The surface of a work of art invites you to search for traces that point back to the work process and can provide information about artistic attitudes and actions. Such traces can be consciously placed and stage the processuality of creative activity, the virtuoso mastery of the means or specific properties of the material. However, they can also provide information about the work process, contrary to the intentions of the artists, if a work has remained unfinished or if all traces of work have been erased. The articles collected here illuminate the phenomenon with case studies from different epochs and genres. They show the role that surface design plays in making authorship, technical processes and material properties visible.