The order a gallery wall would use
The work first, because that's what they came for and it does the selling. Then the two ways to buy, prints before originals, because the cheaper one converts the stranger. The commission form next, for people who want something that doesn't exist yet. Exhibitions, questions and the letter close the page — they're for the person who has already decided they like you.
- Recent work
- Prints
- Originals
- Commissions
- Exhibitions and the letter
Etsy, Big Cartel, Shopify or no shop at all
The buttons open whatever you already sell through, so a shop on Etsy, Big Cartel, Gumroad, Shopify or a Ko-fi page all work the same way here. If you don't have a shop, the commission form and a WhatsApp or email button are enough to start: plenty of artists sell their first fifty pieces that way. Keep the print sizes standard so buyers can frame them locally, and say so on the page — it removes the most common reason a print sits in a basket. If you post work in progress, the studio link is worth more than a second shop button: it's the thing that makes a stranger follow, and following is what eventually sells the print.
What to write in an artist's bio
Subject and medium, in that order: "Plants, old houses and the sea. Ink and watercolour." People find artists by subject far more often than by technique, and a specific subject is what makes someone say "that's for my kitchen".
Say whether commissions are open. "Commissions open for January" saves you the question fifty times and creates a reason to write today rather than someday.
Turning followers into buyers
Show the work finished and in a room. A print photographed on a wall sells better than a scan, because the buyer can see the size. Keep one such photo as the top block whenever a new run comes out.
Announce a run to the newsletter a day before the feed. It rewards the list, it sells out faster, and it gives you something true to say publicly the next day: "half of them are gone."
What to avoid
Quoting a commission price in public comments. The same piece costs differently by size, medium and use, and a number in a comment becomes the price everyone expects. Send them to the form.
Selling commercial use as if it were a print. If the drawing is going on a label, a menu or a shopfront, that's a licence, and it should be agreed in writing with the use and the term named.