21 Social Media Prompts for Artists

After successfully using social media to develop my business as an artist, I know that it's tough to keep up with good-quality content. You want your social media to paint the full picture of your brand and show your work without it always feeling like a chore. You know you're creative, so it's totally frustrating when you're at a loss for ideas — like staring at a blank white canvas!

I see so many talented artists and creatives either neglecting social media, or posting any old thing and wondering why they aren't getting results. So I put together this free guide to help out.

Download 21 Social Media Prompts for Artists to get:

• Your free PDF guide filled with tried and tested social media post ideas that you can turn to whenever you're feeling stuck
• Posts that are tailored specifically to you as an artist
• Access to our private Facebook group where you can get your specific questions answered by myself, and other artists and creatives

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Shop Shop Shop

I don't know about you, but I scored some great deals on Black Friday and Shop Small Saturday! I particularly love buying from other artists and makers, locally and online, because I know I'm getting something special and helping support an individual to make a living doing something they love. I did some Etsy shopping, went to the local holiday craft fair, and paid a visit to online stores run by some of my creative friends. 

And of course I couldn't resist creating an illustration for my weekend (that's supposed to be me, minus the big pregnant belly). ;)

What about you, get anything really cool this weekend?

On a side note, I have something special coming just for you, so make sure you're signed up to my email newsletter (if you're not, you can sign up below). I won't be giving this little surprise out publicly, but I've been working on it for a while and it's a little freebie for my lovely subscribers. 

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Free Thanksgiving Menu Download

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Growing up in Australia we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but since moving to America we have embraced this wonderful holiday wholeheartedly! Tomorrow I'm cooking a turkey, with cranberry walnut stuffing, potato gratin, green beans sautéed with slivered almonds, cornbread muffins, and a pumpkin pie (all from scratch — I'm very proud of myself). ;)

And I thought it would be fun to make little menus for the table. AND THEN I thought you might like them too! So click the button below to download them, then print the jpg and write in your menu, or drop it into a Word doc and type your menu over the image and voila!

I've also been thinking a lot about all the things I'm thankful for this year. Despite it being a very challenging year, I am super grateful for my wonderful husband, getting to live in beautiful Colorado, a baby girl on the way, and getting to do what I love every day. We're pretty blessed!

Leave me a comment and let me know what you're most thankful for this year!

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5 Reasons Why You Need Twitter

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say ‘I just don’t GET Twitter’. And as artists and creatives I know Instagram seems to be the logical social media choice for us — it’s highly visual, it’s curated, and it’s oh-so-pretty. 

But here’s why you need to be on Twitter too. It’s a great place to: 

1. Make deeper connections with your fans

Twitter is a fantastic place to connect more deeply with your audience. Because Twitter can handle a higher volume of posts, you can show more behind-the-scenes pics and videos, fun GIFs of you creating, and links that you find inspirational or think your audience will like. It’s also ok to be a little less curated than you would be on Instagram. I’m not saying to be unprofessional or go on a religious or political rant to your fans, but you can be a little more real on Twitter. 

2. Connect with influencers

Twitter is a fantastic place to search for galleries, art collectors, interior decorators, magazine editors, agents, press and the like. You can create a specific list for each group you want to follow (and it can be private if you want to stalk them without them knowing — click here for instructions). It’s also super easy to reach out to people directly, either publicly or in a direct message and say hi. Or shoot them a link you think they’d like, and start building that relationship. 

3. Increase your reach

Unlike Instagram, because it’s so easy to share someone else’s post more people do it, so you’re posts will get in front of way more people!

For example, I have 11x the number of followers on Instagram as I do on Twitter, and yet the Tweet below received 2.5x the audience impressions on Twitter than it did on Instagram! Retweets baby, that’s where it’s at!

A great way to increase your reach even further is by using a simple retweet contest every now and again. It’s easy for your fans to enter, easy for you to manage, and will increase the number of people seeing your content by an astronomical amount!

4. Find out first

Twitter is great as a source of up-to-the-minute news and event announcements. You can follow local galleries, art and craft markets etc and find out when they’ve got open calls, events you can participate in, or contests running. Twitter lets you turn on notifications for certain people (similar to Instagram) so you can make sure you never miss anything important. 

