3 Ways to Get Featured on Instagram

I've got three ways to get featured on Instagram for artists for you today friends! The first one is definitely the most time consuming and involved, but will garner the biggest results.

The second two suggestions are much easier but you'll need to do them more often to be effective.

So remember:

• Collaborate with brands or influencers

• Pay to play on art share pages

• Tag and hashtag art share pages and hope for the best

Make sure you see the rest of my 'Owning Your Instagram for Artists' series as I reference these videos in the one you're watching today:

Instagram Hashtags for Artists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YnlZE0lFNw&t=5s

The Ugly Truth About Instagram Art Share Pages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDD6ObNaA-U&t=2s

Snag Mini Prints here while they last:

https://www.caleighbirdart.com/shop/mini-silken-smile-print

https://www.caleighbirdart.com/shop/mini-silken-smile-print-zr3wz

9.14.2019

Ask an Artist 2 :: Objects vs. Artwork + Showing Artists Some Love

Welcome back to my fun segment where I answer art’s most pressing questions! Today on Ask an Artist I’ve got two excellent questions somewhat pertaining to art appreciation.

I pulled both of them from Quora where I like to hang out and help others artists from time to time. If you’d like to see some of the other artsy advice I’ve given you can check out my page here.

These questions were also featured on my last YouTube video where I give the same answers, but discuss them a little more in depth. And if you have anything you’d like answered, go ahead and leave your question in the comments below here or in the YouTube comments for a chance to have it answered on the next segment!

Q1: How do I stop simply depicting objects and start making art?

That is a very deep question, I love it! I think your ‘objects’ will become ‘art’ when your choice of subject gains meaning behind it. It’s one thing to paint a jug of milk sitting on your dining room table for example, but quite another if that jug of milk is conceptually a critique about the old fashioned notion of women being bound to role of wife/mother/provider/nurturer.

See the difference?

Base your works on something that is meaningful to you/society/your niche and even if the technical aspect remains the same, you will all of a sudden be creating art instead of rendering objects.

Personally I spent over a decade devoted to learning how to correctly portray the figure before I felt comfortable actually using my skills to get more creative and fill my works with meaning, and I’m glad I waited. It sounds like you might be hitting that point within your practice as well - how exciting!

If you would like a little help creating meaningful works or learning how to talk and write about them, check out this video I have on my YouTube channel. How to Write an Artist Statement: Motivational Step by Step!! Even if you’re not ready to sit down and write about your portfolio it could inspire your new level of art-making.

Congrats on feeling ready to move forward:)

Q2: How can I support an artist I like without spending money?

Sharing their work while giving full credit and tagging etc. is a fantastic way to help artists. It’s one of the main ways we grow! You can also help send folks their way if, for example, your friend got a new place and thinking of buying art.

If you know the artist personally sometimes you can send opportunities their way. Like if an art teaching job opens up or there’s some big art contest happening, I’ll often have a few friends forward me links when they hear about them. Definitely showing up an being supportive at any art shows is a big win too.

That’s so awesome when folks like you show artists some real love!

Make sure to drop me a question below if you’ve got anything you’d love to Ask an Artist, and remember, I’m always here for one-on-one mentoring too!

9.11.2019

Ask an Artist 2 :: Q&A + Figure Drawing Demo

Yay time for another Ask an Artist!

Today I answer two really awesome questions loosely about art/artist appreciation. I don’t want to give anything away so enjoy the vid. If you’d like to see my answers written out, stay tuned to my blog next week.

Here's the materials I use to draw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUcnWwKL59g

If you would like more info on getting your own handmade-with-love toned (or white) paper sketchbook pop over here to be kept in the loop for my next sketchbook release: https://www.caleighbirdart.com/handmade-sketchbooks

9.6.2019

Limited Edition Mini Prints

Yaay! 10 Dolla mini prints!

These are printed on the same gallery quality heavyweight art paper as my larger prints - just in a much cuter size! ‘Pinch Me’ is 5x4 inches and ‘The Silken Smile’ measures 6x3 inches and they will come signed and numbered on the front.

And the best part is since they fit in a regular envelope it’s only 50 cents to ship them! Woohoo! I’m doing a limited edition of only 10 each so pop up to my Shop to snag one of these cuties

9.3.2019

The Ugly Truth About Instagram Art Share Pages :: Owning Your Instagram

Yikes, you guys…. today’s vid ain’t a pretty one, but it is necessary because I would hate to see you lovely folks get scammed when you’re trying to grow your Instagram with me during this series.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of art sharing pages on IG that try to encourage you to use their hashtag or pay to have your artwork shown on their page to their hundreds of thousands of followers which can be a very effective marketing tool if they are legitimate. However, many of them are not and will be more than happy to take your money to show your art to basically no one.

