How Do You Sign Your Artwork?
An artist's signature identifies his or her work for all the world to identify. Whether the artist's full name, first or last name, nickname, initial(s) or logo, that telltale mark helps to identify that it is yours, for time eternal.
Why Signing Your Art Is So Important
- Your full name - sign the back of your painting -on the canvas- with your full name especially if your signature on the front is not your full name.
- The title of the artwork
- The inventory, SKU, or reference number (if you use one)
- The year it was completed
- Sign the painting as soon as it is finished or near finished so that it will not look like it was added later.
- There are reasons to not use a sticker label (it can eventually peel off).
- Do not sign the canvas framing (it can be re-framed later and your signature is gone).
- There is the idea of not too big and not too small, but just right in the size of your signature - so your artwork isn't overwhelmed by your name (hence, making my relative's observation about the artist signature justified).
- Sign your painting BEFORE varnishing it.
- Allow space when placing your signature for framing or matting, especially in anticipation of making art prints. You don't want the signature to get buried in the presentation of the piece.
Find Your Signature
Do you use your whole name or just initials? You might try playing with your initials to see if you can make an interesting "brand logo" with them. Once you hit upon your 'go to signature' keep it consistent going forward so anyone can recognize that its you.
It is more commonly recommended to sign your name in full though, so there is no dispute over plain initials.
Try various fonts. Trace your signature on tracing paper to try it out and to transfer it onto the canvas then paint it in.
Try watercolor pencil on acrylic paintings then paint it in. Or use the watercolor pencil and ruler to draw in a line to sign on then remove the line. Research your options.
Some artists will "blend" their signature into the painting so that it is not quite so obvious and/or less distracting from the overall work. No one says it has to be horizontal either.
Still other artists will scratch their signature into the wet paint. So you see, there are a lot of ways to do it, you'll just need to find and develop your own style.
Other People Finding Your Signature
When you are trying to become a known artist, would it not make sense to sign your full name so that someone could do an internet search on you and find your other artwork?
This makes sense and I'll have to change up what I have been doing! I've been just doing initials on the front and signing the back so I have to change this immediately! Not everyone will ever see the back of a painting so I will need to work on an actual full name signature too - IMMEDIATELY!
Signing Different Types of Artwork
https://www.artbusinessinfo.com/artist-signatures.html
https://makingamark.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-to-sign-art-print.html
https://seasideart.com/blogs/blog/artist-signatures-how-do-they-impact-the-value-of-art
https://www.roisinofarrell.com/2303/
Do you have any other information you could add to this?
I would love to know more about how you sign your artwork and how has your signature evolved over time? Please leave a comment below.
Local Art: Visit us at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at Tackett's Mill in Lake Ridge, VA on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
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An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.
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