A finished piece is one post. Making it can be ten: the thumbnails, the ugly stage, the fix, the timelapse, the packing. So post the making more than the finished work, and the weeks between finished pieces stop being empty weeks in your feed.
Pick the group that matches your energy today. Each idea gives you the first line for the screen and two or three shots to film. None of them needs your face: you film your hands and the work itself. And none of them involves AI-generated art.
10-minute art posts for days you'd rather just draw
One clip or one photo, made while you work anyway.
- 01Low energy · 10 minReel / TikTok
Sketchbook flip-through, bad pages included
“Every page of the sketchbook I finished this month, including the ones I hate.”
Film
- 1Overhead: your thumb flipping one page per second, 15 s
- 2Close-up of the page you like most, 3 s
- 3Close-up of the worst page, text: "Keeping this one too"
Caption: Page 14 is the one I'd redo. Which page would you frame?
- 02Low energy · 5 minPhoto post
Today's palette as proof of work
“This palette is the only proof I painted today.”
Film
- 1One overhead photo in window light: the used palette beside a corner of today's painting
- 2Crop it so the paint mixes fill most of the frame
Caption: Most of this was me chasing the right green. Guess which mix made it onto the paper.
- 03Low energy · 10 minReel / TikTok
Inking the line you've been avoiding
“I've avoided inking this line all week. No more.”
Film
- 1Close-up: the pen tip resting on the pencil line, 2 s
- 2Same angle: one slow stroke along the line in real time, 6 s
- 3The eraser lifting the pencil underneath, 4 s
Caption: One stroke, no undo. It held this time.
- 04Low energy · 10 minStory
Swatch poll: which blue for the sky?
“Three blues are fighting over this sky. You pick.”
Film
- 1Story 1: close-up of your brush laying three swatches on scrap paper
- 2Story 2: the swatches next to the sketch, with a poll sticker: A, B or C
- 05Low energy · 10 minCarousel
The ugly stage, posted on purpose
“Don't judge this one yet. It's in the ugly stage.”
Film
- 1Slide 1: the whole piece at its awkward stage, straight on
- 2Slide 2: close-up of the one area you already like
Caption: Back on Thursday with the fix. Follow along if you want to see it turn around.
- 06Low energy · 5 minStory
Brush water, morning vs. afternoon
“You can tell how the day went from the brush water.”
Film
- 1Story 1: the clean jar at 9 a.m. next to a blank sheet
- 2Story 2: the same jar at 4 p.m., murky brown, next to the finished study
- 07Low energy · 10 minReel / TikTok
60-second sketch of whatever's on the desk
“60 seconds to sketch whatever's on my desk. Timer starts now.”
Film
- 1Close-up of the phone timer starting, 2 s
- 2Overhead: your hand sketching the mug, sped up to 15 s
- 3The sketch held next to the real mug, 3 s
Caption: Day one of a minute a day. Send me an object for tomorrow.
- 08Low energy · 10 minCarousel
Reference photo vs. the finished piece
“The photo I worked from, and the painting it turned into.”
Film
- 1Slide 1: your own reference photo, full screen
- 2Slide 2: the finished piece in the same crop
- 3Slide 3: close-up of one thing you changed on purpose
Caption: I moved the tree and left out the parked car. What would you have changed?
30-minute posts about process and materials
A little setup and a short edit. Most of these come out of a normal work session.
- 09Medium energy · 30 minCarousel
Everything I used for this piece
“Two things on this table I'd never buy again. The rest earned their spot.”
Film
- 1Slide 1: overhead flat lay of every tool and material from one piece, on a plain sheet
- 2Slides 2 to 5: one item per slide, with a line on what it did
- 3Last slide: the two you'd skip, and why
Caption: If I could change one thing at the start, I'd spend more on paper and less on paint.
- 10Medium energy · 25 minReel / TikTok
One painting, photographed every two hours
“From blank sheet to finished, one photo every two hours.”
Film
- 1Photo 1 from a taped mark on the floor: the blank sheet or the first wash
- 2A photo from the same mark every two hours after that, 2 s each in the edit
- 3A slow zoom into the finished piece, 4 s
Caption: Hour four is where I almost painted over it. I'm glad I didn't.
- 11Medium energy · 30 minReel / TikTok
Saving a smudge in real time
“I smudged it. Let's see if I can save it.”
Film
- 1Close-up of the smudge, 2 s, text: "ugh"
- 2Same angle: lifting it with a kneaded eraser or painting over it, sped up, 12 s
- 3Split screen: before and after the fix, 3 s
Caption: Saved, mostly. You can still find it if you know where to look.
- 12Medium energy · 30 minShort
Studio corner tour (it's half a desk)
“My studio is half a desk in the bedroom. This is how it fits.”
