The Artist’s Guide to Instagram: Be Visible Without Selling Out
If you're an artist, you’re probably not here to be an influencer. You may, in fact, be kind of repulsed by the idea. You’re not trying to sell skincare or affiliate links. You’re trying to sell your art. And navigating Instagram can feel like a bizarre tightrope: how much do I share? What if I feel fake? How do I “build a brand”….without becoming a brand?
So what is an influencer, really? At its core, an influencer is someone who builds a loyal online audience by sharing their expertise, personality, or lifestyle. They often focus on a specific niche, like fashion, fitness, beauty, food, or tech, and their followers trust their recommendations. That trust becomes a form of currency: influencers can drive sales, sway opinions, and promote products simply by showing up as themselves. Most influencers use social media, and they turn attention into income by leveraging that relationship with their audience. I’m not throwing shade on influencers—I have friends who do it really well and manage to stay genuinely likable and grounded. But let’s be honest: a lot of influencer content can veer into that 1-woman band, hustle-heavy, always-selling QVC energy.
Artists are dealing in authenticity, beauty, originality and personal magic. So it makes total sense that the fast-paced, polished, sometimes performative world of influencing can feel totally at odds with what artists value most.
But artists and influencers have more in common than either group wants to admit. Both rely on visibility. Both need an audience. Both will thrive operating inside a niche or a focus. And both are expected to post consistently, often sharing personal things, to build trust with strangers on the internet.
In a recent coaching session, one of my members said, “I hate posting on Instagram because I feel fake.” I also hear, “I don’t want to post too much and bother people.” These are real concerns. But here’s the truth: the artists who figure out how to use Instagram authentically and strategically are the ones who build connection, and connection creates sales.
Let’s talk about how to make Instagram work for your art without selling your soul.
How to Use Instagram to Sell Your Art (Without Becoming an “Influencer”)
Influencers sell attention. Their job is to gather eyeballs and then monetize that attention, usually by promoting products, brands, or sponsorships. They're using their personality, charisma, style, and good looks to gain trust so that they can make money when they promote other people's products.
Artists sell art, which means we’re selling meaning, beauty, emotion, and connection. But we still have to earn attention first. That’s the overlap: both artists and influencers will benefit from being visible online. They both benefit from having a clear voice, a recognizable style, and a consistent content strategy.
Too often I see artists trying to copy influencer formulas, posting general content without a real strategy behind it, jumping on trends, or posting just to post, without asking if it serves their art or their audience. Instead, I encourage artists to ask: What’s the story behind my art? What inspires me? What might a collector want to know about my process, my materials, or my studio life?
Your goal is to invite YOUR people into your creative world. You don’t need to appeal to the whole internet, just your people.
How Instagram Replaces Traditional Art Gallery Gatekeepers
I wish, I wish, I wish, that the art was enough. We want our art to speak for itself. After all, we are choosing to use art as our vehicle to express ourselves to the world. Can't that be all there is to it?
Sadly, no. In eras past, artists had gallery representation, and that was pretty much the only way to see art. We like to think that it was easier for artists back then, that it was simpler and easier. That's wrong. Pre-internet, as now, artists had still had to strongly advocate for their work until if/when they reached a success level where a gallery would advocate for them. So that means they had to hustle, know people, get their work seen, and persist. It methods were different in 1950, but the game is the same.
The main difference now is actually great news for the vast majority of artists. There is no longer a single gatekeeper. There are many art worlds and many gatekeepers. There are still institutions like museums, auction houses, or galleries, but there are also so many more direct ways to connect with people who might be into your art.
If you are bypassing (or being bypassed) by traditional methods of showing your art in a gallery, all is not lost. You don't need a gallery to succeed. You can carve out success on your own terms.
Carving out your corner of the internet through your social channel of choice and perhaps an email list and website is a requirement these days. Even if your long range goal is to work with galleries, they will certainly want to see your social platform and your website. The art alone is simply not enough.
Why Artists Need to Show Their Personality on Instagram
Posting only your finished work can feel like walking into a party and holding up a painting without saying a word. People scroll past. Not because your art isn’t good, but because they don’t have context. They don’t know you yet.
