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Need opinions about website
adridri
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Hi all
I'm pretty much at the same stage of my art journey as @marinos_88. I would like to build a body of oil work that could be displayed in some time. I've put together a little googlesite to be able to show my work so far, which I will implement as I go. Would you guys be kind enough to take a peek and tell me if it could be perceived as a good portfolio presentation in case I show it to anyone out there ? I'm not web designer so I did what I could with a free option... I'm wondering also about wether leaving the sketchbook work ?
https://www.adriengirard.fr/
So far I've been working with oils only on canvas paper, from A3 to A2 sizes. I'm thinking about moving to linen canvas.
Thanks for your feedback.
Best
https://www.adriengirard.fr/
So far I've been working with oils only on canvas paper, from A3 to A2 sizes. I'm thinking about moving to linen canvas.
Thanks for your feedback.
Best
Adrien
Comments
As for supports, I doubt paper will be good for selling, unless you mount it for the sale. Stretched canvas - traditional, so most will accept that. But importance of rigid support has been discussed a milion times. Buyers will probably not care though. I've seen people buying unstretched works , standard cityscapes, at tourist spots for like 120 euros. I guess stretching and framing may cost even more.
Have you thought about putting a bit of info about yourself on it too ?
- How much have you paid for that?
- It's my work.
- Yours? Hmmmm... Turn it please.
Then after reading the typical cheap stuff imprint on the back like "wow price, perfect for HOBBYISTS!!!"
- Okay, that can go.
Interesting topic
i think that's a good website because it's simple.
I like simple when i navigate on a webpage.
Maybe you should showcase only your best work. That's prob gonna happen overtime i suppose.
Marino
@MichaelD I thought about it, it's a good idea! I'll implement that !
Generally need to add personality to your site and improve the display of your paintings.
Here's my suggestions. Some may not be possible on your host🤞
1. Need a mini biography about you, what materials you use, what inspires you, whether you do commissions...
2. Contact screen is off-putting. Need your email address, mobile number and preferably a physical address. I'm not into Instagram but do you have an 'address'? Showing this in addition to the logo would help.
3. The images are very small and I cannot zoom them to a bigger size. Also you need to have your street scene (background image) as a painting.
4. I would prefer to see paintings as groups of thumbnails rather than a scrolling gallery. This would also allow you to write about them. For example "Spanish countryside. A series of plein air gouache sketches completed around Zaragoza..."
5. I seem to remember that you're in Paris. You do lovely atmospheric paintings of it. That's a real selling point. "Paris" is a global brand, closely linked to art. People go on holiday there and might want to buy a painting while there or when they get home.
Finally, here's a link to an artist local to me in the UK.
https://carlknibb.com/
I'm not linked with him in any way. I add this purely to demonstrate some of my suggestions.
I have read that sold paintings should be removed as having a picture of them is an invitation to treat which is no longer available and buyers may feel they have missed out on the best painting.
What I read said, if you want sold paintings displayed; have them on a page dedicated to sold paintings. Not sure if this is true or relevant?
Two things I will point out from my experience, Bearing in mind, these points may be meaningless and just highlight my inept navigation of sites, and not reflect on your website at all.
1. The drop down bars and your name are difficult to see in part against the light background. Perhaps if they were dropped down the page to have the dark tree fully behind would help?
2 Silly me, but I spent a while trying to click on the paintings on the home page to enlarge them, only to later see the drop box bars on the top left of the page.
I hope you get lost of interest generated by the site. It looks very professional.
" I like that the sold paintings have a price."
Yup. His prices are higher than last year. Encourages me to buy.
"having a picture of them is an invitation to treat which is no longer available and buyers may feel they have missed out on the best painting. "
Retailers rely on this buy-it-now-or-miss-out... 'sale ends Tuesday' 'last one in stoc'. It forces people to make a buy decision AND generates a sense of urgency.
If someone sees a sold painting of yours they like then maybe that's the basis of a commission.
Mixing sold & unsold may give comfort to a potential buyer for a variety of reasons. This may be why used car lots put "SOLD" in windscreens (even if not sold) and estate agents (realtors?) do the the same for properties in their shop windows.
A very nice online presentation, and your skills and the breadth of your artworks stand triumphant in themselves—and including the digital corner. Did the charcoal get your fingers dirty?
Otherwise. au-delà de l'excellence.
In the interests of honesty, I'm rather afraid I had to beg the support of Google to secure a translation of those final words.
