Art websites with small images = frustration…

Hot topic… Its about the size (or lack thereof) of some of the art images on the Internet. Above is an example (it’s a photograph, not a painting), believe it or not lately I’ve run into images even smaller! As an art lover and collector I scour the Internet to keep an eye on artists who’s work I love as well as looking for artists I’ve never seen or heard of. One discussion that came up on Facebook a while back was in regard to the size of images on the artist’s website. I went back through Facebook and tried to find who posted it and I couldn’t find it anywhere, I regretted not commenting. I understand why some artists are using small images, it’s because others are copying their work and selling it cheap, or in some cases it is being mass produced in other countries. There is no excuse for that. That is out and out stealing. It’s wrong, and in a perfect world it would be stopped. So let me reiterate that I UNDERSTAND WHY artists want to make their images so small they are barely detectible. HOWEVER, for people like me, who love art, who buy art, who PROMOTE art, it’s increasingly frustrating when you can’t see the image. I know someone commented on that Facebook post and said that they started adding a watermark to their images instead of making them smaller, another artist thought that was a bad idea, it takes away. It does. But, that’s my opinion…

So, my question to you is… how can artists handle this effectively? Do they make the image appear smaller and smaller, lessening the chance of someone copying it? Do they add a watermark, that potentially takes away from the image? Or do they leave it as it is so potential buyers/promoters can actually see their images, but where creepy people can copy it? Hey, I’m with everyone, I can see a case for each, however I can’t promote images I can’t see. It’s quite unfortunate that artists have these issues to deal with. I’m sure it would be nice for them to just be able to just paint! Paint, update their website, write a blog entry, update Facebook, Twitter and on and on… I realize artists don’t have time to deal with this too… Think about the majority of us, the good people who just want to be able to see the images. I think if you’re an artist who wants to use the Internet to promote and sell your art then I think you clearly have to have large images. If you use the Internet as an adjunct to perhaps being in several galleries that promote you, where you don’t really want to deal with the selling of your art, then perhaps the tiny images will work for you?

Here is an image I can actually see… and I appreciate that so much! This is just one fabulous painting by Ken DeWaard that he just painted at the Sonoma Plein Air Event- this one won Honorable Mention, congratulations Ken, you’re the bomb!