Monday, October 31, 2011

Do you sign and date your artwork? (Poll results)

Making A Mark Poll October 2011 - The Results
214 people responded to the October Making A Mark Poll which asked "Do you sign and date your artwork?".

The poll results can be seen below as numbers and above as a chart.

Yes - always sign all artwork
  65 (30%)
Yes - always sign and date all artwork
  51 (23%)
Yes - sign all artwork for sale
  25 (11%)
Yes - sign and date all artwork for sale
  15 (7%)
Yes - initial artwork
  12 (5%)
Yes - initial and date all artwork
  7 (3%)
Yes - but only when I remember!
  10 (4%)
No - I don't sign or date my artwork
  12 (5%)
No - my art's not good enough for a signature yet
  17 (7%)
Votes so far: 214

Key findings were:
  • over half of the respondents sign ALL artwork (53%)
  • 18% limit their signature to just artwork for sale 
  • only 8% use initials only as a signature on their artwork
  • in general, in relation to whatever option was used fewer people also added a date.  In general the ratio of those adding in a date compared to those who just used a signature was about 2:3 in this poll (but see another poll on the same topic below)
  • 12% add no signature at all
  • very few people thought their art was not yet good enough to sign (7%)
  • very few people forget to sign their artwork!  (only 4% admitted to signing only when they remember!)  
I've also created a new website How to Sign a Painting to provide a resource which offers a structured introduction to artists signatures for:
  • ARTISTS who want to know more about the best way to sign and date a work of art
  • ARTISTS who want help with signatures for specific media (this needs some more work!)
  • ART LOVERS AND COLLECTORS who want to know more the signatures of artists from the past and present
It also includes three slightly different polls which expand on this topic - and below I indicate the main answers from those polls.  (Click the links to go to the polls)
  • POLL: Do you plan your signature?  (67 people have voted to date)
    • over two thirds plan HOW and WHERE to put their signature before they sign - because signatures are really important to artwork
  • POLL: Size and location of the Artist's Signature  (55 people have voted to date)
    • Two thirds make their signature readable and place it somewhere where you can see it if you look for it
  • POLL: Do you date your artwork? (55 people have voted to date)  This is a slightly different question than the one asked in the main poll - as it provides options which permit a date to be placed on the reverse of the work.  It produced a mixed response - which you can see in the chart below 
    • 60% of respondents to this poll date their artwork somewhere on the work - with nearly half that number dating it on the reverse
    • 40% rarely or never date their artwork
How to sign a painting and other fine art - Do you include a date on your artwork?

Tomorrow I'll be posting November's Making A Mark Poll - which is about how much of your available time for art you spend on marketing.

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