4 Ways to Mark and/or Sign Your Wood Carving

There are several ways that you as a wood carver can sign or mark your wood carvings.  Some popular ways are with some type of readily available marking medium, pyrography, trinkets, or carving.

• Marking Medium

I have used a blue ink pen on some of my pieces to mark my initials and year of the carving.  Paint can also be used to apply your signature or marking to a wood carving before the finishing and sealing process is completed.

• Pyrography

Pyrography is a whole type of creative art of its’ own, but for this idea, we are focusing on using a wood burning iron to create your signature or mark.  You could use the iron to burn your initials, sign your name, or even make or purchase a brand to burn your symbol into the wood carving.

• Trinkets

Some carvers attach trinkets to their wood carving, especially their walking sticks to mark them as their creations.  Some trinkets that I have seen are spent ammunition casings, conchos, stickers, arrowheads, jewels, beads, and metal charms.   These can be applied to the wood carving as your unique mark.

• Carving

You have already used your wood carving tools to create the wood carving, so why not use them to sign or mark your wood carving project too.  You can make unique cuts in the carving to signify your mark or carve your initials.

I’m sure that wood carvers have come up with other effective ways to mark or sign their wood carvings, but these are just a few that I have seen work well.  Whatever you decide to do as a mark or signature, the key is to keep it consistent.  Like your signature on your checks, you need to keep your mark or signature on your wood carving as close to the same each time to verify that you are the wood carver that completed a particular wood carving.