French Impressionist Edgar Degas once said that “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”. As a painter, your art portfolio website is the lens through which you introduce others to your work, and help them see and understand you as an artist. Painters websites are not just a platform for painters to showcase and display their work, they are also a crucial networking platform, marketing tool and a hub from which they can begin to expand and grow their business as professional artist.
Even if you are still an art student, you will want to set up a painter’s website as soon as possible because networking and promoting yourself is incredibly important in the art world. Your online portfolio website gives you the opportunity to platform yourself and promote your work online.
But where do you start and what does an art portfolio website for painters even look like? Well, we know that artists are visual creatures and showing is always better than telling. So, for your inspiration and edification, we have compiled a list of the 15 best painters website examples built on Pixpa! With Pixpa's easy and affordable website builder you can create an online portfolio to showcase, share and sell your work easily! Here are 25 top reasons why creative professionals choose Pixpa to build their website, complete with an online store, blog and client galleries.
Get inspired by stunning portfolios of artists, illustrators and digital artists, built with Pixpa's all-in-one website builder, without any coding knowledge. But before we get into that, here are 6 top tips for creating the perfect portfolio website for painters!
Here are 6 Tips for creating a professional portfolio website for painters
- Always use high-quality images of your work
- Do your research and learn from your peers
- Include an artist's statement
- Use your painter's website as a marketing tool
- Sell your paintings online through your portfolio website
- Choose the right website builder for your painter's portfolio website
Always use high-quality images of your work
Art is a visual medium and you want your work to make the maximum possible visual impact. For this, you need to make sure you use high-quality images of your work to upload to your portfolio. Of course, a simple photograph cannot really do a painting justice, especially when we are dealing with genres like mixed media art where texture can be an important aspect of a painting’s aesthetic appeal. However, it is still worth it and important to ensure that you take high-quality photographs that can highlight as many important details as possible. Smartphone cameras may have come a long way but using a professional DSLR is still your best bet if you want to ensure that the photographs you take of your work are faithful to the original piece.
It can be worthwhile to hire a professional photographer for the job but this is not always necessary. Here is an article on photography tips for beginners that you may find helpful.
Do your research and learn from your peers
A little research always goes a long way when it comes to building your portfolio website. Looking at other painters’ websites can help you understand what the industry standard is, how other painters are choosing to showcase their work using their portfolio, and how they are using their websites to level up their art career. You can also identify gaps and shortcomings in other people’s portfolio websites which you can address when you build your own painter’s portfolio website. We look at several different criteria when reviewing the best website picks for each use-case, but our top researched websites are here.
The 15 amazing painters’ websites in this article are sure to be of help. If you want to check out some more amazing painter’s portfolio examples, then be sure to check out our article on the best artist portfolio websites and the best art blogs you can follow for inspiration.
Include an artist’s statement
An artist’s statement is a must-have for all painter’s websites and with good reason. Your artist’s statement describes the philosophy behind your work. This is your chance to add a new level of depth and dimension to your portfolio website. It is your chance to shape your viewers’ perspective of your artwork and make people understand what your art truly stands for. You can also use this as an opportunity to talk about some of the artists, people, places and other themes that inspire you.
Artist’s statements are particularly important for student painters’ websites because, in the absence of an already established reputation, you need to explain your work and the themes behind it to people. It can be a bit difficult, as a student, to write an artist’s statement for the first time but this article on how to write an artist’s statement can definitely be of some help to you here.
Use your painter’s website as a marketing tool
While creativity is obviously one of the most important characteristics of a good painter, an equally important part of being a professional painter is to be business savvy. Your goal isn’t just to create beautiful paintings that show you artistic flair, creativity and skill, you also need to be able to sustain a living through your paintings. Your painter's portfolio website is the perfect platform for you to market yourself and promote your work. This in turn increases your credibility and nets you more clients. SEO is one of the cost-effective and efficient ways of marketing yourself through your website. If you want to learn more about how you can use SEO to promote your website, here is a very helpful guide on SEO for creative professionals.
Other ways you can use your painter’s portfolio website as a marketing tool is by integrating it with your social media channels, creating mailing lists which you can use to send newsletters, marketing pop-ups, announcement bars and much more.
