How Do You Use Video? (Curious Monday)

Loyal reader Debra Disman says that she would love to see how artists are using video.

Debra Disman Mural
©Debra Disman, Oshun Mural (detail), 8 x 40 feet. Photo by Francis da Silva.

Please tell us!

  • What is the focus/subject of your videos?
  • How long are they?
  • Where do you post them?
  • What kind of results do they bring you?
  • Do you have help or do you do it yourself?
  • What have you learned about the process?

Feel free to add a link to your video.

Don't do video? Share your favorites in a comment.

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36 thoughts on “How Do You Use Video? (Curious Monday)”

  1. I teach textile and surface design in online workshops, so a lot of my content is video based. I also have a video introduction on my website, plus several basic how to demos as short videos. Video learning and connection is important to my business and I have a plan for several more short videos as well as longer more in depth ones for my workshops.

  2. First I did a video of a painting in progress and this year I did one that was more of a lifestyle video. I would love to create some instructional videos in the future, it’s just a matter of finding the time. Videos do add some great depth of aliveness to your website, I think…

  3. I am in the process of making a video that explains the evolution and history of my installation on empathy and compassion. Normally when I install the piece, I sit and recite my shpiel over and over and thought that recording this same shpiel and having it on my website with the installation is as close a reproduction to being there as I can get.
    It creates the buy in.
    It’s not there yet but will be at http://www.alysmyers.com

  4. I like to make time lapse videos of art making. I try to keep them under a minute. I post them on all social media channels – FB, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram. People love them and I get a lot of interaction with them.
    They are easy to make on my Iphone with Lapse It App. Here is my most recent one. https://www.facebook.com/shannonamidonart/videos/10154612553216382/

    You can see several I have done on my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/shannonamidon

  5. I have one great vid.on my dec pting site…and am using video more and more for l documentation…of my artist books as Helen mentioned and also of teaching and students talking about their work and experience.
    Need to get more and better videographer skills!
    Any info onbow 2 do that?
    Just a matter of doing it and practicing?
    Getting editing software like using photoshop with images?

    1. I’ve worked with professionals, and of course they know the ropes and do the best work! But they are expensive. I finally talked myself into doing my best, and I have to say, the more you do, the more you can figure out. I thought I had to have a cameraman, but realized that I can use a tripod. And I’m teaching myself to use I-Movie to add still photos and a soundtrack. Sometimes you just have to do it!

  6. I have a loop of equipment, materials, process and patterns on slides of my marbling that I often play in my booth. A video would be better, but that will have to wait for sometime in the future. I usually narrate the loop.

    1. That’s a great idea, then when you play it back maybe you’ll come up with a series idea or see where you can have a do over, esp. if you started liking it but didn’t love the end result …good thinking even if you didn’t publish it!

  7. Most of my videos are a group of related photos with music. I’ve done a few that are instructional. The photos/music ones get the best response. I license the music for the videos from Audio Jungle. I try to use music under 3 1/2 minutes long.

    When I create a new video (4-5 times a year) – I announce them in my newsletter, on my blog and on social media. Once a week I share one of the videos on FB/Twitter. The ones I post to FB are among my most shared posts.

    I use the videos to introduce people to my photography. I have them all hosted on YouTube. I create them myself using Windows Movie Maker.

    You can see my videos on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/PattyHankins

  8. Have never made a video myself, and will enjoy checking out some of the ones posted above. But as I’ve moved more from detailed collage into painting, Jane Davies has been my inspiration. My style is nothing like hers, but it’s the freedom she demonstrates that repeatedly helps me get unstuck. She has a ton of free how-to videos, so I just picked an overview one to share here. See if it works that way for you too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83XVt0bOpDw

  9. I’m just beginning to dip my toes in that sea! Posted my first, very short video last week of carving tiles, mentioning my upcoming open house. It sounds lame to me but I put it on my FB biz page – got a few likes, 124 views, no comments. I guess it was as lame as I thought 🙂

  10. I made this video (with my iPhone) and my son taught me how to splice and edit in iMovie.
    I made the video as a way of inviting people to my exhibition OCEANUS. Posting it on social media & in my newsletter. The link also lives on my website.
    It was a successful exercise. Engaging an audience I may not of otherwise had and educating people about what I do. Even my mother was fascinated!
    It goes for 2mins 19secs. The music was used with permission by the artist Adam Benzera.
    Enjoy: https://youtu.be/7hRRXN6jYIo

