How to Title Your Work of Art

Brainstorming Ideas and Themes

Make a list of themes central to the artwork. Brainstorm a list of ideas that reflect what your artwork is about. It can be simple, such as “trees” or “girl,” but it can also be thematic or subconscious, such as “friendship” or “childhood.” Think about what the meaning of the artwork is, and how the title can convey that meaning.

Identify your motivation behind the artwork. What drove you to create this piece of art? Reflect on your feelings about this artwork and what you’d like to share with your audience. How does the artwork make you feel? Identify the story you want to tell.

Pinpoint the artwork’s focal point. With artwork, there are certain areas of the piece that the artist wants the audience to see first or to pay the most attention to. Think about the focal point of your artwork. What do you want people to focus on when they observe your artwork? Naming your artwork after the focal point can help people understand your artwork better. Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” draws attention to the small jewel in the ear of the subject.

Consider what audiences need to know. Oftentimes, titles help audiences understand what they’re looking at. Titles can give tools to the audience to know how to interpret the piece. What do you want audiences to know about your artwork? Do you want your title to direct the viewer towards a particular interpretation? For example, a work of art of a dog sitting on a beach can be interpreted in a number of ways. But if you title the picture, “Abandoned,” the viewer will assume that the dog has been abandoned on the beach. If you title the picture, “Best Friend,” people will react differently to the dog’s presence. Some artists prefer not to tell the meaning of their artwork, deliberately leaving the title ambiguous.

Make the title meaningful for yourself. No matter your reasoning for choosing a particular title, make it meaningful for you. You are, after all, the artist, and the artwork is made primarily for yourself. Some artists like to have titles that convey certain meanings so that they remember certain details about the process of making the artwork, what inspired the artwork, and so on. Frida Kahlo titled one painting, “I Belong to My Owner,” during a tumultuous affair with exiled communist Leo Trotsky. The painting of wild flowers in a vase symbolizes her overwhelming love for Trotsky coupled with her need to remove herself from this affair.

Finding Inspiration

Look for inspiration in poems or quotes. Using parts of your favorite poem or quote can be an interesting and suitable title for your artwork. Similarly, you could choose a passage from a book. These should not, however, be too lengthy. Choose something that is a short phrase. Also, choose something that adds to the artwork’s meaning, not something completely random that doesn’t mean anything. There shouldn’t be copyright issues with this approach unless you are using a lengthy quote. If you have just a few words from a poem or book and you are appropriating it in a new way, this would likely be protected by fair use guidelines. Pam Farrell titled her painting, “Seasick Sailor,” which were words that she heard in song by both Beck and Bob Dylan. David White used titles of books and movies such as “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and “The Man Who Would Be King” and repurposed them into titles for a series of paintings. One of his paintings is, “The Man Who Was Tired of Perpetual War,” naming the action after the character in his painting.

Ask for suggestions. Talk with family, friends, or other artists to get suggestions on a good title. They may have some interesting or inspirational ideas that you hadn’t thought of. Alternately, throw a “titling party” with other artists or friends. Throw a party and display the artwork. Ask everyone to give suggestions for a title. Some titling parties demand that all guests stay until suggestions are made and a title is chosen. Painter Jackson Pollock would often only number his paintings, such as “Number 27, 1950,” but the art critic Clement Greenberg would give the paintings poetic names, such as “Lavender Mist” or “Alchemy,” in order to differentiate among them.

Pay homage to an artistic influence. If your artwork or artistic style is particularly influenced by a certain piece of art or artist, you could consider naming your work after that. Paying homage to your influences can be a good source for artwork titles. Andy Warhol created a series of pop culture-infused paintings called, “The Last Supper,” as reinterpretations of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”

Look at titles of other works of art. Observe how other artists name their works of art. Read the story behind why a particular artwork was given its name. Read titles for different types of artwork, from classical paintings and modern drawings to sculptures and video art.

Choosing the Wording of a Title

Look for synonyms of words. Your title might revolve around a particular theme or topic, but you might not like the word choices. Look up key words in a thesaurus to come up with alternate words that mean the same thing.

Add descriptive words. You might have a few key words that describe the theme you want to convey. Adding descriptive words can give more dimension to your title. Think of adjectives or adverbs that might work to enhance your title. Georgia O'Keeffe titled one painting, "Calla Lily Turned Away," giving more description to the floral subject of her work. Mary Cassatt named one painting, "Mrs. Duffee Seated on a Striped Sofa, Reading," expanding on the most obvious subject to include more details of the painting.

Try different combinations. Switch around the words that you’ve chosen to see how they flow together. Putting the words in a different order can shift the meaning slightly, or it can make it easier to say. Say the words out loud to hear how they sound together.

Choose a purely descriptive title. Instead of delving into a complex naming process, consider giving your artwork a very simple title that describes exactly what is in the artwork. This could be something like “Wooden Table with Fruit Bowl,” “Red Ball,” or “Girl Swinging.” Emily Carr titled many of her paintings simply, such as “Breton Church” and “Big Raven.” Claude Monet’s "Still Life: Apples and Grapes” is a still life painting of a table with fruit.

Translate a title into another language. Key words that reflect the topic or theme of your artwork might resonate better in another language. Choose a few words and try them in another language. Make sure you spell the words right in the other language. Double check any accents or other required markings for your words. Missing these markings can potentially mean altering the entire meaning of a given word. Try to find someone who speaks that language. Run your title by them to make sure it doesn’t carry unwanted connotations.

Finalizing Your Title

See if there are other works of art with the same name. The goal with titling your artwork is to make sure it stands apart from other works of art. If it has the same name as another piece of artwork – especially something well-known – that can unintentionally link your art to someone else’s, risking confusion, misinterpretation or just basic lack of originality. Search online for your title and see what you find.

Ask others for their impression of your title. Your title might mean one thing to you but something entirely different to another person. Getting first reactions and feedback on your title can be a good way to understand how it will be received. Consider if your title is ambiguous or if it can be interpreted in different ways.

Check your spelling. Unless it’s deliberate, don’t send your artwork out into the world with any misspelled word in the title. Your error can make you look less professional or serious as an artist. Similarly, double check grammar, especially if your title is longer than a phrase.

Make the title work for you. While you might title a piece of art to give it additional meaning, you may also title a piece of art so that you can promote yourself as an artist. Forgo the “Untitled” title, and instead strive to have a distinguishable work of art. This can potentially even add value to your artwork. For paintings in a series, you might name them sequentially (such as “Blue Fence #1,” “Blue Fence #2,” and so on). They may be hard to keep track of, however. Go for different titles and help yourself keep track of individual works. Reviewers, critics and collectors can reference your work more accurately with a specific title. If you call all your pieces “Untitled,” it will quickly get confusing as to which piece is being referred to. Having a unique title will make it easier for people searching online for your work to find you.

Make sure the title accompanies your artwork. If you plan to circulate your artwork at all, make sure the title of the piece goes with the artwork. Write it on the back of the actual piece of art. If you post your artwork online, make sure your title appears with the artwork. This can improve your online profile by making your artwork easier to find.