Also, when naming files (generally, not just for art) think about how you will sort them in the future. Yes, the words "the" and "a" are usually redundant (except as noted by Tundra Swan) but also think about how you would naturally group these items. Would you ever want to sort them by something within the title? If so, think about using that first.
I liked the comments about friends and acquaintance exclaiming upon 1rst seeing a finished work. Once I painted a delft vase with mandarines (blue & orange) and when my husband saw it he said "it looks imposing like a colonel with its broad shoulders". So I named the still life "the colonel" and yes I used the article "the" to emphasize we're talking about that particular, important character in my little story.
Definitely true... my grandfather was a painter and many of his paintings were given to his son/my dad. We know he had titles for everything, he often picked mythological subjects or had local legends in mind, but the titles weren't with the paintings, they aren't in any of his papers, and for a few of them we just had to go with the dull descriptive title, which is a shame because we know he put a lot of thought into the ones for which we could find titles.
Thank you so much for this!! I always wondered how you were so organized, how you could pull up all these artworks for posts without it taking you forever. This system is ingenious! I’m printing it out and I will follow every tip. The specifics of #4 for how to title digital files was very helpful. 3 and 9 also gave me a lot to consider. Thanks for sharing your experience on titles with us!
A fun artists play on the topic of Titles; In 2018 at the 57th Carnegie International Exhibit, an exhibit within collaborated by 2 Pittsburgh PA artists Lenka Clayton and Jon Rubin played with this topic of historical painting's titles. Documented on the site "Fruit and Other Things" (.com). In the months the International was open, 10,632 titles were hand painted. The actual titles were recreated in Caslon font with a deeply thought out system that included 2 physical painters (at a time) in the center of the room, paper and paint before them, going A through Z painting the names of 10,632 paintings that had been REJECTED in submissions to the first Carnegies Internationals from 1896-1931. That was when paintings were shipped in for submissions in hopes to be chosen for inclusion to the exhibit. Can you imagine the chaos of judging?
There is more...
In this 2018 FAOT gallery piece, each title painted out was given free for museum goers to take home individually. (I admit the site explains this better than I have here)
One thing to note was that paintings at this time period were not titled "untitled”, therefore all these titles were poetic gems! Sure, pre- 'UNTITLED' were the hundreds called” Portrait""Nude""Landscape""Study,”numbered, etc type of titles. Yes, but the other thousands of titles were rich in imagination! I invite you to peek at the list and into the history of artist's painting titles.
& Thank you Mr. Gurney, for all your art Posts. I'm grateful for all you share about painting and what I have learned inside them. Your image system is brilliant too. :)
Very practical advice here James. Thank you. Creating a title is still a challenge for me. Sometimes I don’t really know what to call the finished work. Inventing a clever title on the spot is sometimes regrettable. I am more inclined to give the title to the painting upon conception rather than at its completion. This also helps me know the direction of the piece and when it accomplishes its name. Again, your posts are wonderful and intriguing.
A second comment... something I find annoying is a show I submit work to doesn't display the title of the piece once it's on the wall! It's a show with hundreds of small pieces, linked only to a list of numbers and names. A title is SO important to the understanding of a piece!
I always start with the date, like today, "20240607 Bailey Painting." I tend to remember the time of the year that I did things, and this helps me find things quicker.
Good work, titles are guideposts for everyone. Untitled sucks for all. I once used a provocative title to see what would happen and sure enough, someone in the crowd searched me out at the opening and ended up buying the work because we got into the meaning deep.
Also, when naming files (generally, not just for art) think about how you will sort them in the future. Yes, the words "the" and "a" are usually redundant (except as noted by Tundra Swan) but also think about how you would naturally group these items. Would you ever want to sort them by something within the title? If so, think about using that first.
I liked the comments about friends and acquaintance exclaiming upon 1rst seeing a finished work. Once I painted a delft vase with mandarines (blue & orange) and when my husband saw it he said "it looks imposing like a colonel with its broad shoulders". So I named the still life "the colonel" and yes I used the article "the" to emphasize we're talking about that particular, important character in my little story.
Definitely true... my grandfather was a painter and many of his paintings were given to his son/my dad. We know he had titles for everything, he often picked mythological subjects or had local legends in mind, but the titles weren't with the paintings, they aren't in any of his papers, and for a few of them we just had to go with the dull descriptive title, which is a shame because we know he put a lot of thought into the ones for which we could find titles.
Thank you so much for this!! I always wondered how you were so organized, how you could pull up all these artworks for posts without it taking you forever. This system is ingenious! I’m printing it out and I will follow every tip. The specifics of #4 for how to title digital files was very helpful. 3 and 9 also gave me a lot to consider. Thanks for sharing your experience on titles with us!
A fun artists play on the topic of Titles; In 2018 at the 57th Carnegie International Exhibit, an exhibit within collaborated by 2 Pittsburgh PA artists Lenka Clayton and Jon Rubin played with this topic of historical painting's titles. Documented on the site "Fruit and Other Things" (.com). In the months the International was open, 10,632 titles were hand painted. The actual titles were recreated in Caslon font with a deeply thought out system that included 2 physical painters (at a time) in the center of the room, paper and paint before them, going A through Z painting the names of 10,632 paintings that had been REJECTED in submissions to the first Carnegies Internationals from 1896-1931. That was when paintings were shipped in for submissions in hopes to be chosen for inclusion to the exhibit. Can you imagine the chaos of judging?
There is more...
In this 2018 FAOT gallery piece, each title painted out was given free for museum goers to take home individually. (I admit the site explains this better than I have here)
One thing to note was that paintings at this time period were not titled "untitled”, therefore all these titles were poetic gems! Sure, pre- 'UNTITLED' were the hundreds called” Portrait""Nude""Landscape""Study,”numbered, etc type of titles. Yes, but the other thousands of titles were rich in imagination! I invite you to peek at the list and into the history of artist's painting titles.
& Thank you Mr. Gurney, for all your art Posts. I'm grateful for all you share about painting and what I have learned inside them. Your image system is brilliant too. :)
Very practical advice here James. Thank you. Creating a title is still a challenge for me. Sometimes I don’t really know what to call the finished work. Inventing a clever title on the spot is sometimes regrettable. I am more inclined to give the title to the painting upon conception rather than at its completion. This also helps me know the direction of the piece and when it accomplishes its name. Again, your posts are wonderful and intriguing.
Don’t forget to WRITE DOWN your naming scheme and include it with your will and digital photos on disc or thumb drive.
.. bad girl ! downer ! Where’s the mischief in that ? 🦎🏴☠️
A second comment... something I find annoying is a show I submit work to doesn't display the title of the piece once it's on the wall! It's a show with hundreds of small pieces, linked only to a list of numbers and names. A title is SO important to the understanding of a piece!
I always start with the date, like today, "20240607 Bailey Painting." I tend to remember the time of the year that I did things, and this helps me find things quicker.
Good work, titles are guideposts for everyone. Untitled sucks for all. I once used a provocative title to see what would happen and sure enough, someone in the crowd searched me out at the opening and ended up buying the work because we got into the meaning deep.
Great ideas! I'm in a new art group and will share your ideas with everyone!
We call it the ‘Naming Convention re Pro Assignments - usually per Client Spec & somewhat ‘Universal
A great trick we use is ‘Underscore(s) preceding rest of the ‘naming convention as you’ve elegantly described
I use the Underscore to ‘force those files to the top of a folder Hierarchy..
ie - usually my initial ‘selects for Client Review & Approvals meeting at 6 am breakfast meetings & briefings