Thanks to two amazing Folksy sellers @Caroleecrafts and @Sewtaylormadedesigns I have now discovered an easy way to remove the background from images, so my question is do I keep my subtle background or do I go for the pure white background for my main image… still in search of the illusive ‘Folksy Favourite’ and getting added to a gift guide or two, would having no background be better for that do you think?
Many thanks.
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Tis a good question. I’ve been tidying up my shop recently and I’ve stuck with a pale beige colour for the background for most of my work. I think (I could be wrong) that it complements the range of colours in my paintings a bit better. However I’m going to play around with the white background for some stuff. It all takes time and it’s quite subjective at the end of the day. Sorry, I’m no help!
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White back grounds are what journalists/ press look for but if you look at the current folksy favourites you will see their are a mix of white backgrounds, neutral backgrounds and in a few cases quite bright backgrounds (where it is in keeping with the product). So I think it is a case of what works best to show off your product.
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No, I actually prefer my plain old neutral background myself, so it’s nice to get any feedback at all, thank you. 
I thought I could try a couple of listings with no background, but then I think would that spoil the overall look of my shop… so I’m still on the fence.
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I used to do plain, then got in with a group of US ladies. As selling to the US at the time they prefer staged shots.
I think there is a place for both and you could add a plain background in with your other photos. That is what I plan to do, with maybe the plain as the primary image then the rest staged.
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Thank you Sasha, sorry for all the questions and I know that it is subjective, as for journalists I doubt my work is interesting or professional enough for a journalist to be remotely interested in, actually writing that out has made me realise why my work isn’t picked as Folksy favourite, it’s just not actually good enough or professional enough to be featured.
Well, thank you anyway, it’s very kind of you to take the time to reply.
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Thank you I still have a lot to learn, staging sounds like something I really should be doing, I just don’t like my work to look ‘busy’ but I guess if that’s the way forward I need to do some research.
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Whoa your work is definitely good enough for journalists and bloggers to be interested in it! I could see the Lake Louise painting in a travel blog or any of the floral cards in a gardening magazine, they often do advert editorials of things to buy that they think their readership would like. Don’t sell yourself short!
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That’s very kind of you to say Sasha, I never think my work is good enough, the artistic temperament I guess and one which most of us suffer from from time to time I think.
I might try and add a few with no background and see how I feel about them.
Thank you so much.
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I watched a Tizzit video on YouTube on the subject and their recommendation for online selling was to prioritise lifestyle shots as this is what customers prefer. She said that white backgrounds used to be the recommendation but that things have moved on. Ideal is probably to do a variety and cover all bases. Your current pics look great btw 
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As your creations are paintings, show on a wall with perhaps a cabinet underneath or chair. This gives the customer perspective as to how it would look at home. Just put something small on the cabinet maybe some fir cones to add depth.
As for your art not being good enough you stop that now, your paintings are stunning.
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Thank you, that’s half of the problem really, things change so fast and I’m slowing down 
I’m only just starting to get my head around getting better photos and how to remove a background, now I need to switch tactics.
I’ll have to do some research and get creative. I used to work in new home sales and dressing a house for sale was hugely important so I can totally see why I need to figure it out.
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Thank you so much, there in lies the problem, I don’t have a wall that is suitable for photographing my paintings, I’m either far to dark (north facing) or I’m creating a strong shadow as I’m in a south facing room, I only have a tiny house so not a lot of furniture to use as props either, maybe I’ll look at a few apps actually, I know there’s a good one out there but not looked at cost yet, thanks again for your help and thank you for your kind words
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I’ve just had a look at your shop and, in my very humble opinion, I think the staged shots look the best - like your card ones. The white background looks too flat and the neutral background doesn’t show up your paintings very well. Mind you, this is coming from someone who puts borders around her photos, which apparently is a complete no no.
You paintings are very good! Don’t put yourself down - my husband is an artist and I think yours are really good.
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would anyone be able to give me a good site to use to remove backgrounds please - i use a stand alone pc as I cant see my phone screen well enough to do anything on there… 
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Your work is very nice and your shop looks fine. The great thing about art is that the more you do and learn the more your art evolves - you never stop improving. It’s really hard to shake the feeling ‘my work is just not good enough’ - but I’m pretty sure the best artists are the ones that ignore that feeling and just keep on painting, practicing and refining their work over and over again. It takes a lot of hard work but as long as you enjoy painting and what your doing keep at it. On the subject of backgrounds I like to take photos against a warm neutral colour background for my items like peach, cream or beige - if you stick loosely to one colour then your shop page looks unified and inviting. Paintings are difficult to display well so play around with ideas and take several photos - both long distance shots and close ups . I’m not a fan of white backgrounds which can be difficult to get right and appear ‘greyed out’ and uninviting on the page I also wonder if items like cards and paintings with no backgrounds at all might look a bit odd. Take a look at other peoples pages and see what they are doing and then play around with yours. Of course this all comes down to personal taste and I am certainly no expert but hope this helps a bit.
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How about a photo board to prop up somewhere?
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The problem now is a lot of people cannot visualise. DH is the same he finds it difficult to understand unless he can see insitu etc.
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I do it on my iPhone, basically choose your photo, click on it and it will make a kind of highlight the image, click share and share to email, that’s what I do anyhow. I’ll have a look see if I can find the original post for you. BRB
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I have never been good at promoting myself in any area of my life, I always think everyone else does it better, painting is no exception, I love creating and nothing will stop that and I completely agree that practise, practise and more practise is the way forward.
I also know that to get really good I need to focus on one particular medium, but that for me is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do, I’m like a butterfly, ‘ooh I like watercolour’, no actually acrylic is best, but I love coloured pencil today, nope, graphite, no, ink fineliner, actually Ill just have a play with oils, yes, oils are my favourite’ and so it goes
Ive had a look at other peoples work, especially those who make the Folksy favourites, but here’s the thing, they are all subtly different in their approach to photos, most seem to be staged though, hey ho, back to the drawing board … again. 
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