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      Hi Mike,I enjoyed the article on the “art of allowing” very much. I did a little soul searching as you suggested, and came up with a recent instance of “allowing” in my life that has had a good outcome in my life. By reading your article, I was reminded of it, and the positive effects of practicing this “art of allowing”. I want to thank you.By the way, I noticed in a previous article that you used the word (were) repeatedly when I think you meant to use we’re (we are). Just an observation I wanted to send along your way with love & appreciation.

  11. I use video in large part to document my exhibits, receptions, interviews, and my painting process.
    They range from half a minute to a bit over 5 minutes – usually around two minutes.
    I have a vimeo account that I use most of the time, but I also upload to youtube and I link to Facebook.
    I am a total amateur. I had a friend do this one as I was working the crowd :). It was an unusual event – we sat across the street from my storefront installation – my musician had such a beautiful voice. It’s 4 minutes. https://vimeo.com/180169367
    I don’t obsess about quality at this point – I just want to document and I know that by doing, I will get better. This is a short one, 34 seconds, of my studio (where I experiment with installation and present to the attendees of 4th Friday at Starline studios). I did the music to match the animation with Garage Band – https://vimeo.com/157524651.
    What I have learned from video professionals is that: it is best to let the movement you are videoing do the moving – not you moving the camera to make movement. That being said if you are documenting static images of your exhibit you must move the camera 🙂 – I like to use video to show detail in a work and gradually back away to see the entire piece.
    As far as results; video is another tool to try to showcase my work, like my website. It is a link I can give in proposals and press releases. Video adds another component of professionalism.

  12. I make videos on youtube and facebook. My videos include timelapse drawing and painting videos and vlogs about sharing my insights and experiences on topics related to being an artist. I also make quick, unedited vlogs with my phone or webcam just sharing what I’m doing that day. My videos are pretty short. The rarely go longer than two and a half minutes for my vlogs. I pretty much do everything myself at the moment. Here’s one of my videos from my main youtube channel that I made about ways to clear on what you’re going to do with a particular project.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB8ZvIoqmR0

  13. I am just starting to play around with video. I take a lot of “work in progress” pics for Instagram, so I have started using those to create short (under 30 second) slideshow videos with music to post on Youtube and share on social media. I’ve got a lot to learn to improve the quality, but am learning.

    https://youtu.be/2Dt4Ld0VFMk

  14. I like to record myself painting, play it back at a faster speed and put a voiceover if I’m particularly brave (often, I am not).

    They are very often shorter than ten minutes.
    I post them onto Youtube – there is already quite a community there, changing everything.

    This has been so much more responsive. People are so much more ready to chime in, ask questions, click links. They also like to tell me they watch my videos, should they purchase the thing they watched me paint!

    I do everything myself, but it’s all very basic. There is so much room for improvement, but a basic Windows movie maker can go a heck of a long way.

    From the feedback I get, to all the videos I watch (and take inspiration from) by the many many artists on youtube, I’ve learned that a LOT can come from being a “personality” rather than a signature on the back of a painting. This is like schmoozing at a gallery opening, but to a worldwide audience at each viewer’s convenience/schedule.

    ————————————————————————————

    Side question (possible future topic?) – Now that I’m having fun with this new medium, at one point does it make sense to retire the newsletter? I mean, I have far fewer newsletter peeps. It’s usually a last minute rush job, because anytime I come up with a great topic, I want to share it with a wider audience than just the few who open the email. I don’t really use it as a sales pitch, and they’re not local enough to invite to events (as if I had any). But I’m conflicted because of the idea that newsletters are the golden standard of marketing/communication and are such a “must have”. And then I see people making tens of thousands of dollars a year doing more interactive and interesting things on youtube and twitch, which makes the oft-ignored email newsletter look dusty.
    OR – are online artists and gallery artists now considered two different industries? How’s all this looking from the traditional perspective?

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Get a transcript of episode 182 of The Art Biz (Rethinking Mailing Lists for Artists) followed by a 3-page worksheet to evaluate the overall health and usage of the 3 types of artist lists.

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