Very best rgds, Duncan
You have made some great changes since I first looked.
Good that you have added an `about me` page, but and this is just my personal take, I would keep it shorter than that if possible. Again that just personal, so, of course, keep it as it is if you prefer it.
I love the painting you have chosen for your main page, thats a good opener.
Ive had my site up a couple of years now. Its the free one with Weebly and I pay about 50 quid a year to keep it registered.
http://www.michaeldoran.org/
Now that you've got it up and running and looking good, it will be a simple matter of adding more artworks as you produce them.
The Google zoom thing worked well. Does Google set the filename that's visible? Is there any way to fix it so that there's a painting title rather than just numbers.
Contact page. One slight adjustment, probably a translation thing. "If you need..." is a harsh way of giving your email. It's almost like saying "For emergency use only". "If you enjoy my work, want to discuss a commission or simply have a question then feel free to email me." is a more positive, open phrasing.
There are probably ways that you can see to develop and improve it. The main thing though is that your work looks really great.
Nonetheless, I think also that if you are decided to describe yourself—yourself as a person—via your website, a little learning about the man will perhaps touch more people more strongly than describing your painter attitudes and directions might achieve.
I'm not trying to persuade your thinking in any way, I'm minded simply to encourage you to reconsider your self-description.
If you choose to, I'll make a deal with you, a promise—or make a contract with you, if you prefer—and in the interests of fairness. If you promise to reconsider (and perhaps quietly talk to yourself) the written expression of your bio webpage, my side of that equation will be a solid promise to you.
@Abstraction is already on a promise for something which might speak to his appreciation of his personal ancestry, and I was intending to deliver that to him privately. If you will sidestep the kind commenting in this ongoing conversation, and trust to your own thinking, I promise you I will publish my abomination publicly to this venue, and invite unkind discussion. I don't much know about chemistry—or mechanical coupling in gold nanoparticles—but I do know how to glue gold leaf (badly) around a badly painted painting.
I think your sketches (re your opening post mention) matter, and deserve appreciation—and for certain yours earn it. Although you could, perhaps, when you feel you are confident you have an ample portfolio or, a market stall, if that is your heading, demote them a little to accommodate.
I see your portraiture skills as being astounding. well worth the dirty fingertips, carbon or paint contaminating doors and walls, and well worth pushing to somewhere near the front of the queue.
With kindest regards, Duncan
About the bio, quite honestly, I don't have a strong opinion of how it should be, and I seem to easily lean on one side or the other when someone give his opinion, and quite afraid to appear presomptuous. Ok I'll give it a second thought, make it a bit more personal. Thank you for your input and your time browsing my modest contribution.
You got me curious of what you have going on there
@MichaelD, your site looks really great as well.
May I ask you both, did you take the pictures yourself that are posted on your sites?
Good news, it's not either-or for detail. Use paragraphs.
Put a summary in paragraph 1. Everybody will read this.
Put more detail in following paragraphs. You lose readers at paragraph 2 and more at paragraph 3 etc. The most interested will read everything.
Finally, end with a "call to action" as the marketing people call it. For example... "If you've read this far and want to talk some more then email me at [email protected]"
It’s usually on my main page but I must have lost it when I last added image.
I have sorted it.
Regarding copies, I have had a few ask about prints and I looked into it.
For me it’s not economically viable.
Essentially it would mean paying for a a certain number of prints that may or may not be sold.
I may look at it again in future
Under UK copyright law you are automatically the owner of copyright in any work you produce
You get copyright protection automatically - you don't have to apply or pay a fee. There isn't a register of copyright works in the UK. You automatically get copyright protection when you create: original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, including illustration and photography.
I dont spend enough of my time painting as it is
Kind rgds, Duncan
I agree Duncan, well said.
"I don't think there is any real intimacy or value in a remotely produced print"
Stand in the buyer's shoes.
I admire the work of an artist, follow their development and want to give them practical support. Unfortunately I cannot afford £?k for an original but am pleased that the artist is making it pay. Also, I'm on the other side of the world and anything on the wall gets trashed because of my 4 year old scribbler / damp flat / cat.
Prints would be a cherished possession.
To get good quality giclee prints made can be quite expensive. Probably better to spend the money on more paint and canvas.
Canvas delivery for a Mr Seascape Painter...?
Yeah can you get them off quickly, there's a tanker of moody grey paint due anytime.😆