You’ve worked hard on a piece of art and are ready to share it with the world – but what do you write? This post will share some art captions for Instagram to make sharing to the social media platform easier!
These captions can be edited and changed to fit your own medium and work. If you’re still stuck you can check out my other post with 30 art content ideas!
If you want to write a caption yourself, but are looking for some inspiration, here are some prompts and questions to help put your thoughts into words.
What made you start this piece of artwork? Where did the original idea come from?
Why were you drawn to the subject?
What does your art mean to you? What connection do you have to your work?
Did creating the piece bring back any memories?
Does the piece of artwork evoke a specific feeling when people look at it? Does it capture a certain emotion?
Does your work tell a story?
How did you feel when working on it?
How did you make it?
Is your piece part of a series? Talk about the series and how this piece fits in.
What does it look like? Describe the colours and textures.
Famous Quotes About Art
If you’re stuck writing your own caption, why not use the words of others? Here’s a list of quotes about art that might connect to you and your work.
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for” – Georgia O Keeffe
“To be an artist is to believe in life.” – Henry Moore
“Art is a line around your thoughts.” – Gustav Klimt
“Every good painter paints what he is.” – Jackson Pollock
“A work of art that did not begin in emotion is not art.” – Paul Cezanne
“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Andy Warhol
“Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.” – Pablo Picasso
“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas
“I paint flowers so they will not die.” – Frida Kahlo
“While drawing I discover what I really want to say.” – Dario Fo
“The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them.” – Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
“Art is a journey of the soul.” – Laura Jaworski
“A true masterpiece does not tell everything.” – Albert Camus
“Life is sometimes hard. Things go wrong, in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art.” – Neil Gaiman
TIP: Use hashtags to help people find your work. Instagram lets you add up to 30 hashtags.
Art Quotes From Books
Writers are creative with words and so they’re a great source of quotes for your own creative work!
“Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep.” – Clive Barker, Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War
“Because when you love something, you want to do it all the time, even if no one is paying you for it. At least that’s how I felt about drawing.” – Meg Cabot, All-American Girl
“Art and love are the same thing: It’s the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you.” – Chuck Klosterman, Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton , No Man Is an Island
“Like any artist without an art form, she became dangerous.” – Toni Morrison, Sula
“You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.” – George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah
“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.” – Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements
“I make art, sometimes I make true art, and sometimes it fills the empty places in my life. Some of them. Not all.” – Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
“The artist must possess the courageous soul that dares and defies” – Kate Chopin, The Awakening and Selected Stories
Short Art Captions for Instagram
If you want to keep your art captions short, and let your art do the talking, here are some ideas for shorter captions.
Art speaks.
Art is a journey.
One of my favourite paintings ❤️
Life imitates art.
Walls need art.
Art Captions One Word
Looking for even shorter captions? Here are some Instagram captions that are just one word.
Create.
Inspire.
Awaken.
Imagine.
Original.
Make.
Artist Captions for Instagram
People like to know the artist behind the work. Sharing a bit about yourself and your process is a great way to connect with your audience.
Prompts:
What inspires you?
When did you first start making this type of art?
Who are your favourite artists?
What are your other hobbies?
Do you have any pets?
Do you have children who like to make art?
If you could give one piece of advice to a new artist what would it be?
What are your dreams and goals for the future?
If you could invite three artists for dinner, who would you pick and why?
Captions:
Here are 5 things you didn’t know about me: (These things don’t have to just be about your art, you can try and connect with your audience in other ways!)
When I don’t know what to draw I look to *insert here* for inspiration.
I first picked up a paintbrush *number* years ago. *Go on to tell your story*
I dream that one day my illustrations will be published in a children’s book 📚
TIP: Add value. Educate or inform your audience – give them a reason to keep following and to save your content.
Behind the Scenes Captions
A great way to share more personally with your followers is to create behind-the-scenes photographs. Share photos of yourself working on a piece of art or of your studio.
A little peep inside my sketchbook filled with (*insert your own work*)
An exclusive sneak peek at what I’m currently working on!
A quick tour of the studio.
My favourite place to paint.
My happy place.
BTS Saturday.
Work in Progress Captions
Sharing some of your artwork in progress is a great way to connect to your audience and give them an exclusive look at how you work. Give them an insider view at how you create your work – it will make seeing the final piece even more special!
And so the journey begins.
This is how it starts. (*Go into more depth on how you started your piece*)
It’s just the beginning.
Do not disturb.
Off to a flying art.
Art Exhibition Captions for Instagram
If you’re showing your art in an exhibition, Instagram is a great way to advertise and it provides content for your account! Don’t forget to make it clear where and when people can visit.
Come see my work!
It’s finally happening! *Explain your journey to this point*
A behind the scenes look at how this exhibition came together!
I always dreamed of the day I would see my art on the walls of *insert gallery name*. Well today is the day!
Come see my art in person!
Please come visit my exhibition at *insert gallery*. Exhibition is running *insert dates* and your support would mean the world to me!
Funny Art Instagram Captions
When you post to Instagram, you want to make your audience feel something. Sometimes you want that thing to be happiness and laughter!
“Art without emotion its like chocolate cake without sugar. It makes you gag.” – Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak
“God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things. – Pablo Picasso
“I just do art because I’m ugly and there’s nothing else for me to do.” – Andy Warhol
“Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons.” – Al Hirschfeld
If looks could kiln.
A pigment of your imagination
Paint at heart.
Party til drawn.
TIP: Include a call to action to make people engage with your post/profile.
For example: Tag a friend or link in bio.
Art Captions for Instagram
Take your pain and turn it into something beautiful.
Bringing a pop of color to your feed 🌈🎨
Art is my therapy.
When I can’t say it, I paint it.
Drawing is how I make sense of the world.
Creating a world of color 🌈
Painters gonna paint.
Capturing the world on canvas.
Turning my imagination into reality.
Chasing my dreams, one brushstroke at a time 🎨💭
Drawing brings me joy.
I’m not good at writing things so I draw them instead.
Finding beauty in the imperfections 🎨
Art is my escape from reality.
Artistic Captions for Instagram
“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Andy Warhol
“The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” – Robert Henri
“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” – Henry Ward Beecher
“Creativity is contagious, pass it on.” – Albert Einstein
“The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to.” – Frida Kahlo
“If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.” – Edward Hopper
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” – Michelangelo
Ask Questions
Asking questions in your captions is a great way to increase engagement on your posts. The more engagement your post gets, the better it will perform.
What do you see?
My latest piece. What do you think?
What do you feel when you first look at this painting?
Can you guess how long this sculpture took from start to finish?
What should I draw next?
Do you prefer painting one or painting two?
Sell Your Work
If your goal is to sell your work, don’t be shy about doing so. You don’t want to sell with every post, but paint a picture with words and explain what having this artwork will do for them.
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Lindsey is the creator and writer behind The Caption Library. She’s worked in social media marketing since 2011 and has worked with a range of magazines, small businesses and bloggers. She enjoys being creative, whether it’s writing for her blogs or running her Etsy store!
