Although it seems like most artists would rather spend time in the drawing room, or out in nature working on their latest masterpiece, there comes a time to reveal all that hard work to the world. Thankfully, with WordPress themes for artists, you can make a website quickly and get back to what makes you happy—creating art!
With a stylish theme, you have an affordable way to build a blog that explains your work, or even an online shop with a portfolio section for turning your passion into a living.
How is a Theme for Artists Different From the Rest?
To be quite honest, many themes are multipurpose these days, which means they can be adjusted and customized to suit the needs of any website in any niche. That is certainly the case with a lot of themes on this list. Even so, a theme for artists should include things like a strong portfolio, gallery options, lightbox options, and sliders for featuring your best work.
Is There Anything Else I Should Know?
It’s always a good idea to give a theme’s demo a test run before you commit to it. That way, you’ll know exactly how your content can fit into the site’s layout. You should also pay attention to the theme developer, reviews, ratings, and the number of downloads a theme has received. Obviously, themes with more downloads and high ratings are likely to work out better for you than those on the lower end of the scale.
Best Themes for Artists and Creatives
Magic
Magic is a visually stunning and feature-rich WordPress template that can be used for multiple purposes. Alongside with a default design, the theme includes 4 extra ready-made skins for fashion, beauty, software, and other niches, all of which are ready to go live straight out-of-the-box. The homepage of the template also includes several variations. To be more precise, there are 7 pre-designed homepage layouts for you to choose from. Thus, you also attain pro-built solutions for business, commercial and personal projects. You are free to play with different styles, choosing from modern, creative and minimalist design options. Magic is based on Cherry Framework 5 and includes all of the most impressive features of the latter. It also boasts a bundle of premium plugins that are included in the download package for free. In addition to the standard options to build a blog or a business site, the theme comes with full WooCommerce integration, letting you get started with a fully-featured eCommerce site. Tweaking the theme’s layout will be both quickly and easily due to the combination of Power drag-and-drop page builder and WordPress Live Customizer. Jetimpex Dashboard will let you backup the data either automatically or on schedule so that none of the theme settings are lost during updates.
Underwood
Looking to present your artwork to the world in a stylish and modern way? If so, the Underwood WordPress template might be just what you need. This theme comes with a solid set of features along with a cool, bold design to match the creative in you.
The easy-to-setup frontpage slideshow is perfect for showing off your best work. On the front page, you have the option to use the standard blog layout, or if you’d like to stand out, opt for the grid-style layout, with or without a sidebar. The nine different custom post formats offer great options for displaying your content. For an artist, you’ll definitely love the gallery post format that allows you to display small or large banners. And to add more variety, audio and video post types are also available.
Moreover, Underwood supports the popular WooCommerce plugin that allows you to easily setup an online shop to sell your art and other merchandise. You also get custom widgets to easily add more functionality to your site, search engine optimized code that loads quickly, social media integration, Google Web Fonts, and extensive theme documentation and premium support whenever you get stuck.
Shasta
When you think about an artist’s website, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Images. That’s why you need to choose a theme like Shasta, which offers the right amount of images on the homepage, single posts, sidebar, footer, post archive, and all other places.
You can choose any of the four homepage variations, and rest assured that each uses images in dynamic, highly impactful ways. Besides, there is dedicated post format support for publishing image-heavy posts. As Shasta is primarily aimed at lifestyle blogging, you can expect the whole suite of blogging options as well.
Since you are creating an artist website, I can safely assume that you will try to come up with unique ideas. The fully featured customizer section will be your one-stop destination in this case. You can choose custom colors by using the color picker, provide the hex code for your selected color, or select from various supported Google Fonts.
Full integration with WooCommerce is another notable feature, which could be very useful if you plan to sell artwork from your website. But how are your potential customers going to find you? SEO-friendly coding, full compatibility with the web’s best practices, and SEO plugins support will ensure maximum search engine visibility for your content.
Divi
The Divi theme is a popular choice for just about any type of business, from cleaning services to a one-person art shop. Divi works so well because you can transform it to suit any type of website thanks to its Divi page builder and the included modules. The responsive design makes sure your website looks great on any device and the 18 pre-made layouts give you a solid starting point for your design.
The Divi Builder allows you to easily change the layout of any page and add elements such as testimonials, calls to action, buttons, images, blog posts, and more. The possibilities are truly countless and you can easily customize any of the modules with built-in customization tweaks as well as custom CSS.
