Recently I posted about staying on track during the “shut down” disruption. One thing mentioned was taking advantage of this downtime to focus on a project for your art business. One necessary but often dreaded task you might consider is working on your artwork inventory.
Putting together a comprehensive inventory is something that every artist needs to do. It’s one of those tasks, though, that can get put on the back burner. It’s probably not the most thrilling part of your art business.
If you are looking for something to occupy time when you aren’t creating, now is a perfect time to take an inventory of your work.
Inventory Solutions: Here are my Top Two Ways to Inventory Your Artwork
Artwork Archive
Artwork Archive is my-go to resource for maintaining an artist’s inventory. We use it for my father’s work. I love Artwork Archive for the following reasons:
1 – It’s intuitive and easy to use. I don’t think I’ve ever had to consult a tutorial or help desk once when using this system.
2 – It is much more than just an inventory tool. It also allows you to track your sales and contacts, showcase your artwork online, and store and share high-resolution images. You can also access your work anywhere from any device.
Artwork Archive costs $6 to $19 a month, depending upon the level you choose. They offer a free thirty-day trial. I recommend giving it a try.
Below is a screenshot of a piece of art that I’ve added to Artwork Archive. This gives you an idea of some of the detail that this system can capture about a piece of your work.
Spreadsheet It
If you want a free and straightforward solution to maintain a basic inventory of your artwork, use a simple spreadsheet such as Google Drive or Airtable, both of which are free. With this method, list each piece with a column for each bit of detail about the work. Columns can include details such as name, size, medium, price, location, status, and a link to the image. Depending upon your work, there are other pieces of information that you may choose to collect.
Be proactive and inventory your artwork!
You’ll be thanking yourself later for storing all of your collection details and financial records in one easily accessible place.
If you decided to test out Artwork Archive’s trial, and you have any other questions on using it, shoot me an email at becky@artisan-advantage.com and I’ll try to help you.
