How to Write a Good & Effective Artist Biography

HOW TO WRITE A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST BIOAn effective artist biography (bio) is necessary information to have as part of the artist’s presentation to any viewers and interested parties of their artwork. A well written and composed artist bio serves to help a reader to connect to the artist and to the artist’s artwork.

An artist bio, when written and created correctly will provide the reader with a greater understanding as to the artist’s art, the artist’s motivation for creating their art and finally it will provide a guide or a means for a viewer to interpret the artist’s art. In these terms, the importance of an artist’s bio cannot be stressed enough!

What should be included in an effective artist’s bio?

1. Anyone or anything that has influenced the artist’s artworks.

2. Any education or training in the field of art.

3. Any related experience in the field of art.

4. A summary of the artist’s artistic philosophy.

5. Any artistic insights or techniques that are employed by the artist.

6. A short description of what the artist would like to accomplish with their art.

The following are some helpful hints on how an artist can create an interesting bio;

1. Keep the biography structure short, concise and to the point. A rambling disjointed bio will only confuse or lose the reader altogether. Always write the bio in the third person (as if someone other than the artist is writing the bio).

2. Try to write the bio differently 2 or 3 times and then have someone with good writing and communication skills proof the various bios and help you to pull them together into one great bio (there will be different aspects of each bio that are written better than the others).

3. Get an artist(s) who you respect and admire to read your final version and make any suggestions to help improve the final bio. Does this bio reflect you as a person, as an artist and does it accurately describe your art?

4. Finally, after any changes are made as described above, have someone who is an expert in spelling, grammar and sentence structure review and make any necessary changes to the bio.

Keep your bio up to date with any new work, influences and experience that may have changed you, your art and your artistic perspective. Make sure that you have an appropriate and up to date image of yourself that is included with your bio. Also, update the bio on any other websites and art forums where you post and show your artwork as well.

An effective artist’s bio will not sell any art for an artist but it is the type of information that an artist should have in order to provide to any interested person (buyer, gallery, art rep etc.).  Also, this is necessary information that an artist should have, as it will be required during the overall sales process.