Tech Resources for Artists in Quarantine

There’s no getting around it –– whether we’re luddites or just old-school vinyl enthusiasts, quarantine is forcing us to become tech savvy. Even us artsy types, who would rather make glue from scratch than be glued to a screen, can be found blurry-eyed in our kitchens, hunched over the computer, 54 minutes into setting our loved ones up on Zoom. Whether we like it or not, the switch to a virtual world is here –– and we need to embrace these digital resources to hack it as artists, makers, creators, and more in the new reality.

Before you hang your head in resignation, remember there are plenty of good things resulting from this uncomfortable, jolty switch! The barriers between artists and patron have reached a record low, as savvy artists worldwide leverage digital tools to connect with a wider audience directly from their studios. The decline of the gallery art-world structure marks the rise of the artrepreneur, a savvier artist who takes matters into their own hands! Together, we are crafting creators who are primed to both make and sell their work.

At Art in Res we know that art sales are headed online. We are proud to be at the forefront of this movement, championing a direct-to-collector approach. This allows artists a better venue to put their work into the world and empowers artists to sell on their own terms.

But there’s so much that goes into selling work online! Way more than posting one well-lit IG and snagging that cush DM. These days, career artists have to balance marketing their work, pursuing showcase opportunities, building an audience and the dreaded brand, keeping a portfolio and CV current and available, all-the-while staying inspired and sustaining themselves financially through the ups and downs, and when that golden egg finally drops and the sale is made, fulfilling orders in a timely way, which for many artists can involve high-quality-framing and/or printing needs, as well as a secure way to balance the checkbook when the time finally comes to get paid!

Are you feeling dizzy yet? Whew. It’s a whirlwind all right.

Luckily, the modern day artrepreneur has more resources than ever to manage the chaos. But that’s a lot to take in! So we’ve done the work of finding these total game-changers and essential tools that you need to take your artistic practice to the next level.

Here are Art in Res’s Top 10 Recommended Tech Resources for Artists that make it not just feasible, but powerful to run your entire independent art studio business from home.

The Virtual Showcase

ArtPlacer is by far our favorite pro-artist discovery of the year. We can’t say enough good things about this show-stopping marketing tool. ArtPlacer makes it easier than ever to show your art in a variety of different, beautifully curated virtual settings. Ever wanted to see your work on a gallery wall? Art fair booth? Or potential collector’s home and office? ArtPlacer makes it easy for you and your audience to visualize your artwork in any space, with built-in technology for perspective, depth and scale. Now all you need to do is concentrate on curating your virtual collection.

Featuring a built-in library of expertly curated, art friendly stock photo spaces, ArtPlacer is your social media’s best friend. As a bonus, it includes options to upload your own space and (our favorite) format your images with Instagram story templates. If that weren’t enough to be excited about, ArtPlacer seamlessly integrates into your personal artist website with the help of their easy-to-use widget, allowing visitors to your shop or site to view your work in a space of their choosing. With individual memberships starting at just $11 a month, there’s no better deal out there for an independent artist to boost their marketing profile in a major way. Now, time to experiment away!

Shower with Spider

by Maria Stabio

24 x 30" •  acrylic on panel

For all you skeptics: We have to admit, before we tried ArtPlacer ourselves we too were skeptical! How good could it look? How true-to-life? Art comes in all shapes and sizes! But we were blown away by how well the tool works and the quality of the images (ArtPlacer will even automatically upload a painting at a realistic angle if the backdrop requires it!). We now use ArtPlacer as the backbone of our Weekly Curation by our in-house curator and Art in Res artist Mel Reese. Check out how beautiful and convincing these virtual shows are –– and maybe get inspired to curate your own!

It's super affordable: ArtPlacer has a wide variety of plans available to artists starting at just $11! But we’re most wowed by the Basic Plan. At just $11/month, artists gain access to over 120 art-friendly preset spaces. Compare that to Adobe Stock’s $9.99 a month for just one stock photo and you already have a deal. And that’s not even including the functionality of showing your work on the backdrop!