Film
- 1Wide from the doorway: the desk and the edge of the bed, 3 s
- 2Close-ups of the lamp, the brush jar, the paper shelf and the drying rack, 1 s each
- 3Overhead: the work surface with a piece in progress, 4 s
Caption: Everything else lives in one drawer. Show me your corner.
- 13Medium energy · 20 minReel / TikTok
A digital drawing, one layer at a time
“Watch me switch on all 23 layers of this drawing, one at a time.”
Film
- 1Screen recording that starts with only the sketch layer visible
- 2Turn each layer on, about half a second apart
- 3End on the full piece, 3 s
Caption: Layer 9 is only the shine in the eyes. Ask me about any layer.
- 14Medium energy · 20 minPhoto post
Thumbnail sketches before the big sheet
“Before the big sheet, I draw it tiny. Six times.”
Film
- 1One overhead photo of the page of thumbnails, numbered in pencil
- 2The winner circled in red, the others left as they are
Caption: Thumbnails take me ten minutes and save a ruined sheet. Which one would you have picked?
- 15Medium energy · 20 minStory
Packing a pocket sketch kit
“Pocket test: if it doesn't fit in my jacket, it doesn't come.”
Film
- 1Story 1: everything you might bring, spread on the table
- 2Story 2: your hands packing the final kit into a pouch, 8 s
- 3Story 3: the pouch going into the jacket pocket, with a question sticker: "What's in yours?"
- 16Medium energy · 30 minCarousel
The piece that took three tries
“It took three tries to get this one. Swipe for the two that didn't make it.”
Film
- 1Slide 1: the finished piece
- 2Slides 2 and 3: the failed tries, one line each on what went wrong
- 3Slide 4: what you changed on try three
Caption: Try one got muddy. Try two got overworked. On try three, I stopped early.
Hour-long art posts for a studio day
Projects for a studio day. A few of them stretch over a week.
- 17High energy · 60 minReel / TikTok
A full-session timelapse, near-quits marked
“Five hours of painting in 40 seconds, and the three times I almost quit.”
Film
- 1Phone overhead or on a stack of books, recording the whole session
- 2Speed it to 40 seconds and add text at each near-quit: "too dark", "hate the face", "fixed it"
- 3Last 3 s: the finished piece by the window in daylight
Caption: Hour two was the worst. Hour five made up for it.
- 18High energy · 75 minCarousel
Your commission process, slide by slide
“How a commission with me works, from your first message to the package at your door.”
Film
- 1Slide 1: the hook over a finished commission, shared with the buyer's OK
- 2Slides 2 to 6: one step per slide: request, sketch approval, WIP check-in, final, shipping
- 3Last slide: how to ask for a slot
Caption: Pin this one. It answers the questions I get in almost every DM.
- 19High energy · 60 minReel / TikTok
One commission, from DM to doorstep
“It started with a DM and one blurry photo of a dog.”
Film
- 1A screenshot of the request with the name blurred, 2 s
- 2Sketch, WIP and final from the same angle, 2 s each
- 3Wrapping it, then the parcel by the door with the label covered, 4 s
Caption: Commissioned by a very patient human for a very good dog. Shared with permission.
- 20High energy · 120 minCarousel
Same cat, three mediums
“I drew my cat in pencil, then ink, then paint. One of them took two evenings.”
Film
- 1Slide 1: all three side by side
- 2Slides 2 to 4: each piece alone, with the time it took
- 3Last slide: "Which one should I frame?"
Caption: Ink took 20 minutes. Paint took two evenings. Vote with a number in the comments.
- 21High energy · 90 minReel / TikTok
Redrawing a piece from four years ago
“Four years between these two drawings. Same pose, very different hands.”
Film
- 1The old drawing held up to the camera, 3 s
- 2Overhead timelapse of the redraw, 15 s
- 3Split screen: old and new, 4 s
Caption: 2022 me tried so hard on those hands. Do you keep your old sketchbooks?
- 22High energy · 90 minShort
A studio day from the desk's point of view
“My whole Saturday at the desk, as the desk saw it.”
Film
- 1Phone fixed at desk height all day, one clip every 30 minutes
- 2Clips of the window light changing and the piece growing
- 3End on the lamp switching off, 3 s
Caption: Eight hours at the desk, one finished piece. The coffee count stays private.
- 23High energy · 120 minReel / TikTok
Painting outside for the first time
“First time painting in public. My hands are shaking a little.”
Film
- 1Wide: your sketchbook or easel and the view, phone on a low wall, 4 s
- 2Close-up of your hand working, 6 s
- 3The finished study held up against the real view, 3 s
Caption: Nobody stared as much as I thought they would. Back next weekend.
