The 13 Best Artist Website Templates for Creative Expression

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Artists, photographers and other creatives know how important it is to make a beautiful website. Your artwork speaks for itself, but an impressive website  showcases your portfolio.

You’ll want to choose a website builder template that is striking and packed with useful functionality.

Things like an ecommerce shop for prints or merchandise, a gallery and archive, the stories behind your art, and linking your social media channels will help both new and established creatives.

To help we’ve pulled together a list of the best artist website templates, based on our expertise and customer reviews.

Here are our top 13:

Mr. Parker

Made by Shopify

If you’re an artist who has a lot to sell, we recommend the ‘Mr. Parker‘ artist website template from Shopify. This template is specifically designed for high-volume stores and it’s super quick to set up.

The template makes the shopping experience easy for your shoppers:

  • It has a slide-out cart, quick buy, and cart note options.
  • You can add in-menu promos when you have new creations and offers.
  • It also supports in-store pickups if you have a real-life space or are tempted by a pop-up store!

Mr. Parker Template in Action: Nicole Nicholas Art

Nicole Nicholas Art logo. Black text on white background
Nikki Thomas
Owner of Nicole Nicholas Art
Nikki Thomas is an abstract artist working in acrylic paint and digital mixed media.

Q&A

How long have you been using Shopify?

I have been using Shopify for my business, Nicole Nicholas Art, since 2015

What do you like most about Shopify?

It’s an all-in-one ecommerce platform, which was very important to me when I was first starting out. I build websites for a living, and I know there’s a lot involved, especially when it comes to selling products and taking payments. I knew that was all included with Shopify, along with almost everything else you could need when first starting out.

Is there anything you'd change about Shopify?

I find it quite glitchy and very challenging to customize (you need to hire a developer).

Would you recommend Shopify?

I feel there are probably better options out there these days, especially for people who want to be able to customize their site, which is very difficult on Shopify, unless you hire a developer. I would probably recommend researching what options are available these days and suggest including Shopify as one of them.

Find Out More

Inspired by the Mr Parker template? Why not check out our guide on the Types of Digital Art you can sell through your store next?

Gates

Made by Squarespace

The ‘Gates’ artist portfolio template from Squarespace warrants a mention because of its eye-catching design. The template features barely any white space or gaps between its visual elements, which really allows your artwork to shine through.

In the example given below, the medium shown is architecture and photography. However, we think this template will work well for many different types of art and design, including paintings, illustrations, photography and more. Choose this template for:

  • A bold and elegant design
  • Simple, no frills ‘About’ page
  • Striking gallery that displays your pieces beautifully

Poster Store

Made by Wix

The ‘Poster Store’ template from Wix is brilliant if you’re looking to monetize your artwork, and create an ecommerce store. The home page looks visually inviting, with a combination of block color and imagery showcasing your pieces.

The store page allows visitors to filter your portfolio based on criteria such as color, price, or collection name, and there’s even a smart feature which allows you to integrate a social media feed based into your page.

There are a lot of reasons to choose this template, including:

  • Smart store features to monetize your artworks
  • Well designed homepage, combining function with beauty
  • Integrated social media hashtags

Find Out More

  • If you choose a template like this one that supports connecting social media feeds, we recommend checking out our guide on the best Social Media for Artists, to make sure you leverage the best platforms.

Astra

Made by WordPress

Building a new website, even with the best builder can feel a little intimidating. But that doesn’t mean it has to be hard. ‘Astra’ has the reputation of being the most popular artist portfolio templates of WordPress. Over 2.3 million websites use this free template and it’s not a surprise. It’s one of the most foolproof on our list and the set-up is simple.

If you are newer to website building, or have more basic website requirements, you’ll like it. It offers:

  • Smaller, simpler choice of options
  • A minimal set-up time thanks to a range of pre-built sites
  • Ease of translation for international customers

Studio

Made by Shopify

If you’re interested in curating your art for keen collectors, ‘Studio’ is a fab art portfolio template to choose. Though some art sites benefit from a huge variety of offerings and visuals, Studio has the feel of a real-life gallery, where the art takes center stage.

It’s great if you’re keen to let your visitors get to know you, sharing what inspires you and your art.

It comes with:

  • A simple textured background that feels welcoming and free from distraction
  • Nicely organized bio sections that allow the artist to tell a story
  • A gift card section to allow gift-giving

Carmine

Made by Squarespace

The ‘Carmine’ art website template is a blast of color, ideal for helping your site cut through the noise of the web, and make your website stand out. We’ve chosen this option from Squarespace because of its striking, simple design, which will work particularly well if you’re about to host an exhibition, event, or sale that you want to draw your site’s visitors to.

The design is also sleek and effortless, which is important for anyone with a keen eye for art. Plus, we like the built-in blog pages as part of this template; they help you to tell the story behind your art, and cause it to better resonate with your audience. If you choose this template, you can guarantee:

  • A design that really stands out
  • Ideal for art exhibitions
  • Option to add blog posts to tell your story

Art School

Made by Wix

We love how the ‘Art School’ template from Wix features one, striking piece of art as the hero image of the page. If you have a signature style or piece of art which you’re known for, then this template will showcase that brilliantly and draw your visitors in to explore further.

