In March, I published a post entitled WordPress vs. Blogger vs. Tumblr, Free Artist Websites where I wrote a brief overview of the pros / cons and features / benefits of these three different hosting sites. I included a link to an example website or blog for each one. Since the post and the example links have been getting a large number of clicks, I thought it would be useful to post more examples of artist websites created on WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr.
WORDPRESS
JAMES FOWLER | @jamesfowlerart
The artist James Fowler uses the WordPress theme Twenty Ten. The site has been nicely configured to appear as a static landing page, more as a website portfolio than a blog. There are clear links featured at the top of the website which link to images, cv, contact info, and other pages.
MY PHOTOMATON | @hugobaeta
Hugo Baeta’s Photomaton blog actually uses the same theme as The Practical Art World, Twenty Eleven. For his site it has been customized to appear extremely clean and uncluttered, focusing simply on the photographs.
VISUAL HEART | @visualheart
I like the website Visual Heart, Nicole Phillips’ Art and Design blog, because it is set up to show two main sections: a blog and a portfolio. The blog section features ephemera, inspiration, and photographs while the portfolio shows Nicole’s own design work. To build her site, Nicole uses the WordPress theme MistyLook.
- Sold on WordPress? You can check out all their Theme Showcase here.
- If you are interested in using a WordPress theme for your artist portfolio and want a static landing page, there are step-by-step instructions here.
BLOGGER
STUDIO M | @marinagarrison
Artist Marina Garrison has set up a clean, easy to navigate blog to record her studio practice and artistic goings-on. Because the design is un-cluttered, it’s simple and quick to find the link to her art website at the top of the page.
YAGWETAZOX | @seatyahstic
Illustrator, artist, and writer Karlene Harvey uses blogger to post her own artwork, information on events, and other updates. The simplicity of the white background and the text colours makes for a very appealing visual presentation.
MATTY SPENCER | @MattySpencer
Matty Spencer has an excellent set up on Blogger where clear headings at the top sort his posts into different categories. The design is simple but very slick.
- Interested in using Blogger? You can explore their theme options here.
- Blogger runs a blog called Blogs of Note, where you can explore other excellent sites that they host.
TUMBLR
SHEENA ROSE : Strictly Art | @SheenaRoseart
Sheena Rose is a young artist from Barbados, and this is where she posts a log of her own artwork as well as other images and photographs that inspire her—anything that is “strictly art.” The theme is simple but not plain, a nice showcase for the material.
MATT W JENNINGS | @mattwjennings
This tumblr site features photographs by Matt W Jennings in a simple, clean format. It’s a blog-style feed of photographs, but the layout allows for his regular website and flickr page to be easily accessed. The theme used on this blog is called JSTN.
- Want to use Tumblr? You can view their themes here.
- For more good looking Tumblr blogs, Escape Into Life posted a list of 28 great art and design examples.
- Though most Tumblr blogs are free, Lakeshore Branding has suggested a list of 7 Tumblr Themes Worth Paying For.
Do you know any great looking art blogs or websites made from WordPress, Tumblr, or Blogger that I have missed? Please share!
The Practical Art World 
To show the versatility of WordPress themes, I submit my blog / artist journal which uses the theme toolbox 1.1 a “bare-bones” but highly customizable theme by Automattic.http://www.brennenmcelhaney.com/journal
We also use WordPress, (Bueno Theme) & Have now linked it to
REDUX.COM/924COLLECTIVE which is really fantastic, definitely
worth considering no matter what blog style you inevitably choose!
Happy Blogging!
http://924COLLECTIVE.WORDPRESS.COM
Coming back to this post, the information is still relevant, one tool that has given us huge ammounts of usertraffic and growth has been stumbleupon, we actually did a post specifically about stumbleuopn replacing redux. wp.me/pAJ5G-189
The visual format is really slick, and sends tons of visitors your way, (primarily based in the US)
http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/924COLLECTIVE/
Check it out, we really love everything it does.
Thanks for sharing our tumbler themes post! – Chris at Lakeshore Branding
I’m using the Black-LetterHead by Ulysses Ronquillo from WordPress.com for my blog Graphic Anthropology. 35 years of painting, plus essays from my university days. Thanks for this page. Very useful information. Let me know if I can help. I post almost everyday.
Thanks for sharing these blogs. All are very beautiful. I’m very impressed with what Twenty Eleven theme can do. Inspired by Photomaton I’ve also curated my blog at the same way. Not so beautiful, but good.
Tumblr is the internet in 2025
http://tumblrkills.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/tumblr-is-the-internet-in-2025/
I prefer WordPress.
Check out my blog littledoodlestudio.wordpress.com
i have both, check them out for a comparison!
http://monexpo.tumblr.com/
http://4semaines.wordpress.com/
I am actually starting to notice that Tumblr includes a whole lot more potential rather than whatever I was thinking.
Whhile I have not always been a dedicated member until recently I simply now have noticed that it has
grown to be a reasonably suitable place for people to actually
become familiar with a lot from connecting among other members, impart thoughts, on top of that boost page views for business owners that identify its use.
this is excellent that I am merely figuring outt tumblr
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I too use WordPress, the ‘Natural’ theme. I love the 24/7 live chat support offered by their ‘Happiness Engineers’ who have helped me curate my site. https://anndelize.com
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