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Caveat Emptor?

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Tony Auffret

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My curiosity was aroused by a comment from Jenny Thomson on an Andrew Moodie painting that has a for sale sticker.  That in itself was curious as the painting had a 19 June posting date, before the website upgrade.  The comment noted an apparent lack of a signature.  It was interesting to see how many paintings do, apparently, lack a signature (Jim being the notable exception), including may of those 'for sale.  I was particularly taken by one painting, disfigured by an electronically added copyright notice, but no discernible signature or date.  Of course it was not an in depth survey and the signatures may have been cropped out, but if you wish to sell a painting why only show it in part?  If you are buying, perhaps it is something to check. Bottom line is I always sign my paintings, though mainly as a disincentive to fiddle any more.  I would be interested to hear the thoughts of the forum members

Alan Bickley

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Pen and ink sketches and watercolours yes I do sign, generally on completion and with an Edding 1800 pen which is of course permanent. But no I don’t sign my oils straight away simply because it’s not particularly easy over wet paint. Only when I’m ready to take them to the gallery for sale do I add that all important element. Stuff that doesn’t get to the gallery remain unsigned in a store room, many hundreds of them probably, I’ve never counted. Yes I would make sure that anything that I put for sale on this gallery is signed and visible - but so far I haven’t added a for sale tag, although I probably will at some stage.
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Tony Auffret

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That's something I had not thought of Alan, being an 'acrylics' man, I had not appreciated the problem of signing on wet paint.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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I sign with a rat, usually - unless the presence of a rat would be ludicrously inappropriate.   I also put my name - and sometimes the date: I ought to be more consistent - somewhere on the back.  Not keen on putting the date on the front, because it can give the impression that you've been stuck with a painting for months or years, and just desire to be rid of it: which may, of course, be true - but not what I should like potential buyers to think.  Don't know that I have much trouble signing a wet oil - but that'd be because my signature isn't very elaborate, and my oil paint is on the dryish side, generally.  

Alan Bickley

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A few professional artists do sign their work by using the end of the brush handle, almost carving into the paint so to speak. I don’t like that idea but it solves a problem. It is of course possible to sign them wet, but mine turn out pretty dreadful usually! Others have more success. 

Alan Bickley

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I agree with Robert entirely regarding leaving off the date, it could give the game away at some stage in the sale process. Useful to record it on the reverse though. As for signing with a rat, I find them difficult to keep still and their whiskers tend to smudge the signature. Of course I’m being rather flippant here and I do like robert’s comical rat symbol. Many professional artists have included such things in their work, I’ll give that some thought perhaps! The great Terence Cunio always added a mouse symbol to his paintings, often cleverly hidden.

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by Alan Bickley

michael

Michael Edwards

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*I rarely sign any paintings which are to be displayed under glass untill I am ready to have them mounted. Often I may decide to crop a painting and if there is a signature this can cause problems - so the signature goes on to suit the mount.

Dylan F Jeskye

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I sign my paintings with just my initials, and I generally try to blend them into something, so it isn't obvious, but can be seen if someone looks for it. If that's not possible, then I use a colour as similar as possible to where I sign it so it doesn't stand out too much. Occasionally I won't sign on the front because I can't find anywhere where it will blend in. I will always sign on the back though with full name and date.