Step #847: Title Your Art

When I am in the midst of an art journal page or mandala, a name often comes to me. Maybe it's the the color or image, what I've journaled, the idea behind a quote I've used, the "feel" of the page. Something triggers a name. Sometimes I don't want to name it, or it's so abstract that I use the color, the date I finished it, an arbitrary number (542,198), the page number within an altered book (say 4/51).

ghent, belgium, summer 2009

Thoughts on Titling Art...

• Lisa Pressman shares her thoughts and those of other artists in How Do You Title Your Paintings?
• At Create & Live Happy, a charming post, Name Game, How to Title Your (My) Art. Hanna is on blog break but her site is overflowing with creative ideas.
• From About.com, Give it a Name: Choosing a Title for Your Artwork and How to Pick a Title or Name for a Painting.

That said, although I title my art (using the name as the file name for a photo or scan of the artwork), I rarely put the name on the art itself! Maybe need to do that... do you name your art? Do you have a naming convention or method, or does the name just come to you? So curious. If you don't title your art, do you wish you would? I love naming pages. Plus it's less cumbersome than calling it "That blue one with the dots and the girl in the red dress."

More, more, more...

• Altered Book: The Road
• Bubbled Brayer Backgrounds
• Perfectionism & Creativity
• Altered Book: pink.blue rev 1.1
• Europe: Bicycles

Find more in the step-by-step art journaling series.