Why Visual Artists Should Be Using TikTok

Why Visual Artists Should Be Using TikTok

Introduction

Tiktok is a great platform to show off your work! It’s got the perfect combination of millions of active users and high-quality content. If you’re an artist, post a few videos on Tiktok to build your audience and gain exposure. Here are some ideas for artists on Tiktok:

Behind the scenes

You can give us a glimpse of your life behind the scenes.

We want to see more than just your art, but also the process that went into making it. Show us what you do behind the scenes, and we’ll be impressed.

Perhaps you’ve got an interesting workspace that helps inspire your work, or maybe you like to show off some of your tools for creating art in progress—it doesn’t matter if it’s messy or organized if it’s functional for you! Your process might include anything from putting together new materials (like wood) to writing down ideas and building out from there.

Materials

This is an obvious one, but worth mentioning. If you’re an artist, or even just someone who enjoys creating things, show your audience what materials you use to create your art! It’s almost like the ultimate realism in a sense—showing people how their favorite artists go about their craft can be so satisfying and educational for them. For example, if I had been able to see how Michelangelo used his tools while painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, I might have been more interested in becoming a sculptor myself (instead of becoming a marketer). Plus, it gives viewers something to look forward to seeing as they scroll through their feed—and it may even spark some creativity within themselves!

The process

Show the steps of your process from start to finish. For example, if you draw a landscape, show the outline and then color in the details. If you’re an abstract painter, show how you start with a color and then add more shapes to make it interesting. You may choose to show what materials you use for your art (e.g., pencils or paint).

Display the final product. This is where people can see what they’ll get when they buy a piece of your art! Make sure it’s something that looks good as a poster or wall hanging so that people feel like they actually want to hang it up somewhere in their house or office space.

Time lapses

Time lapses are visual representations of how long it takes to complete a task. For example, you can use a time-lapse video to show the transformation of your workspace over the course of a week.

When you’re starting out, it is best to use a simple camera and tripod. If you want more control over the quality of your time-lapse, you can use an app like Hyperlapse or Framelapse to record your creative process and then speed up the footage in post-editing. These apps have built-in stabilization features so that even if there’s some shaking while taking pictures, they will still be smooth and high-quality when played back at normal speed.

Time lapses can be used in different ways. You can show how your drawing changes with every stroke of a pencil or pen, or you could show what happens when you’re painting one part of a canvas after another.

Your workspace

Take a look at your workspace. Are you feeling inspired? Do you recognize the materials lying around?

If so, then this is an obvious choice for TikTok. Why not show off the tools of your trade? Whether it’s wood, clay or paint—the process behind those materials can be just as interesting as what they create. We love seeing how artists work their magic and how different ideas come together to make something beautiful and unique.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a new platform to share your visual art, Tiktok has a lot of potential. It’s easy to use and has a large audience full of people who are interested in seeing what goes on behind the scenes. You can use it to post behind-the-scenes videos or even highlight your process as an artist!

The Rise of Tik Tok in the Age of Quarantine

The Rise of Tik Tok in the Age of Quarantine

Largely touted as the social media tool of choice for Gen-Zs, Tik Tok is an app that has widely gained traction in wake of the pandemic. Founded in 2018, it follows the merger of two social apps, Douyin and Muiscal.ly. Douyin was developed in 2016 within an incredibly short timeframe of 200 days with more than 1 billion videos being viewed per day. At the same time, Muscial.ly also continued to grow, most of its development coming from licensing deals with major music companies such as Warner Music Group. This paved the way for its users to upload short clips featuring copyright material without any legal concerns. Both platforms were providing user-generated content albeit with different aspects incorporated almost in parallel. Therefore, it came as a no brainer when both entities decided to merge in 2018. Both companies combined their userbases of largely teens and tweens, all of whom had the opportunity to utilize this platform to create videos featuring copyright content.

No stranger to growing pains, the relatively new app featured major controversies along its road to success.  Back in 2019, Tik Tok was accused of censoring pro-Hong Kong protest videos, and banning LGBTQ content. It was even investigated by the Foreign Investment Committee in the U.S., which investigated whether the app posed a threat to its citizens.

TikTok Global Downloads by quarter

Despite being faced with harsh skepticism in the last couple of years, the app has managed to continue growing, with popular accounts from likes of many celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Marshmellow, and Jason Derulo. Whether it be rehearsing a new dance challenge or creating lip-sync videos, it’s become a notable recognized pass time and continues to grow in its user base. This is especially true during the time of lockdown. It has grown in record numbers, surpassing 200 million downloads for its first quarter of 2020. Given the reliance on mobile devices during these challenging times, it comes as no surprise that content creation would also fall into the mix. It has largely expanded its userbase to include Millennials, Gen X and even Boomers, who are at the forefront of all the social media action. This is slated to continue far into 2020, perhaps capturing a market share it would have otherwise been missed out on.

grandma and grandson using tiktok watching a choreography video

There are a few key differentiators that make this social media platform stand out from the rest. Firstly, the editing process is crystal clear. Unlike other software or even social platforms whereby, video editing isn’t the most affordable or the learning curve is steep. Tik Tok completely removed these barriers, allowing users to edit videos with ease. Secondly, the largest differentiator is the closely monitored algorithm that allows it to produce a dashboard that features the latest content that has been uploaded to the platform irrespective of who the user follows. This means that a user does not have to have hundreds or even thousands of follows to go viral. This key differentiator is what provides this app an edge

The largest differentiator is the closely monitored algorithm that allows it to produce a dashboard that features the latest content that has been uploaded to the platform irrespective of who the user follows.

Despite the challenging environment, Tik Tok has seen incredible gains in the past few months. Its social media footprint continues to grow, and potentially morph into a social media giant – something very few in the industry may have predicted.   Will Tik Tok continue to reach audiences beyond Gen Z after the pandemic is over? How will advertisers fit into the picture and will allowing sponsored content change the nature of the platform? Only time will tell, for now, we see huge potential.

Guest blog by Gia Gill. Gia is an experienced marketing communications professional based in Toronto.