How to Get Your Art Submission Ready

Whether you want to submit your artworks for inclusion on an online gallery, to a local gallery for a possible exhibition, or to a magazine for promotional purposes, you need to make sure your art submission is complete and shows your art in the best possible way. Potential buyers, representatives, gallery owners and art agents want to see professionalism and want to know that you are proud of your art. If you are proud of your art and show it to its full potential, the chance is good you'll find success as an artist much easier to attain.

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 Steps

1. 1
   Finish your artwork completely. Make sure that your artworks are signed, dated (on the back if you don't prefer adding the date on the front), and neatly presented (framed, mounted, varnished, or kept in a plastic sleeve or porfolio to protect it from getting damaged).
2. 2
   Give a title to your artwork. Write the title into your artwork booklet or database (if you don't have this yet, start it now - even an empty notebook available from any stationary store is ideal, or have a file on your computer that you regularly back up onto a CD or external hard drive / print out to put into a ledger)
3. 3
   Measure your artwork. Add the width, height and if applicable, depth of your artwork alongside the title in your notebook or database. Also add the medium of your artwork and the year.
4. 4
   Write a DESCRIPTION about your artwork. A paragraph or more about the meaning or intent behind its creation, or what inspired you. Add this description to your entry of the artwork in your notebook or database - easy to find whenever you need it.
5. 5
   

   Take great quality photographs of your work.
   Take great quality photographs of your work. If you are not able to do it yourself, get a professional to do it for you (if you don't have the money to pay for it, offer a barter or swop for your creative services or an artwork the photographer likes). Take photographs of the full artwork, but also close-up images that shows your mark-making, texture and other special detail in the artwork.
6. 6
   Edit the photographs of your artworks, if needed. Make sure that each photograph matches the artwork's colours as close as possible.
7. 7
   

   Resize and save the images.
   Resize and save the images. Even if you've got a photographer taking your photographs, give him/her these directions beforehand: Make sure that you have three copies of each photograph - one high resolution image of 300dpi, for magazine submissions and printing catalogues for exhibitions, one low resolution image of about 600 pixels wide and 72dpi for use in blogs, newsletters and emails, and a medium sized image of about 1200 pixels wide (also at 72 dpi) for online galleries. Save them all together in an artwork folder that's easy to find and use. Name each photograph with your name and the title of the artwork. An example of naming the different sizes of a specific artwork's photographs are as follows: john_doe_bentreality_small.jpeg, john_doe_bentreality_med.jpeg, john_doe_bentreality_highquality.jpeg.
8. 8
   

   Write your ARTIST BIOGRAPHY.
   Write your ARTIST BIOGRAPHY. This is an introduction to you as person and artist, where you grew up, where you studied, what you have achieved, what makes you tick. Keep it relevant - tell them about who you are as an ARTIST.
9. 9
   

   Write your ARTIST STATEMENT.
   Write your ARTIST STATEMENT. If you're submitting to exhibit a specific body of work / series of artworks, the artist statement would be focused specifically on that. If it's a general submission for promotion or an online gallery, then your artist statement is a more general summary of your art practice. Your artist statement is a description of HOW and WHY you create your art - methods, inspiration, motivation, materials, and other information that gives insight into what type of artist you are.
10. 10
    Compile all the information. Copy all the information about your artwork(s) from your notebook/database into a document ready for submission. Add your artist statement and artist biography to the document, or save each of them on their own or together into a separate document, ready for submission. Also add your name and contact information to each document.
11. 11
    For digital Submissions. If you're making a digital submission, e.g. to an online art gallery, make sure to attached your photographs (the low resolution images - you can send the medium resolution images on their request), biography, artist statement, information for each artwork (title, medium, size, year) and the description of the artworks you are submitting, to the email along with your greeting, reason for submission and charming message. Send!
12. 12
    For physical submissions. If you are making a physical submission to an art gallery, print out your photographs, using the high quality version(s). Also print out your artist statement, biography, information for each artwork (title, medium, size, year) and the descriptions for each of the artworks you are submitting. Put these in an envelope and deliver/send them!

 Tips

• The description of your artwork is very important, and many artists neglect this. The description gives insight to potential buyers of your work into why you created the work, and why you chose the materials or medium. An example where it has proved essential in my own art practice is a landscape painting I sold in which the location of the landscape is not obvious in the artwork itself, but in my description I did provide the context and the place where I took the photographs used to create the painting. The person who bought this particular painting has a special affinity with the area where I took the photographs, and this had a profound influence in her decision to buy the artwork.
• It is also good practice to send your CV - keep it relevant and suited to the submission. Make sure to include art workshops you have attended, exhibitions and projects, and any awards you've received for your art.
• If you are submitting for a possible exhibition, or if relevant in any other way, also provide a list of exhibitions that you have participated in.

• 
  A good practice is to add small versions of your artwork to your notebook, file or database, along with the information for the artwork.
• Get family members and friends to read your biography, artist statement and descriptions of the artworks. Listen and apply any good suggestions that they might have.
• 
  Aim at presenting your biography, artist statement and description of your artworks as neatly as possible. Use a neat, clean and simple layout and font (sans-serif fonts like Arial, Tahoma and Helvetica is great to use). The focus should be on your artwork, not the decorations, patterns and other additions to your text/content documents.