It’s run by a great team: ArtPlacer began as a passion project between founders Nicolas Michael and Martin Zaleski, who were helping out a friend that ran her own online art gallery. She was stuck making photoshop collages for clients in order to show them the artwork in different settings, and they knew there was a better way. Today the entire ArtPlacer team reflects that same generosity of spirit, and the goal of empowering and helping artists and art lovers. Their customer service is top notch, with fast responses and a personal touch to help you get set up and running!

The ArtPlacer Blog: ArtPlacer is more than just software- they aim to simplify the art of selling by providing a rich bank of resources and advice. The ArtPlacer Blog hosts frequently updated advice articles for the modern artrepeneur, and is a great place to discover new hacks and stay on top of your marketing game.

The Framer that Comes to You

2. Framebridge

So you finally sold that gorgeous piece you’ve been slaving over in the studio! But the collector requests having it framed, and your local framer is expensive and not-so-quarantine-friendly. What’s an artist to do?

Framebridge to the rescue! Framebridge is our favorite framing resource for artists which takes the pain and price-shock out of custom framing. They deliver gorgeous handcrafted pieces tailored to your artwork, and your collector’s vision.

The best part? They come to you! Included in the price of your frame, Framebridge will send prepaid packaging to your studio door so that you can ship your work to them. They cover shipping from your studio to their framing studio, where they’ll expertly custom frame your piece, and then they cover packing and shipping again to send it directly to your collector within days of having it framed. Their best kept secret? If it’s a print you’re trying to have framed, they’ll also take care of printing in their studio, where they offer their premium digital printing services included in the cost of framing. In our opinion Framebridge is one of those no-brainers to have on your radar: worth it for the fulfillment solutions alone, let alone their gorgeous custom frames!

Their Artist Wholesale Program: With their new Artist Wholesale Program, members of the professional art community can now set up a Framebridge trade account and receive wholesale pricing for your business. As an artist, you’ll receive a standardized list of prices for frames by size, so you can list your work for sale at both price points: Unframed and Framed, giving your collector community double the options they had before.

Photo Uploader Tool: Upload a picture of your original art, and view it in any frame on the site. Great for showing collectors their options!

Top Notch Quality: The Framebridge team handcrafts each frame using premium wood mouldings, acid-free mats, superior print options and more.

Transparent Pricing: Framebridge’s transparent pricing (determined by the item’s size) begins at $39 and includes free shipping.

The Fine Art Printers

As Covid-19 started shuttering businesses across NYC, we held our breath that our favorite Brooklyn-based printer would survive the plunge. Now, we are overjoyed to report that Skink Ink, a Williamsburg staple that’s been providing gorgeous, museum-quality giclée, has not only survived - but is thriving! They’ve launched an online-business that now supports artists nationwide. Not only that, but during the crisis they are generously shipping all proofs for free; clients need only pay for the shipping of their final prints, whether to yourself or to your collector.

Skink Ink continues to be valued by our team of art lovers and creators for their mastery of the fine-art printing process, their friendly and high-touch customer support team, and their wide selection of papers and substrates on which to print. From canvases, to cotton rag paper, to photographic and washi papers, they have it all. The Skink Ink team lives and breathes the delicate archival printing process. Their pride in their craftsmanship transfers into a gorgeous final product, regardless of whether you the artist have a lifetime’s experience making prints or are doing it for the first time.

Mounting and Stretching: The Skink Ink team also offers their expert mounting and stretching services for prints.

Fulfillment: Skink Ink offers affordable packing and shipping, with thoughtful personalization like custom notes for your collectors.

Transparent Pricing: Use the quick cost calculator on the Skink Ink site to see what your print will cost, and quote it forward to your collectors.

Fullerton Digital Print and Display is another go-to for fine-art printing beloved by the Art in Res artist community. With their fair pricing, high quality prints and warm customer service, we love turning to Fullerton. Those looking for a larger format digital printer specializing in fine-art prints need look no further! Fullerton uses state of the art Epson printers, as well as offering the highest quality prints on a handful of archival digital printing papers, acrylic, and aluminum. Their philosophy is simple: quality work at a fair price. Amen.

