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Three Things That Will Help Your Art Stand Out Right Now

How do you stand out in a world that never stops shouting?

It’s one of the most common questions I hear from artists right now, and honestly it’s one I ask myself too. There are more people online than ever. More content. More noise. More accounts all trying to reach the same people. And it can feel like the arena just keeps getting bigger and more overwhelming.

But here’s the thing I always come back to. There are eight billion people in the world. Somewhere in that number, there are people who need your art specifically. Who would love it. Who would stop in their tracks when they saw it. The work is getting it in front of them.

And that starts with three things.

Get Clear On Who You’re Trying To Reach

Before you think about standing out, think about who you want to stand out to.

It sounds simple but most people skip it entirely. They focus on being visible without stopping to ask who they actually want to be visible to. And without that clarity, all the effort in the world can feel like it’s disappearing into the void.

When you understand your work deeply, why it exists, what it stirs in people, what the stories behind it are, the people who will connect with it become much easier to identify. And once you know who they are, everything you create can speak directly to them.

One: Connection

The way you stand out is by connecting. Not by being louder. Not by posting more. By making the right people feel genuinely seen and understood.

In a world full of noise, people are craving human connection more than ever. They want to follow artists they relate to. People who feel real. Whose stories make them stop mid-scroll and think, I know exactly what you mean.

That’s done through storytelling. Pulling out the moments, the meanings, the details behind your work that other people will recognise something of themselves in. Not describing what you made. Sharing why it exists and what it means.

And when someone connects with you that way, they keep coming back. They start seeing you everywhere. You become their pineapple, as I like to say, the thing their brain is now tuned into noticing. And every time they see you, the relationship deepens a little more.

Two: Difference

Our brains when scrolling are actively looking for something that breaks the pattern. Something unexpected. Something they haven’t quite seen before.

That’s your opportunity.

Recently in our Creative Living community, an artist shared their clay work for review and admitted they’d been asked a tough question by someone: what makes your work different to everyone else doing this? It hurt to hear. But they went away and really sat with it.

And what came out the other side was striking. They stopped trying to depict animals as they look and started depicting how people feel those animals. Limbs elongated. Forms became bulbous and expressive. Surfaces grew raw and textured. The work became unmistakably theirs.

That’s the power of leaning into difference.

It might be in the visual work itself. A scale nobody else is working at. A colour palette that’s entirely yours. A piece that’s deliberately made to make people stop. Or it might be in your story and perspective, the things about you and your way of seeing the world that make you unlike anyone else who picks up a brush or a lump of clay.

You are different to every other artist out there. The work is figuring out how to show that.

Three: Consistency

This is the one that trips people up the most and it’s the one that matters perhaps more than anything else.

Standing out takes time and that time only works in your favour if you’re consistent enough for people to actually build a picture of who you are and what you stand for.

The person who started following you months ago has been quietly getting to know you. Every time they see your work, the connection deepens a little. Every time they hear your story from a different angle, something clicks a bit more. And eventually they go from casually following, to actively recommending you.

But that only happens if the message stays consistent enough for them to hold onto it. If you’re changing direction every few weeks, they lose the thread. The connection breaks before it forms.

And I know what comes up here. You don’t want to be boxed in. You don’t want to only ever be known for one thing. And that’s completely understandable.

But consistency doesn’t mean forever. It just means for long enough to build momentum. Go narrow, go deep, and let people really know what you’re about. You can make everything else alongside it. But in terms of what you’re standing out for, pick something and stay with it.

Standing out isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing one thing so clearly and consistently that people know exactly who you are when they see you.

To Recap

Connection: know who you’re trying to reach and speak to them through stories that make them feel something real.

Difference: lean into what makes your work and your perspective unlike anyone else’s and make it visible.

Consistency: decide what you want to become known for and show up for it long enough to build real momentum.

Your people are out there and these three things are how you find them.

 

THE STANDOUT ARTIST MASTERCLASS

The 3 steps to finding the right people and opportunities for your art.

In this masterclass we will cover:

  • Making art that is unmistakably yours so it stands out to the right people
  • Who your people are, because when you want to get your art into the world, people are everything
  • Connecting, instead of just being visible, so your art reaches the right people and opportunities

28th September, 11am UK (replay available for 48 hours)

Click to register: https://unitedartspace.myflodesk.com/standout-artist-masterclass

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Have a great week & take care,

Michelle xo