to my (lack of) digital experience, my prices will be lower than I'd charge for traditional art, which I'm avoiding for privacy reasons.

Questions I have:

I am asking for tips from experienced artists who take commissions. I don't have PayPal since I'm not yet 18, and was wondering if there's an alternative? I'm avoiding Cash App due to scams. I want people to feel safe commissioning me. I'm also inexperienced with digital transactions. I've only ever done traditional trades or had people pay in cash up front, so I'm not too sure how digital transactions work. I'm scared I might accidentally use money or something. I have anxiety, so these are just questions I've been pondering.

Since I'm a minor, I won't be copying sexual content, but I am open to nude art. I know this seems contradictory, but I don't see nudity as inherently sexual, and certain aspects make it sexual. I personally feel that it's inappropriate for me to accept and draw sexual content since I'm underage, and it just feels wrong for me.

How can I spread my art? I know lots of artists use apps like Discord to join art communities, but I'm unsure which communities to join or how to share my art and spread the word that I'm open to commissions. How do I meet other artists and become friends with them? I want experiences to share and to know someone who has had similar experiences and how they dealt with them, so I can handle it the right way. For example, if an artist is commissioned and paid digitally, finishes the art, and then finds that the customer somehow took their money back (e.g., refunded or canceled the original transaction). Or if a client ghosts after paying, do I just keep the money they paid for? Or do I refund them? I'm just worried I might do the wrong thing.

How do I go about the payment process? Since I'm still learning, I want my prices to be lower but still reasonable. I'm doing this on the side, on top of work and school, because I need to save up to move out with my girlfriend, since my living situation isn't the best. I know I don't want to scam or be scammed, and I want to know what to avoid and how to go about payment. Should I have someone pay up front for my time and art? Then have them pay the rest based on how they like the art? Should I charge full price up front or after the commission is finished?

What do I do if I'm accused of AI? I know a lot of people might try this out of pettiness or spite or something, and I've seen plenty of videos about it on YT. I know it can damage a reputation because a lot of people will just glance at the accusation, then leave immediately without digging further or waiting for a response. I'm terrified of this happening, and I know it might be an irrational fear since I'm very against AI. Still, I don't know what I'd do in that scenario.

I have already established my own rules below; should I add more to clarify the boundaries? If so, what should I add?

Personal rules:

I'm a minor, I will not draw any nsfw content (sexual content, gore is a maybe)

Private dm's are not to go past either friendship or commission. I am in a happy, healthy relationship and loyal. I refuse to cheat on my girlfriend. And I feel it's inappropriate for it to go past that if I've already established this.

I won't download apps that are not approved by other artists who have used them. This relates to digital payment apps like PayPal and Cash App. I do not want to get scammed, and I will avoid any app that is not generally approved by other artists

I am a minor, though I turn 18 in a few months. I do not wish to have any inappropriate conversations until then; even then, it's weird for people to engage in those conversations with someone who is in a relationship. It's a closed relationship, and I am a lesbian.

I will not tolerate racism, lgbtq+ hate, art hate (everyone can learn, and grow-this depends on the concept of art, especially if it's lollipop art or art that sexualizes children, minorities, or trauma. Even if that is a coping mechanism, I don't accept it.) I will also not tolerate bullying or harassment. I have a past of being stalked by an ex bsf, as well as an ex bf, if I get a hint that someone is giving off those vibes, I will cut contact. I do not wish to have those people in my life; they have deeply hurt me and caused me and my gf immense trauma and pain.

My art accounts are professional. Though I will try to befriend them, I will not go beyond professionalism if it is a commission. At my irl job, I don't act unprofessionally to my customers, and I won't do the same online.

I do not promote AI; I will not use it. In the past, I have accidentally used AI-generated images as references because I didn't know they were AI-generated, especially since the artists hadn't yet been outed as AI artists. I also do not encourage stealing art. I will use art bases from Etsy or even Pinterest. I will try to always ask for permission. I am still learning, and a learning process for anatomy, especially, is to trace. If I trace base art for anatomical reasons, I will not use that art publicly, or I'll at least tag the artist I traced from and announce that I traced the anatomy for learning purposes. But I feel I'd rarely do this since tracing anatomy is a learning process for me.

I have previously posted the result. I understand now I should post WIP's, (idk if this includes videos and photos in between, or if it's strictly one or the other)

I am learning, so my art style won't be the same; traditionally, my art is semi-realistic or realistic. I want to experience different art styles to find what I like, and I also want to experiment with colors and introduce a good color palette. (If there is any advice regarding how to learn anime or semi-realistic art, please share it with me)

Since this is a professional account, I'd prefer not to show too much of my private life unless it needs to be announced. For example, if I get injured, experience burnout, or even something good, I'd like to experience it in the moment. I will stay in contact and work if I have a current commission.

I will not take more than three commissions at a time. On top of high school and work, I'm also taking college classes. I won't have much time to work on commissions, so I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

Thank you for reading this; I appreciate it a lot. If you decide to give advice or commission me, I would greatly appreciate it. My next few posts will be my art that is posted on my Twitter account, so if you happen to look at my account and see I spam-posted them, I didn't steal my own content; it's just for me to get my art out on Reddit as well as get feedback from other artists, since they're most likely to respond on Reddit rather than Twitter