101 Short Video Ideas For Artists: Reels, Shorts & Tik Tok

Want to reach more people and tilt the algorithm in your favor? Create short videos for Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Tik Tok.

2020 saw the rise of the short video, and it’s official, they are here to stay. With attention spans being shorter than ever, social media platforms continue to prioritize short video content ahead of any other type of post.

Instagram has recently revealed that it is now a video-sharing platform. While we’ve heard no plans that they are doing away with the still photos, they’ve made it clear that their users want videos. And what the users want, the users will get. Videos are in the algorithm priority cue which means if you want to increase your reach, videos are the way to do it.

If you’re panicking at the thought of doing a dance routine just to get a little attention, don’t worry. Working artists are magical and interesting – even when they’re not dancing. If it relates to your art, and it moves, it has potential for video.

Here are 100 short video ideas for artists to use on Instagram, YouTube and Tik Tok:

The Artist

Starting with the reason people are watching the video in the first place, how about some videos of you?

Introduce Yourself! (And re-introduce yourself from time-to-time.)
Tell people what they can expect from your account – what will you post? how often?
Tell us about your earliest memory making art.
Tell us the reason you made your last art piece.
Tell us when you knew you were an artist.
Tell us a story about a person whos supported your art making early on.
Tell us about what you think makes for a successful art piece. What are your criteria?
Tell us about what you hope your art will accomplish.
Tell us about the worst piece of art you ever made.
Tell us what you would say to yourself as an artist a year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago?
What advice would you give to someone starting out.
What is your most favorite piece of art in the world.
If you could meet one artist, who would it be? What would you want to know?
Tell us who influenced you as an artist.
Tell us why you chose your medium.
Tell us how you knew you found your artistic style. Are you still working on it?
Tell us what you do with art that doesn’t sell or that you don’t like.
What were your favorite art classes?
If you went to school for art, tell us about your art school experience.
Tell us about your worst art critique.
Tell us about the person who supported you most as an artist.
Show you buying or picking out what you’ll wear to an art opening.
What do people assume about your art that is just false?
Tell us 3 myths about artists.
Have some fun – follow a tiktok/reels/youtube shorts trend. It shows your following that you’re not only an artist, but you like to have fun.

Your Medium

Show a timelapse video of all your art supplies.
Where do you keep your art supplies?
How do you organize your supplies or ephemera?
Where do you buy your supplies? Take us on a trip to your favorite art supply store.
Show off an art supply haul – what did you get? Why did you choose it? What will you create with it?
Show small clips using your medium such as pulling a stroke of paint, cutting a substrate, squirting paint on an easel, spraying your canvas, squishing some clay.

Your Tools

Laying out your tools before you use them.
Cleaning your tools.
Picking out new tools at a store or distributor.
Have you created or built your own tools? Show them to us and tell us why.
Do you have to maintain any equipment? Show us.
Close up of hands using tools.
Close up of hands setting up or adjusting equipment.

Studio Space (or Working Space)

Show us your studio or working space.
Show us how you store your finished artwork
Show us how you organize your works in progress.
Show us how you organize your art supplies and materials.
Shows us your pets in your studio space – everyone loves animals!
Do a time lapse of a studio clean up.
Show us if you put everything away after each session, or leave it out.
Do you share working space? With whom?
Do you walk, drive to your studio to work? Video pieces of your route, or do a timelapse.
Have a friend come and talk to you about your studio. Answer their questions and save your answers as individual videos.
Show moving light in your workspace.

Your Art Business

What people think its like to be an artist vs. what its really like. (It’s hard work!)
Behind the scenes life management – how do you manage your kids/spouse/other work life so that you can get into the studio?
What people think you need to be an artist vs what you really need.
Tell us the stories of some of the pieces you’ve sold – where did they go? Who bought them?
Do you miss your sold art?
What do you do with art that doesn’t sell?
Show us how you pack your work.
Take us on a trip to the Post Office/Shipping Outlet to drop off work you are shipping.
Take us on a trip to deliver art to a gallery or collector.
Show us what you pack with your orders such as a packing list, certificate of authenticity and/or care cards?
Show yourself handwriting a thank you note for a sold piece.
If your work is in brick and morter shops or galleries – do a short tour and promote those business(es.)
Tell us if you take commissions. Do you like them? Why?
Do you have friends that make art? Take us to their studios and show us the insider view(s).
Do you belong to an art club or art center? Take us on a tour of the facility.
Invite your follows to your next art show, or to your other social media accounts.
Let your followers know where they can see more of your art – online or in person.
If you have a freebie people can download, do a quick video about it – where can people get it?
Answer FAQ’s – what are the most common questions you get about your art?
Celebrate your online community – create a short video of the people who tagged you, liked your posts, or used your artist hashtag recently.
Testimonials – share your collector’s feedback and what it means to you.

Your Inspirations

Share some of your favorite artists (make sure to link to their respective account or website so it’s clear you are sharing someone else’s work.)
Share some of your favorite music – what do you listen to when your working?
Take us to your favorite museum and show us your favorite art? Why is it your favorite?
Take us to your local art walk – go to the galleries, show us which you like and share art you think is share-worthy.
Take us on a nature walk and show us the smallest of natural details that you find inspiring.
Show us the murals in your town (or neighboring towns).
Show us your favorite art books or magazines.

Your Artwork

Show YOU with your art. Holding it, looking at it, moving it.
Show off various angles of a finished piece. Include zoom ins and outs. Pair the piece to music that matches the genre.
Put on your curator’s hat – Create a gallery wall in your work space and show a few pieces together.
Put on your interior designer’s hat – Create a grouping of home decor items along with your art.
Show a transformation: the same room/space can feel totally different with different pieces of your artwork.
Use Canva to create a short video using your still photographs.
Create a video about your most popular/well received art works.
Do a demo of an aspect of your process.
Do a speed painting/artwork showing hours of your work done in just a few minutes.
Do a tutorial (only do a tutorial if you are interested in teaching. Tutorials attract students more than they attract collectors.
Share some artist tips – several is better than just one, but hey, one can be a video too!
Show us how to hang your work.
Tell us how to care for your work.
Tell us the ideal spot for your art. (Kitchen? Living Room? Outside? Office?)
Show us how/if you ever rework a piece of art.
Show/Tell us how you know when an artwork is finished.
Show us how you sign your work.
Show a before and after – start with raw materials then cut to finished work.
Show us the different sizes of your work – your smallest to your largest.
Count out five things we should know about your art. (Or some other number).
Show us a sneak peak of work that is coming out soon, but can’t be revealed yet.
Share your evolution – your art 3 months ago, 3 years ago and/or 30 years ago.
Celebrate your artist birthday (how long you’ve been an “artist”) using the happy birthday song.
Do a flip through of an art journal or sketchbook.

Challenges (Bonus!)

To start a challenge: Decide on a challenging topic, choose the number of days (7 days or 30 days) and start posting every day of the challenge. Consider tagging other artists to join the challenge. If you start the challenge yourself, name it and give it a hashtag to use (ie: #holidayartchallenge). If you’re joining someone else’s challenge, make sure to use the hashtag so new people can find your post.

Show a different portion of your art studio/working space (#artstudiochallenge).
Sketch in your art journal (#sketchbookchallenge).
Show the different things that inspire you to make art (#artinspochallenge).
Choose a favorite holiday and make small artworks that follow a holiday theme (#holidayartchallenge).
Videos of you talking about pieces you sold or no longer have (#soldartchallenge).

Keep in mind there are well-known established art challenges you can participate in. Here are a few hashtags to look up: #inktober #artchallenges #reelschallenge