Made
Made has been called the best WordPress portfolio theme on the market by professional photographers and artists, and it’s easy to see why. The Made theme by MINIMAL is unique in that it has been developed over the course of three years in collaboration with key members of the WordPress creative community.
Notable features include responsive design and four professional gallery styles: Masonry, Horizontal, Carousel, and Vertical. This premium theme also includes the ability to showcase your portfolio on a project-by-project level along with an option to include a written description of each project or gallery.
Made by MINIMAL is an amazing theme for showcasing videos, as it allows YouTube and Vimeo video content to be embedded into any of the four built-in gallery styles.
Click the Details link to see the full list of features including gallery settings, menu styles, and blog options.
For professionals who want their work to stand out on the screen, this theme is worth every penny!
Dorsey
Dorsey is another minimalist theme that uses white space to put the attention on your content. Dorsey is primarily meant for portfolios since you can build an unlimited amount of the galleries and resize the images down to thumbnails within seconds. The Dorsey theme looks great on a regular computer and also provides a stunning interface when shrunk down on smaller devices. Create however many images and pages you’d like and monetize your website by adding an online store with the WooCommerce plugin. You can also easily add videos from YouTube and Vimeo.
The HD social media icons allow you to grow your social media presence and Google Fonts allow you to add custom fonts that match your branding. Quickly upload a logo from the backend and use the column shortcodes to drop in widgets. The entire background color can be changed and you can also customize your menus and font colors. The built-in blog is one of the best ways to boost your search engine rank and attract more customers.
SixtyOne
For those interested in a classy theme with options for reservations, the SixtyOne theme is a solid choice. The theme is primarily designed for hotels and motels, but you don’t have to use it for that. The flexible homepage layout, with custom widgets, sliders, and several widgetized areas allow you to create a website that best suits your needs.
The booking form is mainly for hotels, but you can easily use it to provide potential clients with an easy way to hire you. The background is primarily white, and the theme supports high-resolution photos.
Infinity
Infinity has a few standout features, one of them being the filterable portfolio. This is ideal for allowing your visitors to see only the work they are interested in. The infinite scrolling on blog posts allows you to add unlimited amount of blog posts on your blog page without overwhelming your visitors.
The responsive layout works on all devices, and the shortcodes can easily create slideshows and buttons. Video support comes with the Infinity theme, and the built-in backgrounds add an additional creative aspect to your already stunning website.
Ambiance Pro
The Ambiance Pro WordPress theme is a wise choice for artists, considering it comes from the folks at StudioPress who are known for functional and customizable WordPress themes. This is a Genesis child theme with a custom header for incorporating your own branding. The landing page feature seems made for those who are trying to sell photographs, and the mobile responsiveness ensures visitors on mobile devices can also enjoy your website.
The Ambiance Pro theme homepage has a grid layout with overlaying text and fun animations to prompt users to click through to your work.
Milo
Milo is a perfect choice for any artist due to its clean design and white space that puts your content at the center stage. The Milo theme is completely responsive and the menu is easily accessible even on mobile devices. You can choose between large or thumbnail portfolio views, and the unlimited portfolios make it easy to display all your work. Upload as many images as you want and create as many pages as your business requires. Milo integrates with WooCommerce in case you’d like to sell digital or physical products through your website.
YouTube and Vimeo support can be embedded easily into your website while HD social media icons allow your visitors to connect with you on social media. Image captions allow you to encourage visitors to read your posts, and Google Fonts integration lets you customize the typography on your website and add your own style. Image or HTML logos are available and column shortcodes offer more room for your content. The built-in blog improves SEO and allows you to connect with your audience by providing useful tips. The gallery descriptions, sub-menus, and editable menus all come together to generate a powerful, yet minimalist WordPress theme.
Reveal
Reveal is a responsive WordPress theme that looks great on any device you view it on. The theme focuses on bringing your content into the spotlight with stunning portfolios and even a slideshow shortcode so you don’t have to design it yourself. Consider using custom widgets for Twitter, Flicker, and other social feeds and take advantage of the localization support to translate your website and reach a global audience. The logo upload is quick and painless, and the filterable portfolio ensures that anyone who comes to your site can find relevant projects within seconds.
