There’s been a few news-worthy items (to artists anyway) that popped up on the internet over the last few weeks.
You might remember my review of ArtistsOnline.org.uk—Well, no longer is this website limited only to UK artists and buyers.
ArtistsOnline is now known as ArtFlock.com, with currency conversion and global payment support for Pounds Sterling, the Euro, and the US Dollar.
That means that artists anywhere can sign up to sell their art online. . . and they can sell to buyers all over the world too.
Other improvements to the site include a “browse” feature where you can rate artwork, larger thumbnail images, and a few improvements to the search functions.
Remember, it’s not just for 2D artists either—sculptors, jewelry makers, and others are welcome too. If haven’t taken a look at ArtFlock yet, you might as well check it out right now.
The other surprise of the month was FoundMyself.com.
Although I’ve listed FoundMyself in my links page as an online forum, it actually does have more features than most art forums. Until last month, however, the premium selling features haven’t been available for free.
But FoundMyself has now moved to an “honor system” and automatically upgraded all of its members, allowing them to sell their art COMMISSION FREE, keep track of statistics, and more.
And really, there’s no catch. No fees, no commissions. Honest.
OK, there’s a catch. But it’s more like a guilt trip. It’s that honor system I mentioned, and it’s pretty simple.
FoundMyself wants artists to give back only if they believe the free galleries and selling tools have benefited them. So, if you sell some art, you should donate.
It actually sounds pretty fair to me. Of course, there’s also an “honorability” ranking next to each member’s name, which basically shows how committed the artist is to FoundMyself. Honorability rankings go up when members participate in the forum, donate money, or even log on to the website frequently.
And while FoundMyself doesn’t have as much traffic as the big guys, (and neither does ArtFlock at this point) they’re both definitely worth a look.