Twitter is also an excellent search engine. Type in a keyword or a hashtag that’s relevant to your brand and you’re bound to find lots of people talking about it. Engage, ask questions, basically join in the conversation!

5. Participate in live events

I love, love, love Twitter for participating in live events. For example, I sketch my favorite red carpet looks for all the awards shows and tweet about them in real time, joining in with the engaged fans who are talking about it, live, on Twitter. 

There are so many creative ways to participate in big live events, including ‘Days of the Year’ or holiday conversations as they are trending. You can set up your preferences to show you trending topics globally, nationally or locally to tap into the conversations that matter most to your brand. Here’s what trending topics look like (mine are currently tailored specifically to me, based on my location and who I’m following):

Twitter Dos and Don’ts

• As with Instagram, DO use your bio tell people what you do and what they can expect from your posts. (Here are some tips on cleaning up your bio if you think yours might not be up to snuff) 
• DON’T repost from Instagram straight to Twitter. Your followers will see this….

Instead of your full, pretty post. (And it only takes about two seconds more to copy, paste, and post, directly in the Twitter app).

• DO make the most of photos, GIFs, and video — all three work really well on Twitter and will grab people’s attention. You can use Twitter’s built in GIF-finder or make your own using the ‘Live GIF’ app if you have an iPhone that supports Live Photos, or you can use a service like GIPHY.
• DO let people know if you have new product up on your site, promotions running, or special announcements. But balance sell-promotional tweets with interesting articles, behind-the-scenes content etc.
• DO repost relevant content again later. I use Buffer to easily re-tweet articles or posts from a week or month ago. People are on Twitter at all different times so they may not have seen it the first time around. For more info on streamlining your social media workflow, read this post. 
• DO use links in your posts to tell people what to do next ‘see more on the blog www.yourlink.com’ or ‘use this discount code in my Etsy store www.yourlink.com"  
• DO retweet other links, articles, and posts that you think your followers will enjoy.
• But DON’T share other people’s content without tagging them and giving them credit. If you simply retweet this is done automatically.
• DO use Twitter to encourage people to follow you on other channels: Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Periscope etc. 
• If you’re using Periscope DO share your scopes straight to Twitter so your fans can watch them right in your feed. This is a great way to introduce yourself and your work, and show people behind-the-scenes.
• For maximum impact DO try to tweet during ‘business hours’ during the week. That’s typically when most people are using Twitter. That being said, as with any social network, play around with times and work out when your particular audience is online, it may not be when the majority of users are on Twitter. 
• DON’T overdo it with hashtags on Twitter. It’s not like Instagram where you can post a slew of tags in the first comment after you post, with Twitter they have to be in the actual post copy. I usually keep it to a maximum of three, but one is plenty.

Have any questions about Twitter? Leave me a comment below!

You can also join the email list to get exclusive social media tips and tricks delivered directly to your inbox, and make sure you join our private Facebook group where you can get all your questions answered!

Download Your Illustrated 2017 Calendar!

This year I'm making my 2017 calendar downloadable so you can print it yourself right away. These work great for pin-boards at your desk, sticking to the fridge, framing, or using in your planner. 

AND, to say thank you here's a 10% off code to use with it — just enter 'handmade10' in checkout.

Each of the images in the calendar was originally part of a series I created for Inktober (a month of ink drawings). I then digitized them on my iPad (here are my favorite iPad apps for artists) and added some watercolor elements. If you're a regular BrownPaperBunny reader you know how much I love fashion illustration and bright colors, so I couldn't resist giving these ladies 'rainbow hair'. :)

Here is one of the original drawings being created. As you can see I like to watch TV and drink tea while I paint. ;)

Tonight's inktober fashion illustration was inspired by The Glamourai, painted in ink. Check out my blog if you'd like to see more: http://blog.brownpaperbunny.com

Thanksgiving Sale

Thanksgiving is such a great time for reflection and I've been spending time thinking about the people who matter most to me, and trying to send them more snail mail to let them know I love them and they're in my thoughts (even if there are oceans between us geographically).

