How I grew from 500 to 50K followers in less than 1 year, as a Representational Artist?

I spend years stuck at a few hundred followers.

I was posting my paintings, progress videos, painting time-lapses, learning fancy transitions, using trending audios. I even paid for many Instagram and social media marketing courses. But nothing was working.

Until I figured it out…

The problem was that most social media marketing advice is not designed for representational artists like us.

Especially if your work features the human portraits, figures, realism or surrealism, where the meaning is deeper than the face, the body, or the surface image.

Our collectors do not come to us to solve a problem like losing weight, or choosing an outfit. They are not merely looking for something to match the couch.

They are drawn to something more intangible. And of course, they may also consider your credibility and long term potential as an artist.

This means the way we grow online has to be different.

We are not just trying to get attention.

We are communicating value, meaning, credibility, and artistic identity in a way people can understand and connect with.

Once I figured it out, my Instagram account grew from 500 followers to 50K in less than a year.

I started selling originals and prints directly to collectors worldwide.

I was invited to write for The Australian, Australia’s largest national newspaper.

My work has been featured by cultural critics on Substack.

And I started attracting brand deals and other income opportunities.

In this weekly newsletter:

I break down what worked, what didn’t, and what I’m doing now to keep growing my account, attracting collectors, building an art brand with multiple sources of income as a representational artist.

This is going to be actionable for you, so sign up and take notes.