This may be IMHO material but since it involved art I’m putting it in CS.
I dabble in sculpture in a couple different mediums; such as clay, papier mache and I want to try out some stuff in cement for some outdoor stuff. I haven’t sold or even given anything away but I was hoping to dabble more and possibly get to the point that I could sell a couple things. Then I got to wondering about how to sign my work.
With the things that I have just made for myself or school projects (long ago) I used my initials that I tend to sign in a stylized manner so the two letters are joined together. A couple times I managed to fit my middle initial in, too, but it doesn’t look as nice. On a couple things I add “ee” after each letter because they rhyme, for example, if my initials were CB, I’d use “CeeBee”. My last name is rather long and I really couldn’t etch it into small objects even if I wanted to do so so my full name or first initial + last name is out. I could possibly do nickname + last name though.
Are there any sort of rules, written or unwritten, for signing one’s artwork?
How do any of the artists here sign artwork and what sort of media do you work in?
It may depend on the medium, but there aren’t really any rules per se. Just look at some examples of signatures you like for inspiration. You can even try making a little logo or insignia out of your initials, which might lend itself better to sculpture and such. It should also take on the feel of your style, but in the end, make sure it complements your art, but doesn’t detract.
I’m leaning toward the initials since they would work for smaller pieces and I’ve already used them in the past. I usually put them on the bottom of a finished piece so they wouldn’t detract.
I wondered if I should do the poorman’s copy write where you mail yourself a sealed copy of something and do not open it. Not that I think my stuff is going to be so wonderful that people will be claiming it for their own but I did want to put some stuff in my yard and would like to be able to prove I created it, like by including pictures of the work in progress in the envelope, in case someone decides to steal it.
I’m an artist only by a fairly broad definition of artist.
I do counted cross stitch. When I sign my work–which I usually do for large framed pieces, or baby bibs to give away or bookmarks, but not neccessarily Christmas ornaments, I do so by backstitching my initials in small block letters on an edge, or near an inconspicuous edge of the main design. I sometimes include the date when I completed the item. (My uncle does much the same thing, only with his initials, and often includes a start date on large products).
Since most of the items I have made I either keep or give to friends or family, I kind of assume that they will remember who made it without me putting anything identifying on it. If circumstances were different, I might be more inclined to include more of my name.
As a photographer I don’t sign my prints on the front of the image, only on the back. Likewise, I don’t sign the matts although many photographers do. Instead I sign the backs of those, or the backing paper on a frame. In either case it’s just a visual record for sales’ sake. The print verso signature is the main one.