Sell your paintings online through your portfolio website
Most business-savvy artists know that a portfolio is not just a place to display your work for people’s viewing pleasure, it can also be an amazing business platform for you to sell your paintings online. The best thing about selling your paintings through your painter’s website is that you get full and complete control over the sale of your work. You don’t have to worry about agents or middlemen. You can liaise with clients and customers directly. Additionally, as long as you choose the right website builder for creating your painter’s portfolio website and online store, you can also ensure that you don’t have to pay exorbitant fees and commissions for the sale of your paintings. Pixpa charges no commissions on sales made through your website. You can also sell your work as prints or digital downloads through e-commerce galleries.
Choose the right website builder for your painter’s portfolio website
Choosing the right website builder for your painter’s portfolio website can make a bigger difference than you may think. The right website builder makes it easy for painters to get all the features and facilities they need for their website. Making the right decision here is essential if you want to help your art career.
Pixpa makes creating your painter’s portfolio website super easy! The no-code platform ensures that you can create, edit and customize every part of your website easily and without touching a single line of code. With a range of beautiful templates designed just for painters and artists, multiple gallery options including e-commerce galleries and a feature-rich online store builder, Pixpa checks all the boxes for the perfect portfolio builder for painters.
It also comes with advanced SEO features so that you can set sitewide metadata, including alt tags, specify search engine-friendly urls, generate automatic sitemaps and much more. Marketing you paintings also becomes hassle-free with Pixpa’s marketing tools including announcement bars, marketing pop-ups, email marketing tools and more
Check out these top 25 reasons why Pixpa is the perfect portfolio builder platform for painters and artists.
Do check out these articles
Here are 14 unique painter's websites built on Pixpa to inspire you!
Elisabeth Chapman
Elisabeth Chapman is a painter based out of Seattle in the United States. Her paintings are deeply influenced by French Impressionism and Neo-Expressionism. Her subjects are frequently informed by her Classical Education, religious upbringing and, according to her, a morose fascination with mortality. She also uses her painter’s portfolio website to sell her paintings.
Sophie Hacquart
Sophie Hacquart is a former architect who exchanged her pencils and rulers for the fluidity of paints and brushes. Her paintings are abstract and Sophie is more interested in but tries to capture the essence and feeling of her subjects to create a sense of osmosis between reality and her feelings. Her website is also a great example of how minimalism can help painters websites stand out and create more impact overall.
Calera Studios
Calera studios is run by Anna Cochran who is a watercolor painter from New Braunfels, Texas. Anna’s work is inspired by nature and friendly faces. She tries to bring in a sense of the joy of everyday life into her paintings. Through her portfolio website, Anna is able to not just display paintings but also connect with people through her contact forms. She also integrates her social media channels as links through her website to give herself more scope for networking.
Redd Walitzki
Redd Walitzki is a German Neo-Contemporary artist based in Seattle, United States. The subject of Redd’s paintings are often ethereal, yet slightly feral fairytale women. They use laser cut wood as their canvas to give their paintings an ethereal, out of this world feel. Redd also uses their website as a platform to sell their paintings. Painters websites can be an excellent way of growing your business as an artist.
Gladysmar Torrez Madriz
Galdysmar Torrez Madriz is a painter and artist from Venezuela, based in the UK. She enjoys using bold colors, shapes and lines in her work. Through her paintings she tries to represent and reflect her own identity. Art portfolio websites for painters can fulfill a number of different purposes. Gladysmar’s website allows her to share her passion for art as well as grow her business through sales and commissions.
Lieven Van de Vel
Lieven Van de Vel is a figurative oil painter from Antwerp, Belgium. Lieven has experimented a lot with his paintings in terms of style, medium and method. His current technique involves using a bright acrylic color as a base instead of gesso and using oil paints on top of it to create beautiful, slightly surreal landscapes. Lieven’s website is clean and minimalistic and keeps his paintings at the center.
Rodrigo Cobo
Rodrigo Cobo calls himself a painter by birth and a medical surgeon by vocation. His paintings seek to show the reality of the people, faces of the war and the countless elements that describe the landscape and customs of the different regions of Colombia. Rodrigo’s website is a great illustration of the fact that painters’ websites are often not just about the painters themselves but also the places they come from and the feelings they represent.