- 24High energy · 60 minShort
One technique in 60 seconds
“Wet-on-wet sky in one minute. Grab a brush and do it with me.”
Film
- 1Overhead: wetting the paper with clean water, 5 s
- 2Dropping in two colors and tilting the paper, 20 s in real time
- 3The dry result next to a wet one, 3 s
Caption: Use thick paper for this one. Thin paper buckles. Tell me what to film next.
How to film your art without slowing down
Stopping to film breaks your focus, and that's the real cost of art content. These moves keep the phone out of your way.
- Set the phone up once. A phone arm that clamps to the desk gives you the overhead view. Until you have one, a stack of books beside the paper gives a steady side angle.
- Lock focus and exposure. On iPhone, press and hold on the paper until AE/AF Lock appears, so the picture doesn't pulse every time your hand moves in.
- Hit record when you sit down. Film the whole session and cut later. You can find 30 good seconds in an hour of footage, but you can't go back for the moment you missed.
- Use three shots, not thirty. A wide of the desk, a close-up of your hand and the tool, and the result. That's a Reel.
- Light from the side. Work by a window with the light coming from the side opposite your drawing hand, so your hand doesn't throw a shadow across the page.
- Caption one decision. "New piece!" gives people nothing to react to. "I almost painted the sky purple" gives them a reason to look again.
If you'd rather film a whole week in one sitting, batch your content. For more posts that keep you off camera, see these faceless content ideas.
If you sell: turn one commission into a week of posts
Commission posts answer what buyers wonder before they message you: how long it takes and what they'll see before it's final. Film each stage of one commission and you'll have about a week of posts.
- The request. A screenshot of the message with the buyer's name blurred.
- The sketch for approval. The rough you sent and what changed after their notes.
- Check-ins. One WIP photo per stage, from the same angle every time.
- The handoff. Wrapping it, then the parcel by the door with the label covered.
- The pinned explainer. A carousel on how to ask for a slot and how long it takes.
Photography content ideas for photo creators
Most of what you'll find for photography content ideas is written for photographers who want clients, so it's full of portfolio and booking advice. If you post your own photos as a creator, on Instagram or in TikTok's photo mode, post the way you see instead. Stuck on what to shoot at all? Start within ten minutes of your door, with one street or one window through the seasons.
- Before and after the edit. On screen: "Same photo, before and after." Show the straight-out-of-camera frame for 2 s, then the edit, then both side by side.
- One spot, four kinds of light. Shoot the same window or street corner at sunrise, noon, golden hour and blue hour, then post the four as a carousel in that order.
- The frames before the keeper. Post the 20 frames you shot before the one you kept, with the keeper last. It shows how you work a scene.
- Where I actually stood. Your photo first, then a wide phone shot of the ordinary spot it came from, like a parking lot or your kitchen window.
- Settings on the photo. Shutter speed, aperture and ISO written on the image, plus one line on why you chose them. On a phone, name the one setting you changed.
- A 10-minute walk, 10 photos. Shoot ten frames on a route you walk anyway, and post all ten. Keep house numbers out, and ask before you post a stranger's face up close.
Questions people ask
What should I post on Instagram as an artist?
Post the making more than the finished work. One week could be a process Reel, a carousel of one piece at three stages, a Story poll about colors and the finished piece with a caption about one decision you made. Sketchbook pages, WIP, materials and mistakes all count as art content, not only the final scan. For more slide formats, see carousel ideas.
How do artists post consistently when one piece takes weeks?
Split one piece into several posts. A single painting can give you thumbnail sketches, the ugly stage, a fix, a timelapse, the finished piece in daylight and the packing, which is close to a week of posts. On days you can't make anything new, post from the sketchbook. There's more on a pace you can keep in how to post consistently.
How do I do social media as an artist without AI?
You don't need AI anywhere in this. Every idea on this page films real work: your hand, the paper, the paint or the layers in your drawing app. Process footage is also the most direct answer when someone asks whether a piece is AI, so keep your WIP photos and layer files.
What is the 70/30 rule in art?
It isn't an official rule, but it's often used as a composition guide: let one thing dominate, like warm colors or dark values, across roughly 70% of the picture, and use the rest as contrast so the image doesn't split evenly. You can borrow the split for your feed too: most posts show the work and the process, and a smaller share ask for a sale or a commission.
What are some creative ideas for an artist?
Give yourself a limit and turn it into a series. Draw the same mug every day for a week, or paint with only two colors for a month. Limits make it easier to start, and a series gives you a reason to post again in a few days.
What can photographers post besides their photos?
Show how a photo happened: where you stood, the frames before the keeper, the edit before and after, and your settings. If you're a photo creator rather than a studio, skip testimonials and booking tips and post the way you see. The photography section above has six ideas to start with.
