Advice for promoting art?

Hi! I don't know if I'm really qualified to answer, but here are my thoughts on your questions.

1. I think social media is useful as you can put your art out there with minimal investment and it gives you a place to send people to easily find you and your art. It also gives you the opportunity to connect with other people and reach potential clients easily.

2. I don't know if it's the best. You can probably use it to great effect and some manage to, but you're also up against thousands other people that also try to achieve the same thing. I imagine that using all the different platforms at your disposal can help, but I think reaching out to people outside of social media and making real life connections can also help a lot to get noticed and not just get lost in the sea of online artists. But social medias are certainly an important part of an advertising strategy. I'm just not sure if it's the best.

3. For inspiration, I just go with what I like, things I see or hear and build up from there. I actually don't find it too difficult to get inspired for commission as usually clients already have something they want or a goal to achieve. So there's always a thread to follow and build from. It sometimes requires some thoughts, but overall I find it inspiring. I think that the problem solving aspect is also something I enjoy doing.

I hope this help!

Hello,

I'm still in the learning phase before I can even consider selling art. However, I'll provide my 2 cents for your consideration

1. Social media can be a powerful tool by having a uniformed name across all them for people to easily find you. Someone on Twitter might Google your username and find your Instagram, Artstation, etc if you have the same name. This allows for a flow of opportunities from various directions with minimal efforts. Especially, if you use a name to manage/automate posts across your socials.

2. I don't think it's the best, I just think it's another tool in the toolbox. I think word of mouth if the best way to advertise as people will generally lean towards trusting someone they know and social media helps promote that.

3. I just watch/play what I enjoy. For example, I watched Promare yesterday and was in love with the art and animation style and that alone inspired me. While I haven't had clients my wife has as she's a freelance and she tends to get inspired by wanting to see her client's idea come to life.

Hello Anna!

I am a full time author. (I'm learning graphic design to better present my books.)

I've been using social media to promote my books for years. I noticed that it is more important for me to be a member of Facebook bookgroups (in my genre) than to have a lot of friends there.

On Instagram I'm in a "book bubble". I'm not very active there, but I check it out regularly. When other authors or book bloggers are liking one of my posts, I like back. I do not search active for friends anymore. But I try to be polite and cooperative.

Everyone wants to present themselves on social media. The art is realizing what you can do for others, not what they are doing for you. Give something and you get something in return occasionally.

On Bookstagram the bookreaders and authors often share books or interesting posts from others in their story. For this, you return the favor at the right opportunity.

Be aware, that only 5 to 10 percent of the people who offer you social media friendship are even interested in seeing your work. Most people want you to look and like their artwork. They can be valuable as part of your network, but don't expect too much from them.

Don't automatically like everything that is shown to you in the Instagram feed in the hope that you will get likes back. That can go wrong terrible if you accidentally like a post that is nasty, racist, or right-wing extremist.

And to answer your third question:
My brain is trained to produce novels. I write several hours four days a week. I have too many ideas. I think it's the same with graphic designers and illustrators. As an illustrator, I'm just starting out. I worry a little that I don't care about making fanart. That may be a flaw in my personality. I prefer to paint my novel characters. (Not that I already can.)
Put pictures in your mind. So look at a lot of pictures by other artists, classic and modern. The more you look at, the wider your spectrum of ideas becomes.