Rishu Kapoor
Rishu Kapoor is an Indian painter and art teacher based in Melbourne. She sees her paintings as powerful mediums for sharing her thoughts and ideas as well as inspiring and stimulating the viewer’s intellect and emotions. Rishu is a portrait painter and mixed media artist with a distinctive method of incorporating gold leaf work into her oil and acrylic paintings. Rishu uses her website to showcase her painting portfolio as well as promote her painting workshops for both children and adults.
Sonali Chaudhari
Sonalis Chaudhari is a painter and visual artist based in Delhi, India. Sonali’s paintings experiment with texture and colour. She tries to depict the strength and beauty of the human spirit. Apart from serving as her portfolio, Sonali also uses her website as a platform to promote her blog. Painters websites can serve as truly multi-purpose platforms for professional artists to advance their career.
MRomo
MRomo is a painter originally from Mexico City. Her artwork tries to create a fusion of emotions between various reliefs and textures with figurative, abstract or realism art to capture the true meaning that she tries to convey. She also uses her painter's website as an online store to sell her paintings which turns it into a much more complete and efficient business website.
Marissa Grondin
Marissa Grondin is a painter, graphic designer and digital illustrator. While Marissa mainly works as a graphic designer and illustrator working with brands, her portfolio also includes her fine art and digital painting work. Marissa's background in Fine Art (B.FA, B.Ed) provides a solid working knowledge of art and design theory and principles which helps her work across different mediums and genres. Her painter’s portfolio website is fun, upbeat and full of bright and vibrant colours.
Abby Gustke
Abby Gustke is a painter from New Jersey, United States. Abby works in many different mediums including pastels, oil paint, watercolour, charcoal, digital, pen and ink. Her paintings make use of bold colours and prominent brushstrokes to create images reminiscent of French Impressionism and Pointillism. Apart from being a painter, Abby is also an art teacher who aims to share her love for art with young children.
Tracy Hopkins
Tracy Hopkins is an artist, illustrator and designer based in Orlando, United States. Tracy’s paintings strongly work as a children’s book illustrator. She uses bright colours and bold but simple, vibrant style which makes her paintings particularly appealing to children. Tracy works in a number of different mediums including watercolours, pen and ink, digital and mixed media. Her painter's portfolio website serves to display her talents across various different mediums and genres.
Yancke van Tonder
Yancke van Tonder is a South African design professional with digital design & illustration and lecturing experience. Apart from his graphic design work, Yancke’s biggest strength lies in his digital painting work. He has an intense bold style of painting reminiscent of comic books and illustrations. A portfolio website for painters can be an excellent platform for professional marketing and personal branding. Yancke’s painter’s website is an excellent example of that.
Summing up!
These amazing painters and their art portfolio websites sure have us feeling inspired and we hope that they had the same effect on you! You might also want to check out our guide on Mixed media art with type, technique and examples of mixed media art portfolios created with Pixpa.
Creating a painters website may seem like an incredibly complicated and expensive venture. But it really is not! This step by step guide on how to build a beautiful website and this handy article breaking down the costs of building a website will help dispel any doubts in your mind.
Pixpa makes website building easy, accessible and affordable. You can create your stunning painters portfolio website all without touching a single line of code. Start by signing up for Pixpa’s full-featured, 15-day free trial and create your very own painters portfolio website today! No credit card required for sign up and no hidden charges whatsoever!
Frequently Asked Questions
What websites do most painters use?
Painters often use their own portfolio websites as platforms for showcasing, selling and promoting their artwork. The benefits of using your own professional painters website is that you can customize it to your liking and get a more feature-rich experience than other websites like, for example, a creative professional networking site like Behance or an e-commerce site like Etsy.
What is the best website to post art?
Your painter’s portfolio website is the best platform for you to post your artwork. This is because having your own website gives you a very good level of creative control over the visual aspects of your website which can be very useful for artists. You can also use your painter’s website as an e-commerce platform to sell your paintings and as a marketing tool to promote your work and network with other artists and art buyers.
What should a painters website look like?
A clean minimalist look usually works best for painters websites because it allows for your paintings to shine through and make the most impact on the viewer. However, every artist is different. Artists working with different kinds of genres, themes and mediums may need very different approaches to the visual aspects of their website to ensure that it fits together perfectly with their work. It is very important to keep a personal touch and to enable your personality and interests as an artist shine through in your painter’s website.