I am also so thankful to be able to do what I love, and to have met so many of you lovely people through the blog and social media — so I wanted to give you a little discount on all my prints and stationery right through until the end of the month. Just enter 'handmade10' in the checkout. 

If you're anything like me, you're already trying to get all of your holiday shopping out of the way so you can just enjoy time with family. I bet there is something in my store that would be perfect for that hard-to-buy-for person on your list. ;)

If you're interested in a custom portrait, let me know. I'm happy to apply the 10% discount to those too. 

xx

Starbucks Red Cup Ad

I was super excited when Starbucks approached me about being in their Holiday ad for the new red cups this year! 

The ad has been viewed millions of times on social media alone, and met with really positive responses — so I couldn't be happier right now! 

Here's the timelapse I made, along with the ad so you can see which bit is me. :)

Super excited to be in the new @starbucks #RedCups ad ❤️

A video posted by Jessica Mack 🎨 Colorado Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Nov 10, 2016 at 10:34am PST

DFW Fall 2016

I scored a front row seat for the first night of Denver Fashion Week(end), and again for the final night of Fall 2016 show this week. It was pretty fantastic, with some great local designers and talent. I've started illustrating a few of my favorites and you can watch each of the actual shows and flick through the photo slideshow below. 

Timelapse Fashion Illustration from the Femme Fatale Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end)

Illustrating some more of my favorites from DFW: Ansley Hair Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016

Artemis Birch Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016

There's some incredible fashion talent here in Colorado, check out some of the runway shows from Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016

Femme Fatale Intimates Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016

Mona Lucero Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end)

Steve Sells Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016

Maggie Burns Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016 I liked Maggie's designs, but the show itself was very long and awkward and reminded me of a debutant ball full of awkward teens doing awkward dances.

Anthony H Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016

Tyne Hall Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016

Rachel Marie Hurst Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) Fall 2016 Really loved all of her fabrics!

Night by Charlie Price - Runway Show at Denver Fashion Week(end) I enjoyed some of his designs, but it looked like the shoes were about to fall off most of the models, so they couldn't walk properly, which was distracting. The poor girls looked terrified!

Denver has so much local talent, I'm thrilled to see it showcased in such a cool way! Leave me a comment and let me know if anything in particular caught your eye.

What are Facebook Secret Messages?

If you read my last post about Facebook and Instagram features you'll know that there are a whole host of new things being tested out right now. 

One that is starting to be rolled out to some Facebook users is Secret Messages. 

It's only available on the Facebook mobile Messenger App right now, and here's what it looks like:

First you'll get a pop up notification asking if you want to use your device for secret conversations. If you click 'ok' you'll then have access to the new secret message feature.

You'll be able to set the time limit for messages to be visible after they've been seen. Then POOF, they're gone!

You can send photos from your camera roll, take a new photo, or send text messages. I wasn't able to send video, but that might be a feature that we'll see in the future. 

I feel very 'Inspector Gadget' sending secret messages that will self-destruct! 

It isn't really any different to Snapchat now, but by calling it 'Facebook Secret Messages' they've made me feel like a spy on an important mission — which adds a whole other level of fun to it. Well done Facebook, very clever.

Denver Fashion Weekend: Fall '16

Denver Fashion Weekend is coming up and I am SO excited! I've been to Sydney Fashion Week in Australia and a host of other fashion shows since I arrived in the USA, but never to Colorado's biggest fashion event!

The organizers (303 Magazine) have been kind enough to give me a discount code for you too — just enter '303Blogger' to get 10% off: http://bit.ly/DFWFall16

I'm going to be doing a little live sketching from some of the shows, and I'll definitely be doing a round-up back here on the blog afterwards! Make sure you're following me on Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter for all the live action!

via GIPHY

Be Yourself

We've been having a lot of discussion lately, about authenticity and being your true self as an artist, in an art journal group I'm a part of.

With the internet comes ready access to other artist's work, and also praise and criticism of our own creations via social media and other online channels. Does this seep into our subconscious and ultimately influence what we create? Leave a comment and let me know what you think? 

This quote by Judy Garland always sums it up well for me — I just have to keep reminding myself.

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. —Judy Garland