Artist-Owner-Operated: Fullerton was founded 25 years ago by print industry specialist and photographer Rich Taylor in his garage in Fullerton, California. Rich’s clear passion for the business has stood the test of time: he’s still there on the other end, promptly replying to any e-mails we send his way! Not to mention the 25 years of experience printing on his hands :).

Place orders online: Fullerton’s online large-file uploader makes it easy to place an order for your prints online from anywhere in the states.

FREE Shipping: During Covid-19, Fullerton will ship to your collector for free!

Our Artists love Fullerton: We originally discovered Fullerton via Art in Res artist Steve Moors and are happy to continue to spread the good word!

The Survival Job

Right now, all artists and creatives are living in survival-mode. We’re hunkering down and focusing on what matters most, while we wait out the storm of COVID-19. Career artists are weathering this shift with resilience, having acclimated to the ups and downs (and vulnerability) of working in a creative career. We know more than ever artists are warriors! But, the need for a steady stream of income outside of making art is always present, especially for emerging artists. Now more than ever, we need to be covering the basics.

For artists on the hunt for the next ‘gig’, check out jobs.art for curated art-related job listings. Not only is the site a stunning piece of UX to browse (the design is a welcome relief from the world of depressing jobs boards out there), the jobs are things we know you’d actually want, which doesn’t happen every day here on the interwebs.

Brought to us by the folks at Art Handler: The first publication whose goal is to uncover the inner workings of labor and logistics in the art world—conversations that are too often buried and ignored. You know this team cares about the art world opportunities they are offering!

No Unpaid Positions Allowed: Jobs.art has a “no internships” policy. You’ll only find paid work on the site-- and that’s because artists, and people, should get paid!

Stay Inspired/Stay Connected

Perhaps the hardest job of the artist under pressure is the deceptively simple task of staying inspired. We all know how irritating the question of “where we get our ideas” can be. That and keeping connected with other artists- especially during quarantine. We all know there’s a limitless wealth of information, connection and inspiration to be found on the internet, but with all of the noise saturating most social platforms, the online world can feel simply overwhelming.

That’s where Are.na comes in! Made by artists, Are.na is the anti-noise, mindful visual platform for organizing information, and connecting with others. Users of the platform curate their own “channels” of found media from across the web, and interact with other users through shared knowledge, rather than “likes”. We love that Are.na is less focused on images alone than sites like Pinterest and Instagram. It places more emphasis on ideas and creative thinking than on algorithmic trends, “followers count” or paid promotions (that leave us all burned out). We think of it as a sanctuary from the chaos, and a place where artists can go to zen out, focus up, build context around their ideas, and get inspired without getting overwhelmed.

No ads, no likes, no distractions: Are.na will not nag you with push notifications to come back to Are.na. Are.na will not serve you Yoga Pant advertisements in the side-bar or alert you that someone has liked your profile picture. Are.na and the Are.na community will let you think, work, and come and go freely in peace. It’s crazy that that’s such a compelling and wonderful differentiator, but such is our world.

The Artist Website

It’s 2020 and every working artist needs to have a website for their work (whether we like it or not). While there are hundreds of available template site-builders, our experience has been that the only one you need as a fine artist is XHBTR.

There are no other site-builders so explicitly geared towards showcasing fine artists (and only artists; there are no coffee shops or vintage boutiques using XHBTR). And it makes sense, as XHBTR’s founder is both a painter and a programmer who got his start building portfolio sites for his artist friends!

XHBTR seems to understand a basic principle that so many website-builders get wrong: when it comes to showcasing art, the main role of the website is to stay out of the way. Let that work shine. For the vast majority of artists, all you really need is a place to gather images and sparse text. It should look clean, straight-forward, and professional. XHBTR makes this incredibly simple with its classic, modernist typography, a powerful, easy to use editor, and a variety of layouts and galleries that don’t lock you into a “template” like other site builders do.

Choose between a handful of strategies for showcasing your work: from slideshows to grids, to small thumbnail images, and swap between them as you see fit. This clean, minimalist aesthetic creates an elevated environment to showcase your work. And did we mention unlimited image uploads and site hosting for only $15/ month? Plus your own free domain name. It’s important to us to recommend sites that we believe in that acknowledge the artist budget, and we know a deal when we see one!

