building hype around an artist

I am considering paying for instagram ads to sell some paintings. The only problem is the artists that im working with is generally unknown. So my plan is to pay to have articles and interviews about the artists published to various news websites to build social proof. I see some fiverr gigs that offer things called a "press release" would this be a good option to go with before I start sending traffic to the actually paintings. I just really feel like i would be wasting my money if I didnt first build up the artists brand even a little bit.

I'm in a similar situation. I would like to ask, though, is there a system or service involved for paying to have articles and interviews published to various sites? Or are you simply approaching people and offering to pay them individually?

Regarding press releases, if these are real press releases being offered, you might want to take a look at a press release service like ereleases (https://www.ereleases.com/pricing). It's expensive, though. Their packages range from $299 to $599. I've never used press releases, myself, but I've thought about it. I've heard anecdotally that it pays off over time, but I've never received a straightforward testimonial of obvious success.

Fake it till you make it!
Start with contacting people/websites with a similar niche to yours. And don't forget, you can always negotiate the publishing fee, good luck

It is hard to get noticed out there! with so many people doing everything its deffinaltey hard to stand out from the crowd.
I don't know if those press releases work, I haven't used one but if I do I will let you know! Im also a fairly unknown artist, and I find ads work to a degree. You could end up spending a lot on ads and not get great returns back. So I guess just keep pushing yourself, that's what Im doing

If the pictures are not beautiful, then no personal brand of tm will help)

Press release and editorials are two completely different things. To hype up the right way, editorials would help better.
Aim for them instead and then you can target the readers of the editorials through IG ads!

P.S. Make sure the IG account looks big and trustworthy enough so people take it seriously.

I did this around 08/09, not going to say who the artist is but basically I made like 50 stan internet accounts
on forums with the avy of the singer/band to make it look like they had a BTS following, then made like 50
e-mails, emailing the music websites asking them "when are they going to be featured" to look like there is demand

and yes it worked and yes they got on Kiss fm top 10, but it was a pain in the ass, Paul Heyman did something
like this in WWE before he got fired by Stephanie in creative. There were a few wrestling blind items that alluded
to him making up all the e-mail accounts to create false outrage and get him his job back lol