Tune in today to learn how to tell the legitimate pages from the scammers, and make sure to subscribe on my YouTube because I’ve got two more vids coming out in this Instagram series that you would hate to miss!

Like I Promised…

Here are some pages I am sure are scams that you should steer clear of. This is by no means a comprehensive list and I wholeheartedly encourage you to do your own objective research before giving any art share pages your money or even wasting any of your precious 30 hashtags on them. (Learn about great hashtag usage here)

• @artsbeautifulx

• @artsamazingz

• @artstalentz

• @artsnewss

• @pencilacademy

• @artspowerk

• @artsgodz

• @artsmagazinee

• @artsguideig

• @artsentourage

• @artsbossz

• @artsrooms

Have you had any experience with a scam IG sharing page? Let me know in the comment so we can help warn others!

8.30.2019

Figure Drawing Workshop in Honolulu

It’s officially official, folks, I’m teaching a workshop at the Honolulu Museum of Art School in October! Hoorayyy!!

‘Forming the Figure’ will debut as a two day intensive where I will be teaching exactly how I create my signature toned paper life drawings.

This workshop is actually something I've been developing over the last few months as a way to dive deep into how varying types of light sources affect highlights on the figure differently, and how to render them accurately. I even created an active worksheet we'll be using for the first part of the class which goes over single, multiple, and diffused lighting resulting in sharp, soft, or penumbra shadows.

I know... serious business, right!?!?

All materials will be included and evvery student should walk away with at least 1-3 dynamic and frameable pieces :) Check out all the details on the Museum of Art School site.

New 3D Oil Painting :: Flower

Welcome to my latest 3 Dimensional oil and mixed media resin layer painting (whew! try saying that three times fast!). I've been working on 'Flower' for a few months and I definitely learned some new things while working on her.

This oil on linen on wood panel painting includes gold leaf Calla Lilies with aerosol on the background and amazing plants I found in the PNW earlier this year. It was really exciting building this piece up and with the success of the incorporated plant life I can't wait to discover more wild things to ensconce in future works!

Check out those details…

And snag a print here..

Here are the other videos I reference:

3 Ways to Blend Oil Paint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx3k7cE1fFY&t=280s

How to Use Gold Leaf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csm4_BXxw10&t=774s

Simple Framing Technique

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJcIFE__tlU

How to Make Layered Resin Art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxmP_I9gEvM&t=415s

8.24.2019

Recent Figure Modeling Sessions

I’ve been modeling quite a bit over this summer and it’s always such a treat for me to see how I’m portrayed by other artists so I figured it’s about time to share another round with my wonderful readers.

Plus I recently updated the ‘Art Model’ page on my website with a number of my favorite drawings from my sessions over the last two years. Having a number of artists attend my sessions repeatedly definitely helps me stay on my toes by keeping my poses fresh and dynamic:)

8.21.2019

Own Your Instagram :: Part 1 :: How to Choose Great Hashtags

Welcome to Part 1 of my four part series on 'Owning Your Instagram for Artists.' I know we have all been seeing our engagement drop so while I'm trying to show my own page a lil extra love I figured I'd share some tips with my lovely YouTube fam.

The key to using successful hashtags that will actually get you noticed in a veritable sea of other extremely talented artists is doing your research and getting specific. Trust me, tags that have 5 million posts are going to get you nowhere... but with just a little patience you can find your best possible, and totally personalized, hashtags.

Tune in for tips on how to lock into your specific type of niche art subject and style to attract genuine fans:)

Tips:

• Research related hashtags (smaller is better!)

• Research a variety of themes related to your artwork specifically

• See how other similar artists are tagging

• Save multiple hashtag sets in your phone for ease of use

Here's a vid by Girl vs. Globe I found especially helpful for my own IG page:

https://youtu.be/mC7_Rr45YXs

8.17.2019

A Visit to Lyon Arboretum

Wow friends, even after almost four years on O’ahu I can still ge my mind totally blown by the flora out here. I spent a glorious morning strolling though the Lyon Arboretum with my sister artist Zee photographing and marveling at all the absolutely otherworldly flowers.

It was like every time we turned the corner ‘round another bush we would stop dead in our tracks and gasp!

The arboretum is a cool spot that is run by the University of Hawai’i so it is very well cared for and features flowers and plants from all over the world with little plaques describing their names and origins. It’s a truly wonderful place that the school chooses to share with the public.

I mean, have you ever seen a black flower?!

Do yourself a favor and check out the rest of these mind-bending plants, and if you ever get out to O’ahu plan an afternoon at the Lyon Arboretum in Manoa Valley. This is the fourth time I’ve been and no matter what time of year you will see things you will not see anywhere else.

8.15.2019