8 Stellar Sites for Understanding, Making & Selling Fine Art
Fine Arts is one doozy of a category - so much possibility in those two little words!
… And so much ambiguity. What even qualifies as fine art? The lines often blur here, but it’s important that you answer this in order pick your first (or next) fine art project.
To help, I’ve listed 8 stellar websites below that do everything from neatly categorize the fine art field, to teach you how to make great art. And, for those aspiring to entrepreneurship, there are even a couple links to help you sell what you create!
Note: In addition to the following, I always suggest a quick pit stop at Wikipedia to get a sense of what the heck you’re getting yourself into, then hit up Google search to expand your mind on what’s possible!
Let’s be brave together…
Dawn B
Messmer’s Musings is a lively YouTube video dissecting the very definition of “art”. It’s intriguing, fun, and a thought-provoking way to kick off today’s fine arts resource list!
2) Drawing & Painting - The Virtual Instructor
Oh. My. Goodness. TONS of free, how-to videos on graphite, colored pencil, pastels, watercolors, charcoal, acrylics, and oil painting on Matt Fussell’s The Virtual Instructor YouTube channel. I know I’ll sure be revisiting this site again and again!
Within the same channel, be sure to also check out Matt’s OUTSTANDING introduction to Composition in Art (arrangement of elements within an art piece). This particularly relevant video is organized, novice-friendly, and peppered with helpful examples.
3) Teresa Bernard Art
Kudos to artist Teresa Bernard for creating a refreshingly simple and useful art classification list to work from.
And on this page, Teresa also further breaks down the fine arts by genre - that is, artwork sharing a similar style, form, or subject. She talks paintings here, but these genres are beautifully translatable across media.
4) The Art Assignment
From the Digital Studios of PBS, curator Sarah Urist Green hosts The Art Assignment’s ever-growing video super-series, covering fascinating and brain-stimulating concepts in art and art history. If you want to totally geek out about art, here’s the YouTube channel to do it!
5) Visual Arts Cork
Visual Arts Cork offers a succinct description of what fine arts are from a visual arts perspective. It links to examples of each medium, historical data and - joy-of-joys - a list of visual fine arts we’ll likely explore on the Dawn B Creative blog.
6) ArtCyclopedia
ArtCyclopedia is an art-centric gateway site, featuring some of the top links and resources on artists, art movements, artworks, art museums, art publications and other fabulous artsiness. Research buffs will want to linger on this site.
7) The Abundant Artist
I love Cory Huff’s philosophy in The Abundant Artist website. Gotta-get-in-a-gallery mentality is on its way out. We’re in the digital age! Cory talks about how to sell direct and to sell online, to be your own champion, and to be business savvy. Tons of free resources and helpful paid services here.
8) My Modern Met
In addition to being a fantastic inspiration source for contemporary artists, My Modern Met has also compiled an awesome 18-point list of the best online sales resources for the entrepreneurial artist.
