Outsider artist, Bill Traylor
I get a lot of people asking me whether they should sign their art. Whether they should sign it on the front or the back and how big or small or maybe even not at all.
So there are no rules. This is a relatively minor thing but still naming the maker of the art is important. Especially for the artist.
Let me back up a little and talk about how I like to think about pictures, art, that people make. I feel it needs to be authentic. It wants to be as much like that artist as possible.
If most artists are anything like me, that end result, the final stages of the painting will always be scrutinized by the artist to see if anymore anything can be added to convey more strongly whatever is there. Can I make this more like I want it? What could I add or take away that could convey that feeling better?
Now, that same scrutiny needs to be applied to where and how a signature is added to the art.
Can it be added in such a way that it doesn’t take away from that original. idea being construed? So let the art determine how loud or quiet the signature will be. I tend to make mine more second reading. I don’t want to distract from what is going on in my painting.
But however you sign your art, just realize that your signature is a visual addition that can be barely noticeable or hugely distracting.
If the signature is super big, then the painting might suddenly become more about your signature. You might want this. And that too is ok. All I am saying is to be aware of the visual impact of your signature. It is part of the art, not separate, once placed on the front of your work.
Here is what I do:
I sign my last name, usually on the bottom front of all my original art.
Then on the back I write, with a black permanent felt pen (a fine point sharpee)
the following 7 things:
1. My full name
2. The title
3. The size
4. The materials
5. The date
6. A 4 digit unique image code.
7. My website
I add these 7 items on the back so I don’t have to ever spend time answering the questions that come up if I don’t. I just say all the information is on the back of the painting. I also want to make it easy for people who see my art, to find me.
And in regards to the front of your art, you no longer need to wonder what size or where to sign your art now. Your signature is just one more mark in thousands that comprises your finished art.
Just use the same sensibility when making your signature that you do in making your art. That will always make it feel and look, perfectly right.
I would love to hear your thoughts on where and when you sign your art.
Please, lets talk about this in the comments below!
Nicholas W
11 Comments
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Nicholas Wilton
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I am so happy to have some direction with this. I do put my name on the front, somewhere near the bottom where it sort of “melds in” with the art (I was doing realistic art, animals/nature mostly, and where doesn’t distract. In the past I had also put the copyright symbol (would we still add that on the back with the year?) and year, or signature and year on the front. This was not a good idea, I found out, because when I decided to put one up for sale years later, it advertised how old it was. What is your opinion on trying to sell something with a “date from the past”?
That’s a good point about dating your work. I always put the year next to my signature, but I hadn’t thought about it then looking ‘dated’.
Interesting and thanks, Wilton. In Fine Arts at university, they did teach us not to sign our work on the front, but I found that buyers of my work really wanted to see my signature on the front, so as you I do sign usually on the bottom left or right, discreetly .. last name only. There aren’t too many “Peplers” out there who paint. 😉
I have only one thing to add: I don’t think it’s a good idea to use a permanent marker on the back of your canvas unless you have at least 3 coats of gesso because the ink from the marker goes through the canvas eventually. It has happened to be before. One solution is to use a brush and dark acrylic paint or the new acrylic markers by Liquitex.
I sign works on paper in pencil or oil pastel in the bottom right hand corner. Canvases are a different matter: Sometimes I sign my name in black paint in the bottom right hand corner, but more often, I sign them on the back, or even on the side – where the canvas wraps around the stretcher. It depends entirely on the painting, but I often use large uninterrupted flat areas of colour where a signature would ruin it. I like the idea of putting all that info on the back. I’ve usually put all that on an attached ‘luggage label’, but this can become detached.
I’ve seen on Antiques Roadshow, old paintings that the paper has aged or torn, and what’s written on the wood stays there forever.
A signature claims the art for the artist, but I don’t want it to shout too loudly unless it really suits the piece in question. Sometimes I just use a very fine fineliner pen and curve my signature around an element of the design. It becomes part of the texture but not too distracting. With polymer clay pieces, often jewellery, I have a cane I made with my initials / logo and I slice off a tiny bit and stick that to the back of the piece. It won’t be coming off anytime soon as it gets baked on. It makes an attractive feature for the back.
Remember, the art piece will eventually be framed (hopefully). The information about the artist if put only on the back will no longer be seen. I put much info on the back as I feel necessary, starting with my full name. On the front, in an inconspicuous place, my full name and date.
I always hesitate when comes time to sign my paintings
Should I do it small? big?attached letters?
Never comes out the way I would like
I wished to have another name. My name do not sound artistique ….
Most people can’t prononce it
Am I alone with that problem?
Bill Traylor was an illiterate former slave who started drawing images at around the edge of 85. He created wonderful images of the life around him. He was taught how to write his name, and thus some of his images are embellished with the wonderful arabesque in this image. Traylor is the surname of his plantation masters…
i think it’s really important to sign on the front somewhere. Artists are already invisible in our culture. We need to ‘claim our seat’ and be recognized.