Escape - Acrylic on 20 x 30 canvas, 2009
Available for purchase at www.JessicaTorrant.etsy.com
This is the painting I was wrestling with the other day. I love how it ended up and of course had no idea it would work out this way. It just arrived here through many layers and attempts for something to click. The colors remind me of the butter yellows, violets and blues in pansies.
So my friends - I have a question for you. In the picture above you can see I've centered the full image of my painting over this square. The reason is to have the entire painting show up in the listings on the front page of my shop, www.JessicaTorrant.etsy.com. There are pros and cons to using this style as my first picture.
Pros:
Professional looking
Entire painting is seen for the first impression
Cons:
Sort of goes against the "Etsy grain" - doesn't have that Etsy look (if you use Etsy, you know what I mean - macro shots, side shots, close ups, etc)
Less likely to be chosen for Treasuries
So on the one hand, I started out with this shop thinking "this is not about Etsy, this is about my vision and style". I want to present myself with professionalism and high quality work so you visit my store feeling like you're walking into a virtual gallery - not just a "shop". I want to cater to art collectors, not necessarily just Etsy customers. Please understand in trying to express my vision, in no way am I putting down the Etsy style, look, way, lingo, etc. etc. I just got a little too obsessed with it with livefunky and along the way lost a piece of my own vision as an artist. I'd like to keep challenging myself to market Etsy-popular items in livefunky and with this new gallery shop, I can free myself of those concerns and focus on the art, period. Allllll that being said, it brings me back to this presentation. What do you think of it? Do you like it? Does it turn you off? What sort of presentation do you like best or would suggest?
So on the one hand, I started out with this shop thinking "this is not about Etsy, this is about my vision and style". I want to present myself with professionalism and high quality work so you visit my store feeling like you're walking into a virtual gallery - not just a "shop". I want to cater to art collectors, not necessarily just Etsy customers. Please understand in trying to express my vision, in no way am I putting down the Etsy style, look, way, lingo, etc. etc. I just got a little too obsessed with it with livefunky and along the way lost a piece of my own vision as an artist. I'd like to keep challenging myself to market Etsy-popular items in livefunky and with this new gallery shop, I can free myself of those concerns and focus on the art, period. Allllll that being said, it brings me back to this presentation. What do you think of it? Do you like it? Does it turn you off? What sort of presentation do you like best or would suggest?
5 comments:
I think it looks really good, I like the way you've been photographing these pieces a whole lot. Different is definitely a great thing and most important following your vision is what it's all about :) Thank you for your comments on my blog I really appreciated them and how cool that the butterfly came back to visit you!
Thank you Heather!
Okay, first--WOW. What a painting! It's gorgeous!
Second, I think you made the right decision. It's a beautiful and professional presentation. You are using Etsy for one of its express purposes, which is to provide an online shop for sellers.
To that end, you can customize however you want and I'm glad that you're letting your artistic and design vision prevail. Doing your own thing doesn't put Etsy down at all (and if they or anybody did feel slighted, I think they're overstepping their personal boundaries--and yours).
I haven't done much analysis of Etsy.com's design aesthetics or what sells on Etsy (I use it as an online shop, not as a specifically Etsy shop, but it's interesting how their branding is so successful that people think of shopping on Etsy instead of individual sellers' shops when they talk about Etsy). So any forethought on matching them would have been lost on a customer/collector/gallery browser like me.
Anyway, there's something said for being different. :)
Oh, and as for the treasuries and all that? I think people will still pick your images because treasuries are for people to sample and click (so they'll click to see more regardless). However, if they didn't, I don't know how much of an impact that would have on your shop's traffic--or your own efforts at marketing. There are just so many avenues. Go laser or go scattershot with your strategy?
Take care,
I.
I had to come back and let you know that is a beautiful painting. Just beautiful.
I like the presentation. I see the painting, which is what you want me to see. I can then interpret, enjoy, feel what I will from it.
Post a Comment