For the past few years, I have been sharing what it is like to be an independent artist in the form of video on my YouTube channel. I’ve found that it is an incredibly powerful platform to be on. Today I’m going to share with you some tips and strategies for artists that you can apply to your YouTube channel.

Content Buckets

Before we dive in too deep, I want you to take a step back and examine your goals and intentions. From these, you will be able to create what I call “Content Buckets”, or groups of themed videos that will help shape the content of your channel. As an example, content buckets for my channel include “Behind the Scenes/Vlogs”, “How To & Reviews”, and “Timelapse”.

When you’re just starting out, these will probably change but often we have a general feel for what we enjoy to get started.

Yes, you are “an artist on YouTube” but there are so many different variations to this very broad category. Not only will narrower categories around your content help you to stand out as a cohesive brand it will also help you create even more content by giving you some structure to brainstorm new ideas in.

Here are some questions to help you think about what kind of “content buckets” you would like to create.

• Do you enjoy creating educational content or demonstrating certain ways of working with a tool or medium?

• Does making content that shares more of behind the scenes excite you?

• Do you already create video content on Twitch that you want to repurpose?

• How much time do you want to dedicate to lengthy video editing?

• Are you comfortable being on camera?

• Do you want to dive deep into the back story of why you create the work that you do?

• Do you create a lot of artwork about a specific topic that has a larger group or people are interested in as well? (dragons, gaming, spiritual themes, Children’s illustration or publishing, etc.)

Take a look at some of your favorite content creators for even more ideas.

If you don’t have a good idea try making some of these kinds of videos to see what you enjoy and go from there. Regardless of what themes you decide, your channel should be a balance of content that brings in a new audience and also deepens the relationship with an existing one. This kind of content will not necessarily be the same for both. Remember to create videos that are “searchable” as well as entertaining.

Equipment

Don’t let this section scare you. Often people feel ill-equipped (ha, pun intended) to start a YouTube channel because they lack fancy equipment and I’m here to encourage you with some tips to just start with what you have already.

Video

Shoot with what you have: An iPhone, or any phone with a decent camera is the perfect place to start. A smartphone has many benefits for artists. They are easy to mount over areas that you are working on and can be charged while you’re recording for longer video sessions like time-lapses. The most inexpensive setup is a phone that you already own and a small Gorillapod mount.

Filming time limits: Problems with DSLRs for artists I’ve frequently found is how long the camera can film for in one session before the camera overheats or reaches its filming limit. Keep this in mind if you are shopping for a new camera.

• One workaround is to shoot only timelapse footage if your camera offers this setting. This will help keep your video file size down and means the camera can stay on and won’t overheat from continued use.

• Newer cameras like some from Sony have addressed this problem and have no limit on recording time (the mirrorless Sony A6400 for example, does not shut off until it’s the battery is exhausted).

• Multi-battery packs help offset the need to replace batteries when filming as well. I’ve never needed them but they are an option if you shoot for an extremely long time

For top-down time-lapses, I use a GoPro because it is lightweight and has a timelapse setting within it. Many don’t know that the field of view on a GoPro doesn’t need to be set to a wide-angle and depending on the model offer other less distorted settings.

Audio

Often artists use voiceovers in their videos and you don’t need any fancy equipment to do so. I’ve recorded audio straight from my voice memos app on my iPhone and even now, my Bluetooth Rode Mic Go Wireless hooks up to my iPhone for recording as well. It’s a handy recording device already in your pocket.

Lighting

Lighting can be tough on camera and as an artist, it can mean the difference of people not being able to enjoy the process you’re sharing to create your artwork. Thankfully you most likely already have a set of lamps for painting with that will work just fine. If you don’t a simple lighting setup like this one will help offset any shadows you might cast onto your workspace.

More Equipment

If you want to see what other equipment I often film with I recommend you check out this video. as well as a list of my equipment here.

Conclusion

I hope some of these tips I’ve covered help you to improve your setup or just get started. Feel free to leave me any questions you might have here in the chat. I’d be happy to answer them. “Hit that like button and subscribe!... I mean share this article!”

Image credits: Ramiz Dedaković, dhe haivan, russn_fckr, Thomas Russell on Unsplash