Plenty of articles have been written about the importance of using photographs in your blog posts to add visual interest and break up large blocks of text. Some discuss where to source images and provide guidelines on appropriate use and copyright restrictions.
Others might offer advice on shooting, editing, and adding watermarks to your own photographs. Still others might share tips on working with online or smartphone apps to enhance or add text to photos.
I find these sorts of posts to be incredibly helpful and will almost always click over to read them and add any new information I discover to my own files.
But you know what? There’s another option for adding visual components to your post.
Yes, photographs are great, but if you’re willing to think outside the box, there’s another, largely untapped, resource ready and waiting to complement and add value to your blog posts in a fresh, new way: your art work! Here are 5 ways to incorporate your art work into a blog post.
1. Use sketches to outline the steps of a project.
Create your own sketch or series of progress drawings to illustrate a project concept, provide step-by-step instructions, or document the artistic process (here’s an example from The Twisty Tree).
2. Illustrate your posts with recurring characters.
Ever read Hyperbole and a Half, or perhaps The Animated Woman? Both bloggers have their own distinctive artistic style and use recurring characters to tell their stories and add personality to their blog posts.
3. Use your art work as a springboard for a blog series.
Tap into your artistic skills and knowledge by developing a recurring blog series to inform, teach, or bring awareness to a particular art form.
For example, I channeled my passion for Zentangle® (a method created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas) into a weekly “Tangled Tuesday” blog series, using my own art work to illustrate the posts.
4. Incorporate children’s art work into your posts.
You proudly display your child’s (or niece’s, nephew’s, grandchild’s, etc.) art work on the refrigerator. Now take it a step further and share it with the world as part of your blog post!
5. Create custom art work for a specific post.
Sometimes the photo you’re hunting down just doesn’t seem to exist, or, when you do find it, you discover with dismay that it’s copyright-protected. What a perfect opportunity to DIY and create your own personal, custom piece of art to accompany your post!
Illustrating your posts is important… but it doesn’t always have to be with photographs. Add an extra personal touch to your blog posts and give your art a chance to shine – your readers will love it!
Got any other ideas about incorporating art into a blog post?
Please share!
