Signing your original artwork is probably the single most important thing an artist can do. Not only does it say who the artist is, it claims and protects the artwork. Ever since I was a child and first discovered the love of art, it was something I looked forward to doing: signing my own piece of art. How fulfilling that final touch to a piece of art must be!
Well, truth be told, it’s my least favorite part to finishing a piece of art. Some might think:
“Oh I’m sure that’s just because it’s always so hard to just say when a painting is finished,” or “Maybe she just thinks she’ll come back to it later.”
Wrong! It’s my least favorite part of a painting because of the fear that I’ll ruin it. It’s just as simple as that! I’ve never been happy with the way my signature looks. Even when I have to sign documents… yuck.
The Early Years
I had spent a ridiculous amount of time practicing my signature. Notebooks were filled with my name written in cursive ever since I learned it in third grade. My maiden name just always seemed so long that it was hard to fit it all in such a tiny space so it didn’t overwhelm a painting. I was even so annoyed with my signature one time that I made a huge mistake on a painting I did one semester in college. And the sad thing is I can’t even paint over it to fix it. Of course, this one painting was on an old bedsheet that had a leafy design so I only painted with black acrylic paint in the middle of it to make a Tree of Life. So in the bottom right corner, instead of signing my actual signature, I wrote: M.R. ASTRO
Literally, just like that… My mom was so mad at me, so I tried to wash it away. Well, the funny thing about permanent marker is that it is very permanent. OOPS!
So ever since then I just avoided it all together for the rest of college. Not a single other painting was signed because I felt like I didn’t know how to sign my artwork. So now I have to backtrack and sign with my old name? But that’s a whole other issue…
A Second Chance
By the time I had met my husband, it had been a couple of years since I had last painted. Signatures were a long, long way from my mind, even when I did two different paintings for two of his family members… I don’t think I ever signed those either (I’m going to need those back for a second!).
When things started to get serious and a name change was in my future, I still didn’t think about it. Not until we had our first baby and the lockdowns started and I started watercolors for the first time. THEN I realized that I need to sign my work. I knew it would be a shorter name to write out (thank goodness!) but the fear was still there:
Is this going to ruin my artwork?
Signature Study
It probably took me hours to decide where I was going to sign my first watercolor. Bottom right? Bottom left? At an angle? How do other artists do it?
I have always admired how master painters sign their paintings. Claude Monet’s is always subtle but clear. Georges Seurat’s is delicate but purposeful. There are many others I can list, but one thing they all have in common is that they don’t ruin the artwork. If anything they just make it better.
Up until I just started painting with oils again did I figure out what to do. With my watercolors I always did the same thing. Wait for the painting to dry and sign in the bottom right corner with my felt-tip black pen. Unless it was too dark and you wouldn’t be able to see, then I wrote in the bottom left. For some reason I always thought it was correct to sign in the bottom right. Why not the left?
Monet mostly signed on the left, and Seurat signed paintings on the left… what made me think I should only sign on the right? Why was I always forcing myself to guess the amount of space I need to write a proper signature and include the year just to make it work in the bottom right?
I needed to change this.
The Honest Truth
The truth is, it’s your artwork. You can choose wherever you want to sign it that makes most sense to you. It took me way too long to realize that. I learned that I don’t even need to use paint to paint a signature. If the surface is smooth enough after drying, I could write with a permanent marker or paint pen for smoother application. If the paint is still wet I could scratch it into the paint with the end of my paintbrush — this is a new one I learned that I honestly like so much because it is a super subtle and clever way to blend a signature into a painting. And it’s faster than painting!
Part of me always avoided the idea of painting a signature because it’s hard for me to paint a signature. I’m so used to the quickness of writing out my signature, that it takes a lot for me mentally to slow down when painting my signature. Basically, I only have enough paint to write one letter at a time. But I always thought this was the only way an artist could apply a signature to a painting because it’s what all the masters do.
This is 2023. I can be a master of my own time and write my signature how it works best. It took me a long time to realize it, and maybe some discipline, that I am my own artist and how I write my signature is entirely up to me. There is no rule for placement, there is no required material, and there is no size limit.
There was a lot of trial and error to get to this point, but I think I’ve finally figured out what works for me.
Final Thoughts
I hope this post is helpful for other artists who are struggling with their signature. This was a hurdle that had to be faced with experience, not taught how to resolve by sticking my nose in a textbook while studying art in school.
Hopefully next time you’re faced with a challenging signature opportunity that you think of this article and remember to just do what feels right for YOU!