At Art in Res we receive hundreds of artist applications. Without question, the most significant artifact we ask for is the artist website.

Your site is your primary communication tool for sharing the intention of your career and your work. We always know when an XHBTR artists comes through the door, because XHBTR sites set their own tone. There’s an automatic professionalism and elegance that comes across, and a simplicity that makes it easy for us to focus on you and your work, not your font. We STAN!

FREE Trial: XHBTR offers a free trial for 14 days! Check it out!

Includes a free, professional CV Builder: Read more in Art CV section below :)!

Just take a look at these gorgeous examples:
Minku Kim
Timothy McMullen
Dan Herschlein

The Digital CV

This one’s a total no brainer. FREE from the creator of XHBTR, create a shareable, professional Art CV. Save it as PDF or HTML. Integrate it with your portfolio site seamlessly.

Beautiful, minimalist, no frills, just thrills. Did we mention it’s free?

The Record Keeper

It is our dream to make art with reckless abandon and see work that consistently flies out from the studios into willing homes with happy patrons! That’s what we’re gunning for and we won’t settle for less. But even in that best-case scenario, when your work is in such high demand, it’s imperative that you have a system for organizing and keeping track of your sales, balancing your checkbook, and managing contacts. Even though that seems like the boring part.

By far the best career-organizer tool on the web for artists right now is Artwork Archive. This is an art inventory platform that artists use to track their artwork, showcase their portfolio and grow their business. Artwork Archive is our go-to career control center for documenting where your art has ended up, who your collectors and future collectors are, what galleries you have shown in or wish to show in, and all the rest of the essential career building data that helps you grow your business as an artist. We promise this makes that “boring part” ever so exciting.

Our artists love it for its simplicity (i.e you can create inventory lists or a sales report with the click of a button) and security (generate invoices directly from your account, log details of sales and know that your data is protected). We’re also big fans of AA's tools for tracking your collection into the future, ensuring that you know remain in-the-know about where your body of work resides, whether it’s your hometown or an international destination. These kinds of pro-artist tools demonstrate the Artwork Archive team’s deep understanding of the experience of the artist, which translates into great customer service and a forward-thinking approach to building new features.

FREE 30 Day Trial: Try a month free with no commitment, no automatic payments and no credit card taken at time of trial!

Editions Management: Create and track original editions and reproductions of your works.

The Pro-Artist Online Marketplace

We’d be remiss if we published an article centered around tech resources for artists and neglected to toot our own horn! 🎉

Everything we’ve talked about in this post has been geared towards helping artists make, keep, and track each precious sale. But, like a PTO mom at a bake sale, you still need somewhere to sell!

While there are plenty of options available to artists on the web these days, no online marketplace takes a more pro-artist approach than we do here at Art in Res. In fact, our biggest goal is to be ‘the’ pro-artist sales platform on the web. This makes sense, since we’re a team of artists building a marketplace for artists, inspired and motivated by our own frustrations with what was available out there when we were paving our artistic careers.

Art in Res offers a highly curated, beautifully designed platform for emerging artists to sell their work directly from their studios to art lovers and collectors nationwide. By allowing fans to purchase your work in affordable monthly installments, we’re lowering the barrier to art collecting and widening your collector audience. For most of our artists, this means that fans who love your work but previously felt they couldn’t afford the “lump sum” prices now have a direct entry to being your next collector. Which means more art for everybody!

At Art in Res we take artist autonomy a step further by allowing you to set your own prices, build relationships with collectors on your own terms, interact with fans and admirers through a built in messenger (...and even offer secret deals on your work under the radar!), as well as listing non-exclusively with us. If you get invited to exhibit your work overseas or in a gallery in your hometown, you do you, we want you to level up in your career.

Best of all? We only take a 30% cut on sales- compared to the 50% cuts that most galleries take. Check out some of our awesome featured artists and apply today to list with us.

We cover shipping! When you get a sale, we’ll send you a FedEx label and cover all shipping costs.

We help you market yourself: We work hard to create features and promos for our community of artists.

We're collaborative: Know something we could be doing better for artists? Give us a shout at everyone@artinres.com.