Instagram is booming every minute, thanks to its visual appeal. That’s why it’s a hot spot for artists of all kinds to showcase their talents as well as turn their passion into money!
But, here’s the question: How to gain followers on Instagram as an artist? And how long does it take to become one of the best painters on Instagram? Let’s dive into this blog to get your answers.
Why grow on Instagram as an artist?
Painter Ashley Longshore, whose works are often bought directly from her Instagram account for $30,000 or more, in an interview said:
“I can post a painting and it will sell before the paint is dry! Technology is the platform of my business: All I need is my iPad, my Instagram, and a delivery truck to haul all of this gorgeousness to the new homes where they will hang”.
Let’s be real and find out why Instagram can be a real boon for you as an artist:
- Instagram is a giant visual mood board. People can easily browse your art, and if they like what they see, they can contact you directly to buy it. This cuts out the middleman and lets you keep more profit.
- With a bigger following, you reach more people who might love your art and want to support you. This can lead to commissions, sales, and a dedicated collector base.
- The art community is thriving on Instagram. You can connect with other artists, share ideas, and even collaborate on projects. Galleries and art scouts also use Instagram to find new talent, so having a strong presence can open doors.
- Got a gallery show coming up? You can use Instagram to spread the word and build anticipation. This can help draw a bigger crowd and boost your exposure.
How to Gain Followers on Instagram as an Artist
Thankfully, Instagram has many useful, creative features that make it the best platform for artists. However, it’s important to know how to promote your art on your Instagram account. Here, I’ll walk you through all the steps.
#1. Pick a niche
Having a particular theme (niche) on Instagram is of prime importance when it comes to attracting your target audience’s eyeballs.
To put it in simple words, niche means posting your content under a certain topic or category that might seem interesting to a certain part of the platform’s audience.
The key point is to know that not everyone is supposed to like what you make and share. Pick your account’s niche, and don’t stray away from it. Then you’ll attract a crowd that loves your content so that they easily get engaged with you.
By looking at the photo below, you can easily guess what the defined niche of the account is. Let’s see and guess!
Yes, the consistent theme of the content says that this account belongs to an artist who uses watercolors to paint autumn and cozy things.
#2. Generate an attractive profile
First and foremost, you need a captivating profile to make the first impression. A compelling username, a high-quality profile image, and a unique bio could do magic.
Note: if you have a private page, switch it to a professional or business page immediately.
How should Instagram usernames for artists be?
Instagram names for artists need to reflect their artistic identity. It also should be searchable and easy to remember.
You’d better add your title to your username, like painter, musician, and more. If possible, it’s recommended to include relevant keywords in your username.
Need some inspiration to trigger your creativity? check out the ideas below:
20 unique Instagram usernames for artists
- Vibrant Visions
- Artful Whispers
- Painted Paradise
- Artistic Vibes
- Greek Drawings
- Inno Art
- Bloom in paint
- The raw canvas
- Abstract Wonders
- Colorful Expressions
- Artistic Essence
- Sky of colors
- Difficult nature
- Artful imagination
- Brush & ink
- Inked Imagery
- palette perfection
- Tasteful art
- Fashion Voice
- Immerse in art
Key features of Instagram Bio for artists
When writing a bio for your Instagram account, state what you’re doing. Since Instagram doesn’t allow more than 150 characters, introduce your work within your bio. Note that your art Instagram bio should be engaging enough.
You can also list your other Instagram accounts in your bio plus your main website link- if you have one.
- Add a call to action to your bio
- Use emojis
- Add your contact info
- Add your location
#3. Interact with other accounts
This is very important when you’re growing your Instagram account from scratch.
Instagram suggests some users based on your contact list, your followers, posts you’ve liked, etc.
One of the best ways to gain followers for your Instagram is to follow these suggested users who are commonly galleries, art lovers, art consultants, fellow artists, etc.
Don’t worry if these accounts don’t follow you back; start liking and commenting on their posts from time to time. The goal is to be sociable enough to encourage these accounts to check you out.
Bonus tips:
- To find suggested accounts, go to a similar artist’s profile that you enjoy their art, then tap the triangle icon next to the Following button. Choose the accounts you like from the drop-down list and follow them.
- You can also type a relevant hashtag to your niche into the IG search bar and then follow the most relevant ones. Using this way, you can go to the accounts of each one of these posts to interact with them via comments, likes, etc.
#4. Share high-quality visual content
As an artist, you’re expected to share super high-quality images on your IG page. This is a basic rule on Instagram for artists to pay close attention to their content.
We’ve already created a post on Instagram post sizes in 20234. You can go to this blog to learn about Instagram standards for image and video dimensions.
For now, keep in mind that pictures with a 1:1 ratio look more fantastic. Also, keep your image resolution at 1080 px on the shortest side to ensure your image won’t be pixelated.
