Journal
How to Make an Art Portfolio Website (Free Options)
An art portfolio website, sometimes called an artist website, is a public page, or a few pages, where anyone can see your best work and know how to reach you. You can make one for free in an afternoon. What takes thought is the content, not the technology.
You need three things: a small, consistent selection of your strongest work, a short introduction to who you are, and a clear way to contact you. Everything else is a choice about where to put them.
Quick answer: which option should you choose?
- You want your own site, design and domain: use a website builder such as Wix or Squarespace.
- You make digital, 3D or concept art: ArtStation is the usual place to show it.
- You want a free professional page without building a site: create an Artistivo Artist Page, or use it alongside a website.
This guide covers what to include, how to build it step by step, and which free and paid options suit which kind of artist. If you want to compare platforms for being discovered rather than building a site, see the best websites for artists.
What an art portfolio website needs
Most portfolios that work share the same few parts.
- Selected works. A curated gallery of your strongest recent pieces. A common guideline is 10 to 15 works that look like they belong together, not everything you have ever made.
- Details for each work. Title, year, medium and dimensions. They help galleries and collectors, and they give search engines text to read, because a search engine cannot see what is in a photograph.
- An About page and artist statement. Who you are, what you work with, and what your work is about, in a few clear paragraphs.
- A CV. Exhibitions, education, awards, publications and commissions, in reverse chronological order.
- Contact details. An email address or a contact form. Make it easy to find from every page.
- A shop or commissions page (optional). Only if you sell work or take commissions directly.
How to make an art portfolio website, step by step
- Choose your best work. Pick 10 to 15 pieces from the last few years that show one clear direction. Cut anything you would not want to be known for.
- Photograph or scan it well. Use even daylight, a plain background and straight-on framing for flat work. Photograph sculpture from more than one angle. Poor images undermine good work.
- Write the text. Draft a short bio, an artist statement and your CV. Keep the statement plain. Describe what you make and why, without jargon.
- Pick where it lives. A website builder, a portfolio platform or an artist profile. The next section compares them.
- Build and label. Upload the work, add titles, years, media and sizes, and add short descriptions to your images so they are readable by search engines and screen readers.
- Test it on your phone. Most visitors will see it there first. Check that images load quickly and that your contact details are easy to find.
- Share the link and keep it current. Put it in your Instagram bio, your email signature and your applications. Update it when you finish new work or have an exhibition.
Your options for an art portfolio website
There are three kinds of place to put a portfolio, and they do different jobs. Several of them offer a free artist website or a free account, with limits.
| Option | Best for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Website builders: Wix, Squarespace, Carrd, Canva | A site of your own, with your own design | You set it up and maintain it, and you bring your own audience |
| Art-specific builders: Portfoliobox, FASO, Adobe Portfolio | Artists who want templates made for portfolios | Check what each plan includes before you commit |
| Portfolio platforms: Behance, ArtStation | Visual and digital work shown in a creative community | You are on someone else's platform and design |
| An Artist Page: Artistivo | A free professional page inside an art community | It is not a website with its own domain |
Website builders
Wix offers a drag-and-drop editor, a large range of templates and tools to protect images such as watermarks. It has free and paid plans. Squarespace is known for polished templates and simple tools for selling prints. Carrd suits a simple one-page site or a link-in-bio page. Canva can publish a one-page site and export a portfolio as a PDF.
A builder gives you the most control over how your work looks. The cost is time: you design it, maintain it and bring visitors to it.
Builders made for artists
Portfoliobox has a free art portfolio plan with limits on pages and images, so check the current limits. FASO is built for visual artists and includes selling tools. Adobe Portfolio is included if you already pay for Adobe Creative Cloud, and favours clean, minimal layouts.
Portfolio platforms
Behance and ArtStation are creative communities with built-in audiences. ArtStation is the standard place for digital, 3D and concept art. You are working inside their format, which is quick to start but gives you less control.
Where an Artistivo Artist Page fits
An Artistivo Artist Page is not a website builder, and it does not give you your own domain. It is a free, public professional page for your work, inside a community of artists.
You can present work as images, video, audio or text, and bring in media from YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify and SoundCloud. Related pieces can be grouped into albums and series. Your biography, location, disciplines and links sit alongside the work, and the page is public and structured so that search engines can read it.
It works in two ways:
- Instead of a website, if you want a professional presence without building and maintaining a site.
- Alongside a website, as another place where people can find your work and where you appear in a wider art community. Your own website can stay your home.
To see how it looks in practice, explore artists on Artistivo, or see how working artists present their practice in Artist Visits.
No platform can guarantee where a page will appear in Google, and new pages take time to be indexed. For more on how it works, read the free artist portfolio guide.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Showing too much. A long, uneven gallery weakens your strongest work.
- Unclear contact details. If a curator cannot find your email in seconds, they will move on.
- Poor image quality. Dark, cropped or tilted photographs make good work look amateur.
- No text. Images alone say nothing to search engines. Titles, dates, media and a short statement help people find you.
- Never updating it. An out-of-date portfolio suggests you stopped working.
Questions artists ask
What is the best website for an art portfolio?
It depends on what you need. A website builder such as Wix, Squarespace or Carrd gives you your own site. A platform such as Behance or ArtStation puts your work in front of an existing creative community. An Artistivo Artist Page gives you a free professional page inside an art community, without building a site. Many artists combine two of these.
How do I make a website for my art portfolio?
Choose 10 to 15 of your best pieces, photograph them well, write a short bio, artist statement and CV, then pick a builder or platform and upload everything with titles, years, media and sizes. Test it on your phone and add the link to your Instagram bio and applications.
What is the best free portfolio website for artists?
There is no single best one. For a site of your own design, Wix and Portfoliobox have free plans with limits. For digital and 3D work, ArtStation is the usual choice. For a free professional page inside an art community, with no site to build, use an Artistivo Artist Page. Check each free plan's current limits before you commit.
Where can I create a free art portfolio website?
You can get a free artist website from several services, including Wix, Portfoliobox, Behance and ArtStation, and you can create a free Artist Page on Artistivo. Free plans usually have limits on pages, images or features, so check what is included before you build.
Do I need my own domain name?
Not to get started. A custom domain looks more professional and is easier to remember, so many artists add one later. If you want your own domain, a website builder is the simplest route.
Can I use Instagram as my portfolio?
Instagram is a useful channel for reaching people, but it is built around a constant feed. A portfolio keeps your best work organised in one place and does not depend on an algorithm. Most artists use both and link from one to the other.
Is an Artistivo Artist Page free?
Yes. Creating an Artist Page and presenting your portfolio on Artistivo is free. As Artistivo develops, some optional professional and commercial services may be paid.
Start with the work
The best art portfolio website is the one you actually finish. Choose your strongest pieces, write a few honest paragraphs, put it somewhere people can find it, and improve it as your work grows.