As an artist, an art portfolio website is as essential as your resume or CV. It is the first point of contact for prospective clients. A digital portfolio can be likened to the direct equivalence of a traditional mortar and brick enterprise.
Check out why a professional portfolio is important for you as an artist.
As you would want your mortar and brick business to entice clients or customers via a serene environment, endearing design, and accommodating customer relations, you will also want your digital artist portfolio to have similar replete qualities.
However, creating an online portfolio isn’t something you can randomly dabble into. As an artist, you need to learn how an artist’s portfolio is mapped correctly and designed. Typically, this is often done conscientiously by reviewing other top artist portfolios.
This article reviews the best artist portfolio websites, examining how they are designed and the various hints you can use when creating yours.
If you are considering using a template for your artist portfolio, check out these amazing WordPress themes for artists or these Squarespace portfolio templates.
What Is An Online Artist Portfolio?
An artist portfolio website is like the digital footprint of an artist. It is a channel for promoting your artwork digitally, exposing you to a wider audience base, and, most importantly, aiding business expansion.
Generally, the best online artist portfolio websites are typically the first place visitors and new users, as the case may be, whenever they need to reach you or purchase your artworks digitally.
Top 15 Examples of Artist Portfolios
1. George Irvine
The first on our list of the best 15 artist portfolio websites for inspiration is the George Irvine website. This site welcomes visitors with a brilliant color pattern capable of grabbing their attention immediately after landing on the page.
The most important feature of this artist portfolio website is its one-page scrolling design. It creates an ultimately excellent user experience that works extremely well for artist websites with lots of visuals.
If you like the full-screen effect now you can easily create it with a fantastic scrolling JavaScript component called fullPage.js. It is available for Gutenberg and Elementor WordPress editors!
2. Adam Halls
Adam Halls describes himself as a textile artist and a painter.
His website is beautifully designed and contains everything an artist page should have.
From a gallery to an about page, a contact form, social icons, and even an online shop!
What I like about the gallery is how functional it is. You can zoom each picture and then navigate right or left to see the rest of the gallery. Something that makes it easier and faster to digest the content on the page.
And having a shop right on your page to sell your creations? That’s top!
His website has been made using Pixpa, a great website builder. So if you want a similar page you’ll have it super easy! Just create an account and choose a template.
3. Jennifer Xiao
Another brilliant option on our list of the best artist portfolio websites examples is the Jennifer Xiao website. This site features multiple animations, identifying with the artist’s niche without the risk of distracting users.
Jennifer Xiao explores a unique approach to allow visitors to familiarize themselves with her art as soon as they land on her page. Although colorful, this website layout is un-distracting and easily navigable.
Related article: Websites to create your graphic design portfolio
4. Mathijs Verstegen
The fourth example on our list of the best artist portfolio websites is the Mathijs Verstegn art portfolio website. This site employs a seamless motion design feature to create a highly responsive portfolio. The design layout is clear and straightforward, using a translucent color scheme.
The portfolio is very intuitive and straightforward. Notice how it introduces the artist with succinct words and a clear encircled picture of the artist. The portfolio also employs fonts alongside strategically placed clear CTA buttons to ensure visitors take favorable actions.
Related article: Best Web Design Books
The most important feature of the Mathijs Verstegen artist portfolio website is the multi-page scrolling effect it offers. With this effect, you can seamlessly display your artworks, creating an immersive and enjoyable experience for your site visitors.
This portfolio uses multiscroll.js, a JavaScript component to create amazing split multi-scrolling pages. It is very easy to use and are using WordPress, it’s included in this WordPress theme.
5. Francesco Pirini
The utmost eye-catching feature of Pirini’s portfolio is the logo, decorated with a comprehensive feature with a beautifully drawn bird. The image constantly pops in the background of the portfolio, further augmenting the motion design attributes. This adds to the artist’s identity and the aesthetic quality of the portfolio.
This artist’s website portfolio also explores a great use of whitespace, allowing visitors to focus majorly on her artworks.
This article explores the various reasons to choose the use of whitespace for your website.
6. Neri Oxman
The visual coherence in this portfolio is particularly startling, nothing short of absolute beauty.
The abundant use of whitespace makes Neri Oxman’s portfolio website, complemented with the use of multiple interactive videos to ensure maximum user engagement throughout their stay on the site.
This artist’s website also includes a full-screen hero video that introduces all visitors to the site; there is also a sticky navigation bar that allows your potential customers to surf your portfolio effortlessly, finding what they want as quickly as possible.
7. Susann Hoffman
The seventh on our list of the best artist portfolio examples is the Susann Hoffman website. Exploring a straightforward design, this art portfolio website features a carefully-placed logo alongside a grid layout to effortlessly reflect much of her personality.
Particularly great is the human persona she injected into the portfolio. She detailed the usual design process that goes into her design journey, representing it visually understandable to appeal to visitors, creating an overall fantastic site experience.
8. Oh Dada
The consistent color scheme explored on the Oh Dada art portfolio website example reveals how aesthetically-appealing a website can be without distracting visitors from focusing on the site’s main message. It’s an ideal option for artists with multiple project samples to display.
