Photography of Artwork.

[MaryKempStudio]

I struggle with presenting my artwork for Etsy.
I can take the photo and get a good representation but..
Do I just show the artwork at the proportions it is?
Do I put it on a background to fit the 1024 x 768 pixels?
Do I show it in an arty environment?
Do I show it a domestic setting?
WHAT SHOULD MY MAIN PICTURE BE?
And what about a watermark? A good thing or not?

I'd love to know how others are dealing with these questions and what answers work for them.

Thank you
Mary

[jpWATERCOLORplus]

Mary, I show my paintings alone and add a second picture of them in a frame or mat. Putting them on a wall in a room setting might be a good idea for a secondary picture. I think your main picture should be just your artwork. I don't do watermarks. What does anyone else think?
Joanne

[SandraBlackArt]

I've struggled with this as well. I do a lot of "cruising" and by looking constantly at others' photographs I have a good idea of what I love. Though replicating it is another story :)

First off I really do like how some shops mix up their presentation with the first photo, so I try to do the same. It makes the shop interesting and appealing to me, and I want to stay :) For instance many are of just my work, some are with the piece laying flat against a white board with a paintbrush, and others are of it framed. My favorites I've seen are with the artwork laid out with various still life items around it. A great example I can think off of the top of my head is River Luna's shop, like in this listing:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/91042489/watercolor-feather-painting-archival?ref=shop_home_active_14

and another example here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/205924947/tiny-tuscan-landscape-original-collage?ref=shop_home_feat_3

I LOVE these though understand it may be personal taste! I've tried to do something of the sort with my paintbrush and tubes of paint. Can't seem to get them quite as beautiful, though! The rest of my photos when you click though usually include the entire artwork, maybe one of it framed, and one in which I do my very best to show up close with possible texture.

I think the up close and at an angle to show what texture you can is very important as it gives that "in your hand" feel. You could imagine holding it and touching it. I'm still tying to accomplish doing this with a camera successfully because as a customer, shops which display only the scanned or printed image and a frame just don't do enough for me. I want to know what it would really look like to my eyes... if that makes sense.

As far as watermarks go I'm pretty neutral. I don't use them but they also don't put me off either as I understand why some do.

[MaryKempStudio]

Thank you for your thoughts. I particularly like the idea of photographing at an angle to get the texture.
Think I'll ditch the watermarks.

[JosephinePainting]

I would really like to add second picture of my work on a wall, I think that's a great idea.

[Former_Member]

For my smaller paintings, I use large sized, new canvas still in it's plastic. Usually with one 'prop', in my case, it's either a tape measure showing the dimension, or a deer antler, because of the Southwest nature of my work. I like the plastic left on the new canvases because of the "artsy" shadows and reflections. Example:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/185586137/original-art-acrylic-painting?ref=shop_home_active_3