Do you give your art a title? Art Selling Tip

A lot of times artists ask me for advice on how to sell their art. One thing I always recommend is to give each piece you create a title. Visual artists are usually very visual people, but for people who are not artistically creative, they often need some words to help explain what they're looking at. A title is the best place to start!

A title can convey all sorts of information. It can often be a part of the artwork itself in a way. A title can be playful, it can be fun, and sometimes it can even give a viewer important information.If you do portraits or landscapes for example,a title can help identify the subject of the portrait, or the location of the landscape.

Titles can give a view into the artist's life and personality, and make the viewer feel more connected to the artist, and the piece of art. For some people coming up with titles can be a challenge. IN that case, you can always just number them. That way, a viewer can know "Oh this was his/her 87th painting" - just something to make them think a little longer about your piece of art while it's in front of them. I told one artist who was having trouble coming up with titles that maybe he could give his abstract paintings "people" names for fun. "Patrick" "Brenda" "Joe" etc...

One time I had a hard time coming up with a name for one of my own paintings, and I took my advice and named it "Bob". It sold soon after I created it because the client asked me "Why did you name it "Bob"? When I told her the story, she laughed and said she had to have it!

Meet "Bob" - Bob is 4 x 4 inches, acrylic paint on canvas.

Often people who buy art might not buy a piece the first time they see it. They might think about it for a while. They might need to talk to a spouse or business partner about the purchase. A title can be a great way for them to remember the piece and keep thinking about it after it's not in front of them anymore. It's easier to remember a title, and communicate about it with other people, than it is to remember "the one with the orange blob in the corner". It makes it easier for potential clients to come back to you and say "I want to buy _____"

Another benefit is you also know right away which one is which. If you're a prolific artist, keeping track of which painting is which over years of creating can get overwhelming, and titles can help you keep things organized - at least in theory lol

I hope you've found this article helpful and insightful, thanks for reading and good luck selling some of your art! -Adam Millward