Moreover, don’t ignore the composition, lighting, cropping, and more. if you’re going to use filters and effects, select them very carefully. Consider these tools to edit your Instagram posts:
- Canva
- Image Size
- Photo Crop
- Snapseed
- Adobe Lightroom
- VSCO
More tips to post as an artist on Instagram
Here are the key points you should consider when posting your art on Instagram:
Post regularly at the best times
Knowing how often to post on IG and when to post is pretty important to beat the Instagram algorithm.
Posting frequency has an undeniable impact on engagement but it doesn’t guarantee your engagement since it depends on other elements as well.
The number of times an Instagram art account posts on Instagram heavily depends on their new content, the amount of time they can spend creating content, and what their followers want.
The best thing to keep consistency is to create an Instagram content calendar.
The best times to post art on Instagram
If you have been using Instagram professionally for a while, you’ve probably noticed that not all your posts receive the same reach and likes.
Based on your followers’ locations, there are different hours that most of them are online.
In general, the best times to post on Instagram are: Tuesdays (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Wednesdays (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and Thursdays (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
However, to find the most optimal time for your art account, you can leverage the Instagram Insights feature available on professional accounts.
Instagram Insights gives you details about your followers’ age range, gender, top locations, and most active times to help you get more reach. Here is how to access your followers’ insights:
- Log into your Instagram Business/Creator account and go to your profile.
- Tap the “Insights” button on your profile.
- Select “Total followers” to view your followers’ details. You can access this tool after having at least 100 followers.
- Tap on the Details button at the top right corner. You can view their most active times and days, gender, locations, etc.
Watermark your Instagram art
There are some people on Instagram who conveniently post your work of art on their account without tagging you as an artist.
It’s not fair because these accounts gain more and more followers using your art, but you’re gaining none.
So, by watermarking your posts, even if these accounts forget to tag you, people who really love your work will search for your account to follow you.
Instagram for artists: what content to share?
Your artwork is what your followers are eager to see on your Instagram page. But diversity is the key. So aim for different post ideas like:
- A sneak peek behind the scenes, like while you’re creating new artwork or preparing for an exhibition.
- You can also include yourself in some of the images. By that, I don’t mean sharing what you’re eating or where you’re going. We’re talking about showing yourself next to your painting or artwork. It will give a personal touch to your work.
- Whether you’re a tattoo artist, a nail artist, or a painter, don’t forget to tag people and other artists who inspire you.
Use Stories to Improve Your Artistic Instagram Account
Fortunately, Instagram has lots of features that could be handy for artists. Stories, for instance, are the most interactive Instagram features you can use to both present your artwork and engage your followers.
How to get more followers on instagram as an artist with stories
- Use Instagram polls to gather feedback from your audience;
- Ask open-ended questions related to your art;
- For example, you can share a photo of your work in progress and ask your audience to help you with color choices;
- One of the most brilliant Instagram drawing ideas is to share behind the scenes. Believe it or not, snippets of your workspace, materials, or tools you’re using could excite your followers;
- IG stories are the best fit to announce upcoming events or projects. Are you opening a gallery or an exhibition? What’s better than insta stories to inform your followers or share the preparations?
- And finally, categorize all your projects and put them in story highlights.
Read this to draw more inspiration: 30 captivating Instagram story ideas.
Use Reels
Reels are the most popular content type on Instagram. So, you MUST include them in your content calendar.
Happily, you can grab many ideas to create an engaging reel, including:
- Before and after your work.
- Detailed close-ups from your artwork.
- Unboxing new art supplies.
- A quick tour of your creative space.
- Or even showing how you mix paints to get colors.
Go Live to get more IG followers as an artist
You can use IG Live videos in the most effective ways, like:
- Studio Tours: take your followers on a virtual tour of your studio, and let them see your working area, art supplies, and so on.
- Art Demonstrations: Use live videos to demonstrate your artistic process in real time. For example, if you’re a painter, show the steps involved in creating a specific artwork, from sketching to adding layers of paint.
- Q&A Sessions: Host live Q&A sessions every often to engage with your followers.
- Art talks or Workshops: You can also choose specific topics and provide valuable tips and practical advice about them.
- Live Performance: Instagram for music artists could be the best opportunity, as well. If you’re one, you can have Live performances and let your fans enjoy your music in real-time.
- Collaborative Projects: It would be so interesting if you could invite other artists and have a constructive conversation over art-related topics.
Read also, how going Live on Instagram helps gain followers
Run contests & giveaways
Hosting an Instagram art contest helps you increase your brand awareness, engagement, and ideal followers. So, when you hold contests, the most important reason is gaining followers.
Make sure you ask your followers in the description of your contest to do the following. They can be the conditions of the contest.
1- Follow me(only users who have followed you, are qualified to be a part of the contest.)
