Selling Your Art Course

[Kathysutterlin]

  Annie
  Mea

I agree with both of you. I really like my signature of my first name only. It feels right and it feels personally mine. I think I'll stay with it. 

[JayJ]

I like the signature too!
I love the painting!!!😊

[nolan]

you can sign just Kathy if you want, but I suggest you add something to it to make it more unique. I just sign Nolan, but the way it is written is not normal script so I know that another Nolan will not inadvertently sign in the same manner.

SO although your signature is pretty (I do like it), it is too close to normal script so another Kathy could easily have a very similar handwriting / signature to yours.

Remember your signature is one of the 3 elements so it MUST stand out and be memorable

[Annie.]

So Nolan, you would say the same thing of mine?

[Kathysutterlin]

you can sign just Kathy if you want, but I suggest you add something to it to make it more unique. I just sign Nolan, but the way it is written is not normal script so I know that another Nolan will not inadvertently sign in the same manner.

SO although your signature is pretty (I do like it), it is too close to normal script so another Kathy could easily have a very similar handwriting / signature to yours.

Remember your signature is one of the 3 elements so it MUST stand out and be memorable

Yes, I do see what you are saying, Nolan. I will continue to work on it. Thanks! 

[Win]

I have such an awkward name and surname to try create a unique signature  , I have tried so many different ways, in the end I have decided to go with the one on my latest meerkat drawing , 

[Kathysutterlin]

I have such an awkward name and surname to try create a unique signature  , I have tried so many different ways, in the end I have decided to go with the one on my latest meerkat drawing , 

Win, I just went back to your Meerkat ,which I still love, to look at your signature. I like it. It is unique.

[Kathysutterlin]

Nolan, I would like to stay with my first name if I can create a unique signature. I want something that feels natural and comfortable to write. These two examples are taking my first initial and then writing the rest of my name on a diagonal down the "K". Would something like this make it memorable and unique?

Details

[MaryAnne Long]

They both look nice, Kathy.

aloha

mea

[artistforsaleorrent]

Kathy,
just tried sending a message but it probably didn't go through so I'll try this way. After spending almost 3 years conserving and documenting 1000 plus paintings of all media for a private collector some years ago, I found one important aspect for an artist. The full name. In order to price a painting for resale, especially those from the 19th century and very early 20th, "PROVENANCE" must be ascertained. It has to be beyond a shadow of a doubt that the brush strokes, the signature, the medium MUST be identifiable as being from a specific human, or in this case - an artist.

I went nuts trying to find three artists who only signed their first name and a date (one specific water colorist from 1887)... spent over a year on sights like "Ask Art" and failed in all three cases. Can you imagine how hard it would be for a conservator to prove that a painting signed simply "Norman" came from the hand of someone who's last name happened to be "Rockwell"? Even simple initials make the task daunting.

Now I'm not saying that you'll be the next "Rockwell" although your work has improved tremendously since I came aboard and viewed your progress... but consider this: 100 years from now, someone wants to verify that the painting their grandmother bought from a gallery with the signature "Kathy" actually came from your hands and that "PROVENANCE" has to be established before a resale can be made (and if not, it will then go for pennies on the dollar).

Just something to think about... Use your full name! It'll save museums and art collectors a whole lot of time and effort to know that you and not Kathy Ireland or Kathy Anybodyelse painted the fine piece of art they want to display.

Robert

[Kathysutterlin]

  Thank you, Robert. I always appreciate hearing from you. I did get your message and responded to it but I'm glad you posted here too. I think this is a great discussion for the forum. You have brought up important facts to consider.

I had been signing with both first and last name for a while. I was not happy with how my signature looked. It seemed to intrude on my artwork.  I share the concern that "Kathy" is not enough. I will go back and play with my signature using first and last name and sign a bit smaller. 

[Win]

Thats an interesting point you have made Robert, I have always used my initial of my first name and  my full surname, then Nolan said we must try and make our signature unique,  I have tried every which way to use my full name and surname  "not using block letters " but its impossible. So I modified my original signature.... Looks like I may have to go back to the drawing board.  Going to be a problem to ascertain "provenance" for my art in 100 years with differing signatures 

[artistforsaleorrent]

Actually, it's not as hard as you might think as long as the full name is used. Case in point... look at early Norman Rockwell paintings and Saturday Evening Post covers... he used to use sort of a cursive signature then many years later went with the more familiar one.

If a conservator knows the artist's full name, there are many "art research sites" (Ask Art is only one which also provides information on purchasing antiquities as well as biographical material) ... and it's not as difficult as you might think, now with the internet... Think of how much easier it'll be in 10 -20 years, much less 100. And if you paint specifically with oils, they're pretty much guaranteed to last up to 200 years without cracking if they were stretched and varnished correctly.

Acrylics, on the other hand, haven't been available for more than my own lifetime, I seem to remember trying them in my 20's and fell in love with them for certain projects, so there's no real reference to how long an acrylic will hold it's color over a great span of time. However, since it is vinyl based, chances are that the colors will hold for quite a span of years, as plastic tends to degrade much slower than organics like oil and water colors. Also, the later two can be ruined by an over application of water, whereas, acrylics seem to be unaffected by water once dry.

So if nothing else, if you prepare and seal any painting on canvas correctly (or as best you can)... it'll take the canvas itself many, many years to "rot" away and future generations will be able to view and enjoy your creations. As for water colors, I suggest what is called "Conservation or Museum quality mounting and framing"... expensive, yes, needing a very skilled framer, yes........ but believe me, trying to revitalize and conserve a water color which has been stained by "windex"  is extremely difficult and very expensive.... (always, and I do mean always.... take down and lay flat a water color before cleaning the glass and allow it to dry before putting it back on the wall, as those who just clean their framed water color on the wall will find that gravity tends to puddle any liquid on the base and it leaks inside whereby it is absorbed by the mat and the art, as easily as a cotton ball absorbs humidity.... causing discoloration and staining).....

Good luck folks... oh and if interested my web site is http://www.yourbasicwebpage.com/art. Always glad to help!
Robert

[Annie.]

Point well taken Robert, but isn't it why one should write their full name, title of the painting, and year completed on the back of the canvas?   Then one would only worry about having a unique but simple and easy to remember signature on the front. 

The gestalt image is what I would recall when I see Kathy's signature, more then the word Kathy. 

On that note Kathy, I like the slented idea... but what would you think of slenting it up instead of down?  Especially if in the right lower corner,  it will pull the eye out of the painting (does anyone sign on the top left corner???  that would be unique, maybe for some ultra modern art! 😨 ).  Anyway,  the other thing is that we inconsciously associated up with optimism and down with pessimism.

Food for more thoughts if you haven't settled yet.  But I agree you must find a signature that you first really love and that you feel comfortable that it is 'you'.

Good luck!

[artistforsaleorrent]