Ideas On How To Title Your Artwork

Summer Breeze

As if it doesn't already take all your creative energy to paint a painting, write a story, take a photograph, or anything you are artistically crafting... then you have to squeeze out a little more creative juice to come up with a title for your piece, your book, your series.

In this day of AI and ChatGPT, more and more people are turning to these tools for help with titles for their work. I will admit I have been one of those people who have found it really easy to ask for AI help with titles... though it's the titles I come up with myself that have a richer meaning to me and to my art.

Go Outside And Play

I have several techniques I personally use for my artwork. One is emotional titles, focusing on the mood the piece creates and the memories it brings up. This is my go-to lately as the pieces I'm working on are storytelling, from my own life experiences. This is one piece I just finished...my younger siblings and I...and we were always being told, "You kids, go outside and play." The title popped into my head well after I finished the painting...I let it simmer and the title just showed up!

Early Morning Sunshine • You're My Sunny Day • It Won't Be Long And I'll Be There

I do love using music or a favorite song to help with titling my art. In this case, it's the song by the Allman Brothers, "Blue Sky." This is a series of cyanotype art pieces I created and titled "Blue Skies." Each piece was then titled with lines from the song's lyrics. It made this series feel very personal to me since this song has been on my top 10 list since I was 18... and made creating each piece that much more fun and meaningful. I highly recommend using a favorite song to create titles.

Balance Completion Change Freedom

I also love adding numbers into my art...not only do they make a great design element, I like bringing the energy of a certain number into my art. You will often see 3 in my art as that's my life number in numerology, and its meaning is creativity...looks like I may have embraced that to the fullest!

Old 55 Darkness Hinged

One word can be just the perfect title... minimal, modern, and often powerful. In this series titled Remnants (it literally was remnants and scraps from my studio), each piece had a dimensional, usually rusty item added in. It was either the item or text that gave each piece a one-word title. This was such a wonderful series to work on, from start to finishing touches and adding the titles... it all came together so perfectly.

I keep a list in my studio that helps me along when I get stuck looking for a title. I can usually hit on one of these and find the perfect title... though sometimes it helps me come up with a few titles and then I have to pick one!

Emotional • Descriptive • Poetic or Literary • One-Word • Conceptual / Contemporary • Funny or Unexpected • Location + Time • Titles Inspired by Questions

Seen And Not Heard

This piece, Seen And Not Heard, is fresh off the easel. I was struggling to find the perfect title, and nothing was really hitting me. As I was describing the piece to my daughter-in-law yesterday, the title jumped out and grabbed me. I go into a little more detail about it in my YouTube video this week. The short version is that once this dinner plate showed up, along with the damask pattern on the left, it was reminiscent of my grandmother's more formal dinners. With five little grandkids chattering over each other at the dinner table, the rule was... "children should be seen and not heard!" Once I told this story out loud... to me, the title was obvious.

An artwork’s title is often the viewer’s first connection to your art piece. It can create emotion, spark curiosity, provide context, or guide interpretation without explaining too much. A strong title helps make artwork more memorable, meaningful and engaging long after the first glance.

And don't forget to make sure the title is meaningful to you! You've put a lot of time into your art... don't stop being creative once you lay your brushes down! If a title didn't show up as you were painting, writing, and taking that photo... let it simmer, give it a little time. It's there, just waiting to reveal itself to you!

As Always...thank you for being the reason I show up each week!

All the art in this post can be found right here on my website...

go back up to the menu, ARTwork, and take a look around.