2- Like the posts(ask your followers to like some of your posts, this boosts your posts’ popularity.)
3- Tag 2-3 friends(it simply results in a chain reaction because when your followers tag their friends to enter the contest, their friends will also tag theirs to do so.)
Choose the winner and then edit the caption of your contest post to tag the winner and write the Contest closed!
Suggested post: How to a giveaway on Instagram to gain followers?
#5. Write engaging captions
When it comes to captions, go beyond just providing context for your images. Let your creativity flow and tell a story in line with your artwork.
Instead of simply describing your process or art, take your audience on a journey.
We’ve previously provided you with a post about how to write art Instagram captions.
But briefly, it’s important to make the first words impressive. In other words, the shorter your caption is, the more successful it’s to attract people.
#6. Use hashtags strategically
Now, everybody knows the importance of hashtags. But first, you need to learn how to use hashtags for your Instagram growth.
So, use the correct and relevant hashtags for your work. When applying hashtags, keep these points in mind:
#1. If you have a small account, avoid large hashtags
When searching for a hashtag, there’s a number next to it. As the number goes up, the chances of someone seeing your post will be decreased.
The best thing you can do is to mix popular hashtags (fewer posts) with general hashtags (more posts). Let’s give an example to make this clear:
For example, if you’re posting a picture of your graffiti, some of the relevant hashtags could be as below:
Here, you can combine popular tags with more general ones like #graffitigram, and #graffitilovers.
Or add items like location (geotags) (#mexico, #london, etc.), Style (#Tagging, #Blockbuster, etc.), and medium (#Spray, #Marker, etc.) to the hashtag and make another hashtag like #graffitilondon, for instance.
#2. Where is the best place to include hashtags on Instagram for artists?
You can bring hashtags in your caption, but if you think they might corrupt the look of your post, put them in comments, instead.
#3. How many hashtags can you use in your post?
Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags at once, but it’s too many. Almost 10 hashtags would be enough.
#7. Engage your followers
Engagement is the key to growth on Instagram for artists. To increase your Instagram engagement, besides following the steps mentioned above, it’s helpful to take these additional tips:
- People love challenges. Sometimes, you need to run art contests that encourage your followers to create and share their own artwork.
- Don’t forget your fans, and appreciate them occasionally.
- Respond to DMs and comments as much as you can. Try to actively engage in conversations, and make them feel valued.
- Make use of Instagram management tools like AiGrow to get data-driven analytics of your account performance.
#8. Collaborate With Other Artists to Build a Network
Thankfully, you can reach who you want on Instagram just in a few minutes. If you’d like to find your peers all over the world, you can follow these simple steps:
- Notable art communities and organizations have official pages on Instagram. You can reach out, comment on their posts, and even send DMs to them.
- Participate in art-related events or workshops. You can get informed of these events through Instagram art communities.
- Find potential buyers, galleries, or art lovers. Firstly, build relationships with them, and then start conversations about how to collaborate.
#9. Promote Your Instagram on Other Platforms
If you have established audiences on other platforms (subscribers, email lists, other social media platforms, website forums, etc.), these people are essentially already following you. Alert them to the presence of your Instagram and bring them over.
#10. Use an Instagram growth service
The tips I mentioned earlier are your go-to for growing Instagram followers organically. But let’s face it, becoming a pro on Instagram requires a lot of time, effort, and skill.
That’s why some people prefer to leave it to the experts who have the experience and know-how.
Using an Instagram growth service like AiGrow can save you time and ensure the best results.
Another perk is that these services offer everything you need to grow your account, from hashtag generators to tools for scheduling posts.
With AiGrow, each account has a dedicated account manager creating the best strategy to grow your account.
Everything from creating and scheduling captivating content, finding trending hashtags, sending targeted DMs, and providing detailed analytics is on your expert manager.
So, take benefit of AiGrow’s 14-day money-back guarantee and grow your account.
Examples of the best art accounts on Instagram
While the number of drawing artists on Instagram is growing every day, some of the most approved accounts include:
1. @owlright_
2. @thaimainhard
3. @Heath_wae
4. @jeanpauldonadini
5. @liz.giles.art
How to gain followers on instagram as an artist: FAQs
How do artists get 1,000 followers on Instagram?
To get your 1000 followers, you need to post consistently, create a professional bio and username, add hashtags to your posts, and post high-quality reels, images, and stories.
Can I Sell My Artwork on Instagram?
Yes, Instagram lets you set up your own Instagram shop and sell everything from clothes to artwork. Also, find out how to sell art on Instagram.
You can learn to set up an Instagram shop, but keep in mind that to launch an Instagram shop, you’ll need the followings:
- A business or professional account;
- A Facebook page;
- Complying with Instagram commerce eligibility requirements;
- Product catalog.