Button shortcodes expedite the development process while the video support is useful for YouTube and Vimeo videos. Several page templates are included with your purchase, including options for portfolio, full-width, and archives. Customize the fonts with Google Web Font and quickly change aspects of your website design by using the extremely intuitive options panel. Overall, the Reveal theme has all the tools you need to make a strong first impression as a creative.
Portfolio from MyThemeShop
The Portfolio theme from MyThemeShop offers a stunning and clean website template for artists who don’t need a lot of customization options. This stunning theme allows you to easily get your work online without unnecessary clutter. The beautiful and minimal design has AJAX loading so that all of your portfolio items load quickly, and it also features a responsive design. Both of these features are a great way to increase conversion rates and get visitors to hire you. Your theme will look great on any device and load fast, which is crucial for anyone relying on their website to bring in customers and clients. The advanced portfolio filters enable people to find relevant work.
Change the number of columns for your portfolio and make several other customizations straight from the backend. You can also change the size of your images from the WordPress dashboard. This means that you don’t have to worry about editing your images before uploading them to your website. The clean blog layout helps boost your search engine rankings, and it gives people a nice distraction-free layout to read your posts. The retina font icons add a more visual look to your site, and Google Fonts allow you to customize the typography. Along with social media icons, mega menus, portfolio navigation, and unlimited colors, the Portfolio WordPress theme has a lot to offer for artists and other creatives.
Vertex
The Vertex WordPress theme has an incredible set of features for creatives of all types. This gem is from the folks at Elegant Themes so you know the support and the design are going to be solid. The theme has a responsive design, which means that if your visitors are using their phone or a tablet to view your site, they won’t have to worry about reading small text or viewing miniature imagery. The theme options are all managed on the backend and the shortcodes allow you to add buttons, columns, and more without any coding experience.
A wide variety of page templates is included with the Vertex WordPress theme as well. Some of them include galleries, contact pages, and forms. All of these are great for adding variety to your site and giving your customers the best experience possible. The theme also has a beautiful portfolio with filtering tools and the portfolio layout is sure to grab the attention of your visitors. Along with a stunning header image and Parallax effects, the Vertex WordPress theme is worth every penny.
Lobo
The Lobo WordPress theme has some unique features for freelancers and agencies. Creatives are encouraged to check this one out since it provides a responsive layout and simple page elements. The theme allows you to create a gorgeous portfolio to show off your past work in an elegant way. The WooCommerce plugin integrates with the Lobo WordPress theme, making it much easier to sell merchandise or artwork. Simply add your products and connect a payment processor such as PayPal to allow customers to easily purchase your prints straight from the website. They get immediate access to a digital file after the payment goes through.
The Lobo theme also includes quite a few graphics and animations on the homepage. The parallax effects create a nice visual effect and all of the portfolio items are displayed in a grid layout. It’s truly one of the more creative themes on this page so we recommend it highly to artists and graphic designers. On top of that, the theme includes a few social media links towards the bottom of the page, perfect for building your social media presence without installing a third-party plugin.
Photex
We have removed this review becuase this theme is discontinued.
Radioos
We have removed this review becuase this theme is discontinued.
Immensely
We have removed this review becuase this theme is discontinued.
Section
We have removed this review becuase this theme is discontinued.
Vanilla
We have removed this review becuase this theme is discontinued.
Djazz
We have removed this review becuase this theme is discontinued.
MajaCincovic
October 10, 2015 at 12:19 pmThanks for sharing these wordpress themes! They are the best for sure, it’s hard to choose only one. I’ll probably go with the first one, Divi.
Sarah Bishop
September 7, 2016 at 7:17 pmHi,
You can definitely not go wrong with Divi. It is one of the most versatile themes out there.
T. Kraschutzki
November 3, 2016 at 5:16 amhi.
i really like the clean layout of your theme “infinity”. is it possible to change the background – i don’t really like the pattern.
thanks!
Sarah Bishop
November 7, 2016 at 6:41 pmHi,\n Thanks for reaching out, and I am happy to help. Infinity is the creation of the great minds over at ThemeTrust. I am sure they will be able to help you with any questions regarding this theme.
Ann
September 28, 2017 at 1:58 amHi there! Great work. I would also add one more theme for illustrators if you don’t mind: it’s Creatista creative portfolio WordPress theme https://motopress.com/themes/creatista/ it features the real works of a designer, so it’s much more like a real-life website.
Sarah Bishop
September 28, 2017 at 7:09 amThanks for the suggestion!