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Art Brushes - A Virtu Guide

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How to Write an Artisist Statment

How to Stretch a Canvas

How to be a Responsible Collector

How to Critique a Painting

e-commerce and the internet

Preparing for an Exhibition

How to Photograph Your Own Artwork

How to Price Your Art

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Guide to Approaching Galleries

Oscar Wilde - Lecture to Art Students

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Looking for Art Books? Cant be bothered to sort through 100's titles before you get what you want? Virtu Art has it all sorted into easy catagories Just go to Virtu Art Books Index Page Click and Go Enjoy ;-)~~

How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist, 5th Ed.: Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul
Caroll Michels is a life long art consultant who has written this book to share her experiences and expertise with the fine art community. Well written and with plenty of helpful references, Michels' book is an excellent addition to any artist's library

Artists, e-commerce and the Internet

The Internet has become an unavoidable fact of life. Over just the last few years we have seen radical changes in the way this new technology is changing the way we live, think and shop. Although many artists, collectors and galleries continue to have fears and concerns, even their reluctance is slowly beginning to erode as they accept the inevitability of this powerful, wide reaching tool. In regards to the artworld, there are basically three different types of websites:

Information related sites: These can be run by non-profit institutions such as the Smithsonian, or the Getty Information Institute. They are designed to help artists (and the general public) stay informed about specialized topics of information. Sometimes charge a small membership fee to help defray the cost of operating the site, but in general provide plenty of free information.

Co operative membership sites: These sites will charge artists a small fee to participate on the site. Usually included in the price is web page design, so there is a consistency within the site. These sites will try to drive traffic to the individual artist. Because they match the collector to the artist directly, they generally do not take any commission on sales. As a rule, the value of a site can be determined by the number of people that visit that site regularly are not be persuaded by statistics that include the number of "hits" (a count of random and often accidental landings on one or more pages of the site). What you want to know is the number of "unique users"( how many people really use the site) and the "sticky-ness factor" (how long they stay on the site)

Self-promotion for the Creative Person
Designed for everyone from starving artists to up-and-coming superstars, Self-Promotion for the Creative Person is packed with winning strategies, proven marketing techniques and innovative ideas, including tips on - Networking with hotshots in your field. Creating marketing materials that will act as a sales force when you're not on The scene. Designing a website that will stand out from the competition. The author of two highly popular guides for creative people, Silber knows what makes these right-brainers tick - and what turns them off. Tailored to this market, the techniques and encouraging words in his newest book are solution-orientated and allow the flexibility right-brained people thrive on

E-commerce sites: These sites are designed to function much like galleries. They do not charge the artist a fee, but rather, offer to sell art to collectors and consultants in exchange for a percentage of the sales price, usually 15%-40%. Some of them require Internet exclusivity, similar to the geographic exclusivity demanded by galleries. However, We @ Virtu-art.biz would advise artists not to agree to any exclusive online agreement immediately, but rather, try to negotiate a "piece specific" exclusive agreeing that certain work will be available only on a specific site. Most of the sites I have been in contact with are amenable to this modification, if it is requested. When deciding on which site to place your work, do your homework. You need to find the site that is best suited to sell your work, has the most traffic and will promote the site.

E-commerce works for a lot of specific reasons it's easy, it's convenient, it's private. But, one of the most important reasons it works for contemporary art, is it's anonymous. Art is not the kind of product that you can be talked into it's not like a buying a car, or a computer, where most consumers do comparison shopping to check for value as well as quality. Art is one of the few things that is totally an emotional buy. You look at it, you like it or you don't it's a mystery what contributes to a person's personal taste there is very little a sales person can say or do to change that. However, being educated about the artist and his career may influence your decision regarding a purchase, but that is only effective after you have already made the decision that you like the piece.

Creative Cash, 6th Edition: How to Profit from Your Special Artistry, Creativity, Hand Skills, and Relatedknow-How
A featured selection of Book-of-the-Month's Crafter's Choice Book Club, this book includes the real-life stories of over a hundred professional craftspeople, designers, artists, teachers, publishers and writers in my home-business network. Each of them share valuable tips and advice to help you achieve the kind of success they now enjoy.

In response to the question of artists designing and maintaining their own website,

Virtu-art.biz has a few suggestions

Commit yourself to the idea that owning your own website is a big responsibility requiring constant attention. Update your site regularly with new work, updated prices, your biography, exhibition reviews and articles of interest. Don't let your site stagnate.

Maintain realistic expectations about what your site can do for you. Unless you are vigilant about driving traffic to your site, your site will exist alone in cyberspace and never get discovered. Be aggressive about getting your site listed on search engines and offer to exchange links with other art sites.

Develop a marketing plan. Put your website address on all stationary, business cards, and ads even your voicemail. Sending out postcards to announce the launch of a new site is also a good idea. Make sure your site is easy to navigate, has an obvious and accessible way to contact you (including a snail mail address, phone number and email) and offers a guest book, for visitors to sign and make comments. Later, this will become your e-mailing list for exhibitions and announcements.

Finally, a few notes on "netiquette" A lot of artists send out emails to promote their exhibitions or websites. Keep in mind it is really an annoyance to receive an email that is addressed to 500 people. If you are going to send a bulk email, do so individually. Do not send any downloadable files as an attachment, I guarantee they will not get opened. Do not send any images in the text of your email, it takes too long to load. The only effective way to use email as a marketing tool is to create a hyperlink to your website. This means, if the receiver is so inclined, all it takes is one click to get directly to your site. This is your only hope of familiarizing someone with your work or your site make sure your home page has a visual image on it and is interesting enough to get them to explore the site further.

We are the pioneers for this new technology that is exploding with opportunity on a daily basis explore it, embrace it, experiment with it. Above all, be creative and have fun!

Art Marketing 101: A Handbook for the Fine Artist
This user-friendly and up-to-date handbook takes new and professional artists through the basics of creating a successful business. Artists will learn how to couple their creativity with clever business sense to establish a lucrative art career. An at-a-glance layout makes information easily accessible and encourages artists to make notes, fill in the blanks, and use checklists, featuring: New to this edition: Internet marketing advice; Innovative marketing ideas for the new millennium; A resource section in the back of the book; In addition to these effective offerings: Alternative avenues for selling art; Tricks to succeeding without a rep; How to build positive name recognition through marketing and publicity tactics; Sound advice on legal issues, such as licensing, copyrights and contracts; Guidelines for preparing a marketing and business plan; What's more, readers will find dozens of helpful tips, contact information, forms and research data to help them further their careers

The Internet for Artists: A Guide to Exhibiting and Selling Your Work on the Web
This book is a must for anybody who wishes to display or sell their art work on the internet. It is packed full of information from getting started to finish. It gives you many advantages and disadvantages on providing mass exposure of your creations, what you will get out of it and if your work is suitable. Helping you to decide whether it is for you or not. It is full of questions and answers such as 'How can a web site presence help with promotion and sales of work?'. And there are a few case studies from various art web sites. There is also a full section on copyright, the laws, your own work and other peoples

Handmade for Profit!: Hundreds of Secrets to Success in Selling Arts and Crafts
This new edition contains all the information you need to get started selling at a the retail level and keep growing. It includes Barbara's own priceless advice, plus a whole new collection of the best marketing strategies and selling secrets of nearly a hundred successful craftspeople, artists, designers and publishers in the author's network. This edition also includes two new chapters: 'Resources' and 'Selling on the Internet', a crash course that will save web beginners hundreds (if not thousands) of pounds