These are just some of the questions about signatures asked by artists and art lovers - and below you can find a lot of the answers!
This section offers a structured introduction to artists signatures for ARTISTS who want
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BELOW you can find out about:
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FIRST review:
FINALLY - for ART LOVERS AND COLLECTORS who want to know more the signatures of artists from the past and present
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Your mark should identify you as the artist, compliment the painting and not distract from the work.
Róisín O'Farrell - Signing Your Work
There's a variety of views - and practices - about dating artwork.
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It's worth noting that:
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Constraints on dates
Serious artists have told me that galleries are very against having paintings dated on the front as it can sometime be off-putting to buyers who for some reason think a painting painted five years ago is less good than one painted yesterday! However, it's very odd that art collectors don't have a problem buying art which is 105 years old as opposed to 100 years old! |
My Practice
I always sign and date my artwork on paper with my real signature and the date of the artwork - but I then cover that with mat and frame and initial the work on the part that shows. Plus I keep folders of paper and digital files relating to each artwork - as do very many artists. Bottom line - signing the work is extremely important - but dating it in a visible way is not, if you are keeping other records of how and when you work was made. |
PROS
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CONS
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TIPS RE. WHETHER OR NOT TO SIGN YOUR ART
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The question of which name to use and how to sign it is a more common one than you might think.
Here are some tips:
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REFERENCE
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Monograms have a long history when it comes to signing paintings. They can be:
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Whistler chose to adopt the butterfly motif (a popular image in Oriental art), as a signature in the 1860s. Over the years his butterfly signature evolved and he began to place it in his paintings as a deliberate compositional element, as well as a monogram from 1873.
James McNeill Whistler's Butterfly Signature | Joseph Scissorhands
How to create a Monogram
A monogram is a motif which indicates a work was created by a particular person. A monogram is normally made of letters or graphemes (a grapheme is "the smallest semantically distinguishing unit in a written language". The process used for creating a monogram for use in published documents is also one which can be used when trying out different ways you can create a monogram from a selection of all or one initials in your artist's name. |
REFERENCE:
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TIPS include making a decision about:
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MUST DO" TIPS
Your signature should NOT be the first thing that jumps out at you when you view a work of art. It should never compete with the painting and never be the focal point. A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a cypher and is not a monogram, although ciphers are frequently referred to as monograms. |
Techniques for signing an oil painting vary. Normally there's a formal signature: people sign bottom left or bottom right - but this is not always the case - using oil paint used in the painting. Plus an informal signature - on the back of the board or stretchers where the artist might use another medium e.g. a sharpie to make clear who produced the artwork
You should ALWAYS practice first! Until you have developed a skill in signing a painting in oil paint. You can:
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REFERENCE:
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If you only sign one panel of a diptych or triptych what happens if the painting gets split up either accidentally or on purpose?
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Signal this is a DIPTYCH (or a work of parts)
One other useful way of indicating that a painting is a diptych or triptych (or some larger number e.g. 50 - you too could become another David Hockney one day!!) is to
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I believe in signing every unit. To avoid the goofy repetition look, understate the signatures or hide them in some obscure place, foliage, etc. Nothing worse than an orphan tych of a diptych or a triptych that wanders the world unknown.
Rovert Genn
Always sign a watercolour painting in watercolour.
As always plan where you're going to sign it from the beginning. Your approach may vary depending on whether you are signing paper (e.g. as a botanical or natural history artist) or signing over paint (e.g. as watercolour artist of generic subjects) You can:
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REFERENCE: How to sign a watercolour painting
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Some suggestions for how to sign mixed media paintings - and note that some of the suggestions contradict one another e.g. re. the use of a marker pen. Note however that marker pens are not always lightfast - and the signature may fade.
Acrylic painters need to use more water to create a more fluid paint before attempting a signature. As with oil painters, the use of a brush designed for lettering helps with a signature. |
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Signing a pastel drawing - where you've not covered all the paper is easy enough - however it's not easy to sign a pastel painting where the whole of the support is covered.
In addition some surfaces work better than others if you want to include your signature as opposed to a monogram. Things you need to think about which are specific to pastels
Don't experiment on a finished work! |
FOUR WAYS of signing a pastel painting
The general recommendation is always to sign with the medium you are using however below are four alternatives:
REFERENCE:
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The convention which maintains the distinction between hand-pulled fine art prints and prints which are mechanical reproductions is that
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An artist's name on a print can increase the price by two or more times, and creators generally view signing and numbering works as a valuable source of income for themselves. |
TIPS for signing fine art limited edition prints
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"DO NOT"
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.So how should you sign it?
NEVER, under any circumstances, attempt to forge the signature of artist on an artwork you've produced - whether or not it is a copy. Otherwise you could find yourself in Court or worse! |
REFERENCE
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"Signature membership (for artists) means all those people who have qualified to use a set of letters after their surname and be known as a full member of an art society. The process of becoming a signature member is almost always defined by a set of criteria which varies from art society to art society. It usually means you are also a fully paid up member in good standing as well."
MARKETING
Marketing the Artist
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