There’s also plenty of stylish design elements, including the elegant use of white space, copy and fonts, as well as nicely laid out gallery sections. We’d recommend choosing this template for the following reasons:

  • Great for hero-ing a single, standout piece of art
  • Striking typographic design elements
  • Built-in gallery to showcase your pieces

Charmed

Made by GoDaddy

The ‘Charmed’ theme from GoDaddy is a gallery-style portfolio website template. We like how it allows you to cleanly and effortlessly display multiple galleries simultaneously, which can be themed in the style of art. As default, you’ll find pages for your shop, contact details and ‘About’ section to tell the story behind your pieces, all located within an easy-to-use sidebar navigation. We recommend this template for:

  • Clean and striking gallery-style design
  • Easy to navigate
  • Display multiple galleries at once based on a particular theme or style

Spotted

Made by Squarespace

This is another nice, clean design that lets artists showcase their images without distraction.  In other words, it’s excellent for the art portfolio feel. If you want to feature high-detail images that shine when they’re zoomed in, ‘Spotted’ is a great option.

Because it preserves textures well, even in close-up, it’s also great for products like textiles and pottery.

  • Smooth actions when clicked
  • Visuals take center stage
  • Elegant feel to the template

Hand Drawings

Made by Wix

A little secret- we think ‘Hand Drawings‘ is one of the best artist website templates for showing off intricate, smaller pieces of art. Many templates feature one, large hero image, which can work well for many artists wanting to make an impact. However, if you have multiple designs or artwork that you want to show off all at once, this charming template can help you to achieve that.

We love the artistic touches: like using drawing paper as the background, and the script-style fonts. Choose this template if you need:

  • A template that showcases multiple intricate or smaller pieces at once
  • A charming, purposefully old-fashioned design
  • Gallery that lets you tell the story behind each piece

Creative Portfolio

Made by Duda

Next up is this visually appealing theme for your ‘Creative Portfolio’ from Duda, that looks good – and performs well – across multiple different mobile and desktop devices. Often, templates will be laid out in a straight grid format – but we like how this theme is slightly staggered, to add interest and really show off each piece of art.

For any artist whose work also includes animations, this template allows video files or GIFs to display as part of the grid. It also provides a much-needed burst of color alongside the clean, white spaces of the theme’s backdrop. Choose this template for:

  • Image and animation focused grid layout
  • Well optimized for different devices
  • A super easy-to-use platform

Photography

Made by GoDaddy

If your main form of art is photography, we strongly recommend choosing a template such as ‘Nate Bayonet‘, this picture-led template from GoDaddy. The pared-back black and white design makes photographs look stunning, both on the simple homepage and the gallery page. Plus, features such as an integrated email subscription button allow visitors to sign up to receive notifications, so they’ll always be able to see your latest pieces.

Here’s why you should choose this template:

  • Simple black and white design that heroes your photography
  • Social media and subscriber sign up buttons
  • Effortless – yet visually stunning – gallery page

Gallery

Made by Duda

Duda’s ‘Gallery‘ template is a great option for artists looking to build their presence online, whilst also highlighting their real life gallery or exhibitions. We love how this art portfolio template has everything you need within one seamlessly scrolling homepage. The prominently displayed upcoming exhibitions section can be continually updated, whilst the gallery section is beautifully laid out. Choose this template for:

  • Everything you need on one seamless and slickly designed page
  • Ways to showcase your art digitally, along with upcoming exhibitions
  • Muted grey, black, and white palette

The 13 Best Artist Website Templates: Summary

We hope this article has helped to inspire you.

Artists need a launchpad when they’re ready to build an artist website. The best artist website templates are those which really showcase your pieces, and let your beautiful work speak for itself.

Whether your medium is painting, illustration, animation, photography, graphic design or more, we hope this list has provided you with some brilliant ideas and options for making your own art portfolio. If you need more inspiration, check out our list of the top artist website examples to help you get started.

Whichever artist website template you decide on, make sure it includes useful features for either selling or showcasing your art. Look for options such as a well laid out gallery and built-in ecommerce functionality for selling your art, as well as blogs and explainers where you can tell the story behind your pieces.

You’ll also require the option to add contact forms, social media buttons, and event listings, so people can stay in touch and find out more – so it’s worth making sure your chosen website builder allows this before committing to a template.

Of course, it’s also important that any creative has a website which looks great, so ensure to also choose something that reflects your personal style, and makes a strong first impression.

To take the next step in creating your artist website, check out our guide on the bestselling types of art and read our review of the best website builders for artists to help you choose the most suitable platform. Or, for more advice on the best ways to build your online portfolio, explore our in-depth article. If you’re a painter, get inspiration from our list of the best painter websites from across the web!

FAQs

It depends on what the aim of your art website is. If you’re looking to sell your art, we’d recommend going with a template from a website builder like Shopify, like Mr Parker. If you want to showcase your art, a template from Wix, such as Hand Drawings, or Carmine from Squarespace would be a good option.

What’s most important is that you choose a template that will help your work to stand out, putting your talent and creativity center stage.

One of the biggest mistakes is choosing style over substance. Functionality is important. If your website isn’t user-friendly with things like navigation, clear information about you and your artwork, and an effortless shopping process, they are likely to bounce.
Written by:
Smiling headshot of Amanda Graham
I started writing for Website Builder Expert in 2022. I love copywriting for ecommerce, website, automation, and website brands and I’ve ghostwritten and content strategised for some of the largest multinational brands in the world. I have years of writing experience for the BBC, including documentaries, scripts, and Twitter campaigns. With such a wealth of experience to draw on, some of my best work on Website Builder Expert focuses on topics such as ecommerce strategies, marketing tips, and small business advice. I hope you enjoy my articles!

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