Tips to Grow Your Artistry with Photography

This month, the members of The Painterly Way (my art mentoring membership) are learning all about using photography to improve both their art and their art business. 

There are three ways that photography can uplevel your art and art business:

Increase Awareness of Your Art

When your favorite artists entered your awareness, it wasn’t just their work that attracted you—it was the high-quality photos of their art. In my next blog post, I’ll share some tips and tricks on this topic. 

Excellent photos of your work and your process can expand your reach on platforms like Instagram, create a beautifully branded website, and they can get you into shows and residencies.

Use Photography to Gather Inspiration

Make it a habit to always be looking around you for colors, textures, and imagery that appeals to you. Take photos of this inspiration with your mobile phone and create an ever-growing digital photo album of inspiration.

When you feel the urge to surf social media in a quiet moment, consider combing through your inspiration album instead. It’s a great way to dive deep into the things that inspire you. You just may discover the inspiration for your next painting or series!

Use Photography to Uplevel Your Art

Your mobile device is a wonderful tool to use while you are in progress on a painting. Take a photo of your piece using your mobile device. Upload it into a gray value scale app, and evaluate your values and the contrast between light and dark. It can be a revelation, and a good way to plan your next step. Try it yourself and see!

The Journey Continues

How do you use photography in your art practice?

What kinds of things do you find yourself taking photos of for inspiration?

I’d love to hear from you about it in the comments.

Stay tuned for my next blog post where I’ll share some tips for photographing your work!