A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing Original Art for Your Home
Hey there, art lovers! As you all know, we are still settling into the new home and trying to make the new house feel like home. We have leaned into the house's moodiness and wanted to elevate that with some wall art. I've been following Shane on Instagram for a while and constantly like and react to his stories. One day, he posted a picture of a piece that I absolutely fell in love with. I sent him a DM, and we were suddenly at his studio looking at his artwork the same week! This was our first experience working with a local artist and choosing original art for the house, and we absolutely loved our experience. But since we are no experts, we wanted to share a beginner's guide written exclusively by Shane.
"A Beginner's Guide to Choosing Original Art for Your Home"
Don't let the idea of buying art intimidate you. With guidance, you'll find the perfect piece of art to elevate your living space.
There are several questions you must ask yourself when thinking about buying original art —
Where should I buy it? An art gallery? Online? An artist's studio? What size painting is ideal for my wall? These questions can impact your decision.
Where to Begin:
There's no right and wrong way to buy art, but here's a simple guide to get started buying a piece of art for your home.
First things first, start with size. You have a blank wall and want to find a painting to hang. The ideal painting should spread two-thirds or three-quarters of the empty wall. Measure the width of the wall, convert it to inches, then multiply that number by .66 and .75 separately. This will give you an ideal size painting for your space and help narrow your choices.
Example: If your wall is 6 feet, 4 inches wide, we follow the formula the following way:
Convert feet to inches: 6ft 4 in = 76in
76 X .66=50.16
76X .75=57
This tells us that we would need a painting that is between 50 inches and 57 inches wide. Custom canvas sizes are available, but most standard widths in that size range are 48" and 60". Either size would work for the wall, and you move to secondary factors such as budget and art availability. I'd recommend using blue painter's tape to map out each size to visualize what they'll look like on the wall.
Now that you know the size you're looking for (48" or 60" painting), it's time to start exploring. I recommend visiting local art galleries in your city and browsing Instagram for artists. Art galleries are a great way to find local artists and see their physical work in person. When in an art gallery, start by browsing available work by size. If you're browsing for artwork online, Instagram is a great way to discover new artists. You can view the artist's portfolio, and most professional artists on Instagram will have a link to their website.
But what if you find an artist you like, but they don't have the right size available? This
may be where commissioning a piece of art is the ideal route.
A commission is a buyer agreeing to purchase a work of art from an artist not yet created. Most artists will secure a 20-50% deposit of the total price to begin a commission. Most artists also price their work by size, so if you start the conversation with having a size in mind, the artist should be able to quote a price rather quickly.
Once you've found an artist and agreed on a price, discussing what colors you have in mind is helpful. For the artist, it helps to see photos of the space in which the painting will be installed and screenshots of previous paintings from the artist that you, as the buyer, are drawn to. This will help create a direction for the artist to begin.
Remember, there's no right or wrong way to purchase original art for your home. By thin-slicing the process, you'll have a new piece of art on your wall in no time. So go ahead and take the plunge. Your home will thank you for it.
Artist: Shane Miller
Website: www.shaneartistry.com
Instagram: @shane.artistry