how do you sign your pastel works?

[Deborah Secor]

Actually, I DO assign a date to the painting as an inventory number. One finished today would be 081012, for instance. That way the paintings are recorded by date in order to keep track, but the buying public doesn't fall to preconceptions. We've been indoctrinated not to buy 'stale' goods by date.

And the #2 pencil I use is usually a Bic 7mm mechanical style pencil. I use them for drawing, too, so they're always at hand.

[JPQ]

Pastel pencil or pastel. mainly maybe first and i use first charters and year (sometimes). and even more rarely day (in DDMMYY format which is used in finland and is to me best order,reason is to smallest to biggest)

[PeggyB]

Originally Posted by imFragrance

doesn't ink show up on the other surface of the paper?

All of my paintings are mounted to some type of board; either archival foam board, gator board, or 4 ply rag board so there is no chance anything will show through on the other side. I have signed on the back of textured papers back when I used mats with my paintings, and all of them are heavy enough that nothing shows through. However, if I did have a concern about this, I could just as easily use a pencil.

Peggy

[sansea]

I sign with pastel pencil in color that goes with painting and does not distract.I will try #2 pencil ,if it's good enough for Deborah Secor it will sure be good enough for me. I stopped dating my paintings several years ago when I started entering juried shows.

[Colorix]

I sign my last name with a pencil, quite often a B or a B2. If possible, I sign in a dark area, and the shine of the graphite will allow for a clear read.

Then I also sign with my stylized initials, in pastel (stick, or pastel pencil), and a colour that is unobtrusive but different enough from the background in colour. Sometimes I may choose same colour different value.

So far, I've signed the year on the back. It won't be visible until it is re-framed.

I too think it is totally barmy that people don't want "old" paintings. The right person and the right painting has simply just not met yet, which is why it is 5 years 'old'.

Then, of course nobody wants a really old painting which is more than 100 years old and depicts a person on a bridge howling... and they wouldn't pay 120 million green money for it, either.... (Charlie, behave, no more cynicism!)

But really, *that* is why it is so totally odd that people don't want our 'old' paintings.

[Deborah Secor]

<crooked smile @ Sandi>

Charlie, you have to be dead for a while before the painting is "old" enough to be good, I guess.

[PeggyB]

Originally Posted by sansea

I stopped dating my paintings several years ago when I started entering juried shows.

Ah Ha! another reason not to date your paintings. Some shows insist the work be no more than two years old or some such number. I guess they think old paintings go stale too. I can understand them not wanting a piece that has been exhibited all over the country and everyone and their cousins have already seen it, but how about the piece you just hadn't gotten around to showing yet and it is somewhat over the age limit?

and to Charlie and Deborah regarding us not being old enough or dead long enough for dated work to be saleable. What a concept!

[VanessaT]

I sign with a black charcoal pencil, full name and dated on the back

[DAK723]

Originally Posted by PeggyB

Ah Ha! another reason not to date your paintings. Some shows insist the work be no more than two years old or some such number.

I must say that I date my paintings, but since I rarely make a show, it doesn't matter that much! I date them for my own benefit - when I look at it years later, I like to know when I did it - not sure why.

But if I do have an older painting that I want to submit for a show, I get out my pastels, make a few strokes - perhaps reinforce some highlights that may have faded over the years - or revise something that I see could use a bit of a tweak, and then re-date it! Shhhh...don't tell anyone!

Don

[westcoast_Mike]

The pastel society I belong to requires that a work be completed in the last two years, and that you have not exhibited it that venue with them. The reason being, people get tired of seeing the same painting circulating from show to show to....

[Dot Hoffman]

I sign in #2 pencil like so many others above, First Initial, Last Name. No date. I keep my inventory like this: XXxxxx, the first two numbers being the year (i.e., 2012 = 12) the last four numbers being the last number since I started tracking my paintings, so it might read 121234, interpreted means it was my 1,234th painting since I first started tracking, and it was painted in 2012. BTW, I use a Mac and the program I use for tracking is Bento.