Have you ever seen a painting that you liked, but you couldn’t figure out who painted it?
Sometimes I’ll see a beautiful poster that an artist created for a company, or a painted object, but without a legible name or signature on it.
Artists that leave their names off their work are making a big mistake.
It’s extremely important to claim your name on your artwork, it’s packaging, and anything else related to it.
One reason this is so important is so that people can find you if they like it!
The other reason is that it enables you to stake your claim to your own art; there’s no question as to whom the creator was. This comes in handy later, if you end up inspiring other artists that end up creating art in your style. If your name is on every piece you create, then your fans can easily identify a knock off from the real thing.
A few years ago my husband Drew did something really smart; he had a package of stencils made with his signature and logo, in various sizes. Having custom stencils with his signature and logo have proved to be brilliant for branding.
Those stencils have come in handy for many different uses. One example is when painting vans. Drew has painted dozens of Escape Camper vans in Los Angeles. They have been a great client for us, and it’s a beautiful way to put your art on wheels and have other people drive it around the country!
Drew “signs” his signature and logo stencil on every van that he paints. That way, if there’s ever any doubt if the Escape Van painting that you see is Drew’s, we tell people, “look for the signature & logo stenciled on the van; if it’s there, you know it’s an original Drew Brophy painting.”
These stencils have proved over and over again to be one of our most useful tools for creating name and brand recognition for Drew.
I recommend that all artists get a variety of stencils made, in different sizes, with their signature. Here are some of things we’ve used Drew’s stencils for:
- Custom Painting of Anything: Drew uses his stencils to “sign” many objects that he paints, such as shoes, helmets, motorcycles, vans, surfboards, skateboards, etc.
- Murals: For a wall mural, a large stencil looks nice in the corner to signify that Drew was the artist, and to show his name and signature and logo.
- Packaging: When shipping a painting, we add that extra special branding to the outside of the box, so our collector gets extra excited when they see it arrive!
- Ugg Boot Boxes: One year Ugg Australia hired Drew to paint at twenty different Nordstroms. He had designed stencils just for their boots, and he used his signature/logo stencil on the boot boxes to claim his art.
- On personal items: Drew’s painting crates, boxes, his own van, anything that he wants to label as his, should it be separated from us at a trade show or event, gets the stencil.
- Signage for events, shows, booths, etc.
Having your own signature and/or logo stencil will make spreading your name and “brand” around a little easier for you. To find a company that makes custom stencils, do an internet search and you’ll find many options.
And remember, “branding” is not a dirty word; it is simply a way to get people familiar with your name and who you are and what you do! That way, if they love what you do, they can find you.
Maria
13 Responses
That’s a really good idea, I’m still pretty new to this art busisness stuff, and trying to get my work out there.
Another excellent article, Maria. I always advise artists to sign their work and to do so clearly so that their names can be read, also to sign in a part of the work that can’t be or probably won’t be cropped out when the licensee prepares the artwork for product usage. The artist’s name is essential – how else to make an artist known, to ‘build the brand’, and to enhance further sales?
Maria, thanks for this post – you always have such useful tips for artists and this one is another gem. To use one’s name is key to branding and it adds to the character :).
stencils are one of my favorite tools! (& easy to make your self). It is interesting to see the uniqueness in each person’s signature too 🙂
Great article Maria! I’m always telling other artists to make sure to sign and watermark their art – but I didn’t think of using stencils! This would be especially great for larger work! 🙂
I’m not only an artist, but a consumer of art as well. I can’t tell the number of times and the frustration as a potential buyer that I couldn’t identify who an artist was because you couldn’t see or read the signature. In fact, many don’t seem to sign at all.
What a loss for the originating artist.
I refuse to make that mistake. I sign my paintings with my full name that is readable so that one day anyone who may be standing in front of one of my works can find me.
Great advice.
I have you bookmarked your web site to look at the latest stuff you post…its always give pleasure to read your article…Thanks to you!!!!
Nice car! Thanks for this material! I will use it for my report in brending, if you don’t mind, of course!
This idea is fantastic. I’ve been using stencils (i.e. custom brushes) in Photoshop for years, but never thought about turning them into real stencils to sign my artwork with.
Thank you for the eye opening!
Maria, thanks for great article, I’ve recently been thinking my signature needs to be more legible on my paintings, now I know it definitely does. If you new my name you could read it as that and all though I do sign the back with a clearer signature, if you were looking at the art alone I don’t think many could tell.
Look forward to reading more!
Cool ideas!!! So creative! I do like these!
I so wanna do this!
BTW I really like that heart icon, that appears with each of my posts. I know it must be assigned at random, but it’s my favorite so far. Awesome, boots too!