Digital Art Treat of the Day #3 -- Title Talk

(Kevin McLaughlin, Tropicrest (working title), digital art, 2018)

Hello Steemians, I'm posting another recent artwork... I haven't decided on a final title yet, sometimes you give something a working title simply so you can save the file and not lose your progress, and then as the piece develops and reveals more about itself to you the original title seems wrong. When I say 'wrong' I mean it less in the sense of incorrect but more that the first title seems incomplete, or focuses on a feature that has become less prominent in the composition or total concept.

For example, this piece was originally titled Tropicrest, but the way it has developed, that seems to be such a limited, inaccurate way of capturing what is happening in this piece. As in a lot of my work, I now see the image above as many things at once: a hot air balloon; a mountain; a portal; a floating biosphere; a crest; a turban, a cobra (turned away from the viewer) regarding the stars.

In the past I've struggled with this multiplicity by giving my works invented, compound words as titles, such as Guppyscape (http://pixels.com/featured/guppyscape-kevin-mclaughlin.html) and Stainbow (http://pixels.com/featured/stainbow-kevin-mclaughlin.html).

A friend recently suggested I try to be less descriptive (and perhaps directive) with my titles to leave even more of the esthetic decision-making in the viewer's eye. I find that idea interesting, especially because it's very difficult for me to resist the urge to convey in words what the piece is, even though (or perhaps because) I am often showing the viewer something inscrutable and weird that even I do not fully understand. So I guess for me the title is a way for an artist to attempt to understand his or her own work. And convey that to others.

And yet titling is also a form of control... "see this artwork the way I have told you to see it, with these words of mine..." Perhaps it is a more confident choice, esthetically, to choose a more vague title, trusting the viewer to "get it" ...or letting go entirely of the idea that there are specific, correct things to "get" about a piece. In any case, the choice is unavoidable, unless an artist is content for all of one's work to be untitled.

Thanks for checking out my newest work. Any reactions, upvotes, and/or title suggestions are most welcome.

Visit my online gallery and shop here: http://pixels.com/profiles/kevin-mclaughlin