As a condition of our monthly online art competitions, we ask the artists who participate to provide us with an Artist’s Biography as part of their entry submission.  This should be between 250 to 500 words in length.

Many new artists either do not provide us with a biography or send us statements such as “I love art and I want to be a professional artist someday” or “I am a self-taught artist and I love creating art.”  These statements are not an artist’s biography and will not help an artist interest people in their art. 

Are you an artist with no biography and/or with limited artistic experience?  It is good for an artist with little or no experience to think of this exercise as creating a Profile, rather than an artist’s biography.  Most social media pages have a profile page to fill out when you join a network.  Think of your artist biography as a profile page. 

Craft a “beginner’s” biography with the following outline:

• Where do you currently live or where do you create your art?
• Where were you born and where have you lived?
• What were your artistic influences and/or your artistic inspirations?
• Do you have any art training or art education?  If not, describe how you are self-taught.  (When, Where and How?).
• What mediums, techniques or genres do you use in your art?
• What are your art career goals and aspirations?

Experienced artists may include information about artists they have studied under, their art mentors, art exhibitions in which they have participated and art collections that include their art.

Remember:  Every new artist must start somewhere.  Do not be embarrassed by your lack of an art education or the absence of real experience in the art world.  Instead, let everyone know exactly who you are in the art business and where you want to be in the future.