When you start sharing your personality, your story, your weird little quirks, your provocative or controversial opinions, viewers begin to care about you, which makes them care more about your work.
Some of the most effective content I’ve seen from artists includes:
Time-lapse or real-time process videos
Behind-the-scenes moments in the studio
Sharing a frustration or breakthrough
Introducing a studio cat, a color obsession, or a favorite tool
Sharing authentic feelings about a controversial subject
These personal touches don’t make your art less professional, and they aren't going to "bother people".
An ARC member once told me, “After I started sharing more about my daily process, I got two commissions in a week.” People weren’t just buying art, they were buying a connection to the artist.
And that’s what turns followers into collectors.
What Artists Should and Shouldn't Post on Instagram
So now that you're making regular art content, the big question is WHAT to post. And what NOT to post. Some artists make the mistake of going too narrow, only showing finished work or polished product shots. Others go too wide, posting every meal, errand, or family outing with no clear link to their creative identity.
I like to think of it as a spectrum. On one end: hyper-curated art-only feeds that feel like a sales catalog. On the other end: chaotic everything-everywhere posts that confuse your audience.
Your sweet spot is in the middle. Think of your content like an umbrella. The umbrella is your art practice, everything underneath it should somehow connect to that identity. Not “my cat, ” but “my studio cat.” Not “my coffee, ” but “what I drink while planning a new series.” Or, more accurately, “What I accidentally dip my paint brushes in”.
It means you frame it in a way that reinforces your identity as an artist. That consistency helps your audience understand who you are, what you care about, and why your art matters.
This is something we refine constantly in ARC, developing a content style that feels authentic and supports your business. It’s not about turning your life into content. It’s about letting your art life include your personality.
How to Find Your Content Style as an Artist
Your content doesn’t need to be flashy. It needs to be true to you.
A good content style reflects your visual aesthetic, your personality, and your values as an artist. But finding that style can take time. It usually starts with experimentation, trying different types of posts, tones, or formats and seeing what feels good and gets engagement.
A few questions to help:
What posts have gotten the most response in the past?
Which ones felt fun or easy to make?
Are you better in video, writing, or voiceover?
What would a potential collector enjoy seeing?
One of my favorite ARC exercises is asking members to name three words they want people to associate with their work. Then we build a content plan around that vibe.
For example, if you want your brand to feel earthy, playful, and thoughtful, your content might include natural light shots of messy palettes, slow voiceovers about what inspires you, and little stories from your studio practice. If your vibe is edgy, bold, and philosophical, your content might look completely different.
The point isn’t to copy someone else’s strategy, it’s to figure out how to be consistent with yourself. It’s important to figure out what you can consistently post without burning out… So you can keep it up for the long haul. That’s what helps people remember you. And that’s what creates trust.
How Instagram Builds Trust with Art Collectors
When people say “Instagram doesn’t work for selling art, ” they’re often talking about instant sales. But that’s not how art collecting usually works.
Most collectors follow for a while. They lurk. They absorb. They fall in love with your story. And then one day, sometimes months or years later, they’re ready.
One collector told an ARC member, “I’ve been following you for a year and finally bought something because it just felt like the right time.”
That’s what Instagram does. It builds familiarity and connection over time. That’s why consistency matters, it’s not about winning the algorithm; it’s about staying in someone’s world long enough that they feel safe buying from you.
And even if someone never buys, they might refer a friend, attend a show, or support you in another way.
Remember: you don’t need a huge audience. You need your audience. A small, well-nurtured group of art lovers is worth more than ten thousand disengaged followers.
Final Thoughts on Using Instagram to Grow Your Art Business
You don’t need to overhaul your entire life or post five times a day. You just need to make consistent choices that reflect your creative identity and invite people into your world.
Here’s a quick recap of what we covered today:
You don’t have to become an influencer to succeed on Instagram
Your audience wants to connect with the artist, not just the art
Consistency builds trust, and trust leads to sales
Keep your content under your "studio umbrella"—personal, but still relevant to your art
This is also the kind of thing we work on inside my coaching program, ARC, if you ever want to go deeper.
Visibility isn’t about vanity or unauthentic content. It’s about connection. And that’s where the magic (and art sales) happens.
