Your site isn’t showing your work the way it should. Images load slowly. Portfolios look the same as every other template. Buyers get lost in menus. And commissions? They’re still coming through DMs.
That’s not a creative issue. That’s poor web infrastructure pretending to be an artist’s portfolio.
We’ve worked with painters who couldn’t upload large files without compression ruining the texture. We’ve built CMS structures for printmakers who had no way to organize work by medium or series. We’ve rebuilt ecommerce flows where buyers had to email just to order a piece.
If your artwork is high quality but your site takes four seconds to load or breaks every time you update it — you’re not showcasing your work. You’re hiding it behind friction.
At Pearl Lemon Web, we build web infrastructure specifically for artists, illustrators, and galleries — from solo portfolios to full-featured ecommerce studios. Our work isn’t about colors and fonts. It’s about making your artwork visible, functional, and accessible to buyers, curators, and press.
Services We Offer
Every system we build is tied to one question: What’s keeping your audience from viewing, buying, or sharing your work?
Artist Portfolio Website Design
We structure galleries around how curators and collectors actually browse: by body of work, by medium, or by date. No generic grids. No formatting issues. No hard-to-navigate carousels.
What we build:
- Gallery layouts: masonry, stack, full-width, lightbox
- Image handling via WebP and CDN distribution
- Tagged work by series, medium, year, or sale status
- Mobile-first rendering for all visuals
- Artist statement, biography, and press-friendly download sections
No stretched thumbnails. No cropped previews. Every image gets loaded, labelled, and rendered without degradation.
Built-In Ecommerce
If your buyer has to email for a price, they’re less likely to convert. We create lightweight ecommerce setups built for art — not inventory-heavy stores.
What we build:
- Shop layouts filtered by type: print, original, digital
- Shopify or WooCommerce integration
- Stripe and PayPal checkout flows
- Automated download delivery (for digital goods)
- Order notification and inventory management
We reduce clicks between browsing and checkout. Buyers stay focused on the work — not the process.
Commission Request Flows
Inbox commission requests get missed. Social DMs get buried. We automate intake so you know who’s serious and who’s just browsing.
What we build:
- Custom request forms with structured inputs
- Budget range, deadline, subject matter, and medium selectors
- Google Sheets or Notion sync
- Auto-response confirmation with next steps
- Calendar-based lead sorting
This is qualification, not spam filtration. You’ll stop chasing low-intent buyers and start managing requests efficiently.
CMS That Doesn't Need a Developer
We design the backend so you — or someone on your team — can manage updates without breaking the layout or calling a dev.
What we build:
- CMS fields grouped by use: “Add New Work”, “Update Shop”, “Blog Post”
- Labelled input fields: Medium, Year, Series, Sale Status
- Auto-updating homepage and collection pages
- Video walkthroughs showing how to make changes
- Fallback access roles for assistants, editors, or collaborators
We don’t hand you a blank WordPress dashboard. We hand you a working control panel.
Technical SEO Implementation
Art that doesn’t show up in search engines doesn’t get collected. Our builds ensure every piece is indexable and searchable — with full markup and metadata.
What we build:
- Alt text, title, and meta tags on every image
- Schema.org markup for art, exhibitions, and artist profile
- Sitemap.xml creation and Google Search Console submission
- Canonical URLs to prevent duplication
- Blog structure for content and announcements
Your name, your art, your upcoming exhibit — it should all be visible when someone types your name into Google.
Newsletter and CRM Integration
We turn passive views into active followers. Whether you’re building a mailing list for print drops or keeping curators in the loop, we make the setup part simple.
What we build:
- Popups or inline forms (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, HubSpot)
- Custom tags for segmenting buyers vs. press vs. collectors
- Automated “Thank You” or download delivery emails
- CRM sync with Airtable, Notion, or external platforms
- Data storage with GDPR-compliant backups
Passive traffic won’t support your practice long term. Email helps — we make it automatic.
Hosting and Launch Support
We don’t leave your site floating on shared hosting or parked with a registrar. We build with speed and reliability from day one.
What we build:
- Hosting by SiteGround, Kinsta, or Vercel
- SSL installation, DNS propagation, and domain mapping
- CDN integration for faster global load times
- Lazy loading and JavaScript deferral for mobile speed
- Scheduled backups and versioned rollbacks
It won’t just launch — it’ll stay live, stay fast, and stay clean.
Why Choose Us
We’re not a design studio selling themes. We’re a web development team that builds technical infrastructure for working artists.
We’ve worked with painters who run limited edition drops and needed Shopify logic that didn’t cut into their margins. We’ve worked with collectives who needed separate CMS panels per artist. We’ve cleaned up years of mismatched gallery formatting with one database conversion.
We’ve rebuilt sites that were unusable from a phone. We’ve turned 6-second loading times into 1.5-second paint speed. We’ve helped artists save hours each month by removing manual upload steps.
This isn’t a design portfolio. This is functionality — for people who sell, ship, publish, and archive art online.
FAQs
Yes. We design your backend so you can upload artwork, update pricing, or add exhibitions without needing to touch code. Everything is clearly labelled, and we include walkthrough videos so you’re never stuck.
Absolutely. We set up product types for each — with different formats, pricing, delivery methods, and payment flows. You can sell physical art, take commissions, or offer instant downloads from one place.
If you have images of your work and a rough idea of what you’d like on the site, we’ll handle the structure. We’ll help you group work into collections, write the layout copy, and recommend what’s worth including.
Most artist websites take 2–4 weeks. Your build includes layout design, mobile responsiveness, SEO setup, image compression, gallery filters, and (if needed) shop or commission flows. We’ll give you a full scope and timeline up front.
Yes. We migrate existing content, preserve SEO value through redirects and canonical tags, and rebuild your structure without losing what’s working. Your site will look better, work faster, and be easier to manage — without starting from scratch.
Let’s Fix What’s Holding Back Your Art
If your website loads slowly, drops commission requests, or forces you to email every file manually — it’s working against you.
We’ll review your current setup, identify what’s costing you traffic, time, or sales — and build the system that solves it.
No generic templates. No unnecessary details. Just practical systems built to display, sell, and support your work. Send us your current link — we’ll send you the fix.
