How To Title Your Art
“The Last Chamisa,” Oil on panel, 20 x 20″ by Rachael McCampbell © 2023
When I’m in a hurry to get a painting photographed and sent out, I get lazy on creating interesting titles. I’m trying to be better about this because I do think it’s important and can make or break a sale sometimes.
Coop de Cadillac, 14 x 18″, oil on panel by Rachael McCampbell © 2023
Witty titles that make people stop, think and laugh can be fun. I saw a painting once of a sideview of a rabbit in a bowl entitled, “There’s a hare in my soup.” Some people will even buy a painting mainly for the title!
When collectors are considering an art purchase, they often like to create their own personal story about what they are looking at and how it makes them feel. If you get too descriptive with your titles, you risk tainting that person’s interpretation of your work. Keeping a title mysterious and vague can be helpful.
“Troll Bridge”, (plein air painting in Elkmont, TN)n Oil on panel, 11 x 14″ by Rachael McCampbell © 2023
When I do plein air studies, I often like to use generic titles that simply state the location of the place…almost like a postcard description. But when I create a larger studio version of this painting, I try to get more poetic with my titles.
The genesis of your title can come from anywhere. For title ideas, I usually turn to song lyrics, poetry or if it’s a landscape I like to extract something from the history of the place. Sometimes I create a mixed bag of phrases and words, then randomly choose them—mixing and matching in a way to create a unique thought or impression.
“Saying Goodbye,” Oil on panel, 36″ x 60″ by Rachael McCampbell © 2024
Mary Oliver’s poetry is often a great source for my titles. In one case, she wrote, “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.” Intriguing but not what I wanted. From that I borrowed, “A box full of darkness” but switched out darkness for light—“A box full of light.” From another Mary Oliver line, “A bride married to amazement,” I shortened it to become, “Married to Amazement.”
“A Passionate Belief,” 36″ x 36″, Oil on panel, by Rachael McCampbell © 2021
“From Bitter Searching of the Heart,” acrylic on canvas, 4′ x 6′ by Rachael McCampbell © 2008
From Leonard Cohen’s song, “Villanelle for Our Time,” I used two lines from the first stanza for two different painting titles: “From Bitter Searching of the Heart” and “We rise to play a greater part.” Both of those were used for my equine art which has nothing to do with those words. By juxtaposing an image with words that are non-descriptive often creates a more engaging experience for the viewer.
The Bible or other spiritual resources can offer a magical turn of phrase, for example, 2 Corinthians 4:18, “…what is unseen is eternal” — a nice title for a landscape.
Titles are subjective and personal. I believe they should resonate first with the artist as it’s an extension of the maker and your work. But sometimes, when I get stuck, I post a painting on social media asking for title suggestions, which not only can give you something you never could have dreamed up on your own, but also engages folks with your work and helps them to feel a part of the artistic process. How do you title your work?
Here are some other artist friends take on titling their work….read on and get other good ideas that will inspire you!