In this website, the artist utilized a careful use of varying shades of gray color alongside a well-arranged and consistent storytelling-like layout. The included on-scroll animation effects towards the bottom of the page also help enhance the overall user experience of the website.
9. Igor Terekhov
Igor Terekhov portfolio website is a simple, yet colorful and modern artist website featuring an amazing transition between sliders alongside the use of bold typography to ensure user engagement.
This website also features on-scroll animations, creating an amusing effect on visitors, ultimately encouraging them to navigate even deeper into the site.
The sticky menu bar aids easy navigation; the brilliant background color scheme also allows the artist to display his artworks in a compelling manner, triggering prospects to become eventual customers.
10. Essi Kimpimaki
Essi Kimpimaki’s website creatively showcases his artworks, particularly by using a relatively playful style for the headers and logo.
This artist’s portfolio website example is recommended for design inspiration if you need to display a lot of your artworks without her knowing her portfolio is replete with many works, but she gave an impressive overview of her illustrations, manifesting in the colorful images dubbed all over the website.
11. Joan
Like Neri Oxman’s portfolio website, Joan also explores an abundant use of whitespace on her website.
Although featuring a minimalistic design, the layout explored on this site ensures maximum engagement. And most importantly, ensures visitors are focused on what matters the most, the artworks of the artist.
Does the minimalist approach used in this portfolio website catch your fancy? You can also check out other top clean and modern website design examples to explore.
Joan includes multiple contact information at the top and bottom of the website to ensure her prospects connect with her for further dealings. The sticky hamburger menu also aids easy navigation, contributing to the overall user experience the website offers.
12. Nicolas Delaroche
Another fantastic example on our best artist portfolio websites list is the Nicolas Delaroche website.
This site explores an organized layout alongside an aesthetic navigation scheme, making it easier for visitors to navigate her artworks effortlessly. What makes this site a brilliant example is the amusing pagination effects that it includes.
The Nicolas Delaroche artist portfolio website features arrows representing the four (4) cardinal points. Users are expected to click on the arrow pointing in the direction they want to go on the site. This adventurous approach is a brilliant way to keep visitors glued to your website.
The ensuing use of whitespace also contributes to the brilliance of this art portfolio website!
13. Kelly Milligan
Another exciting artist portfolio website example worthy of consideration is the Kelly Milligan portfolio website. This website design is recommended for artists who are looking to only showcase as many photographs of their artworks as possible without the risk of boring their visitors and prospects.
Kelly includes his contact details at the bottom left and right corner of the page, encouraging visitors who enjoy the sight of his artworks to contact him for possible purchases or further discussions. The layout explored on this website is brilliant for lead generations and eventual lead conversion!
14. Lily Snowden-Fine
Lily’s portfolio website is immersive. This is another ideal option for artists who want their visitors to get the first feel of her works and even her personality without spending a longer time on the website.
This website also features abundant use of whitespace to ensure better focus. Also, the sticky menu bar included at the top of the page aids easy navigation for visitors who want to delve even deeper into the site, learning more about the artist.
15. Nona Inescu
Finally on our list of the best 15 artist portfolio website examples is the Nona Inescu artist portfolio website! Very similar to Kelly Milligan’s website, Nona also explores a one-page portfolio; although, unlike the former, Nona only showcases four (4) most recent artworks, while encouraging visitors to dig even deeper or simply contact her for more of her art.
This site explores a domineering use of whitespace to ensure users only focus on what matters the most, the artworks under the display.
What Makes A Good Artist Portfolio?
- Big, High-Quality Photos of Your Artwork: Invest in top-quality photos to promote your work and career to potential buyers. Apart from promotion, it also creates a perfect reflection of your professionalism.
- Artwork Details: What is an artist portfolio website without comprehensive details of your artworks? The details of your paintings to include in your artist portfolio website are the titles, price, dimensions, watermarks, etc.
- About Page: Let your visitors know who you are. While your website should reflect your personality, you must include a page or section that discusses who you are, your biography, CV, project history, significant awards, competitions, etc.
- Contact Information: It’s important to let your visitors reach you. It’s impossible to sell anything if you don’t create a channel which your prospects can connect with you through.
- Art Shop: Including an eCommerce feature on your website makes it easy for your visitors and potential customers to purchase any of your artworks. Why refer them to another third-party marketplace, when they can make their purchases right on your artist portfolio site!
- Art Categories: Categorizing your art helps easy navigation: it’s a way of holding your visitors in your hand while surfing through your site. You may categorize your artworks based on the type of art, whether illustration, graphic design, drawings, etc.
- Social Networks: Apart from including your contact information on your artist portfolio website, also consider including your social networks. Your social networks should serve as an extension of your portfolio; therefore, it allows your prospects to have even a wider view of your expertise. Suitable networks you may include are Instagram, Behance, Dribble, etc.
Conclusion
Creating a welcoming portfolio is undoubtedly vital in projecting the image of your personality and the quality of your works to intended clients.
Think about creating a digital portfolio like building a brick-mortar business from scratch: the design, layout, visual elements, and the constituents of abstract entities involved.
Since most portfolios follow the same pattern, although, with slight personalized differences, we hope the examples we have provided help you create a site that will rank among the best artist portfolio website examples possible.
