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(suspenseful music)

(car honks)

- It's an invisible art,
it's an invisible industry.

People just take it for granted.

- Even the way that I
describe it to people,

"Oh what do you do?"

"I'm a sign painter and I
paint letters on buildings."

- I remember going
down beach boulevard

and

seeing signs everywhere
all of a sudden,

it was like this
experience where like,

oh my god, I know how
to make a living now.

- I didn't choose
sign painting at all,

sign painting chose me.

- That's the only
thing I could do

and I could do whatever
the fuck I wanted to do

and make a living.

- You know, this is what I
love, this part right here.

I look all over the
city, this is my city.

(suspenseful music)

- You know, it was a
cool way to make money,

and let's say I know
I'm in Sausalito

and I spend a buck 50 on paint

and I'm making 150 bucks,

smoking a jay, this is okay.

- Every artist is a character.

Period.

- They we gonna
tear it down anyway.

(laughs softly)

- On my gravestone
it's gonna say,

"He died for greater opacity."

(laughs)

- I'm easily amused I guess.

I liked working with the brush.

- It'd be fun having a
sign painter like pull over

and break our balls
about kerning.

- The old timers
would always tell us,

"You realize that you're
just painting signs

for other sign painters."

(laughs)

(suspenseful music)

- There are other options
than just a chunk of plastic

with some stickers on it.

- That was more my
interest, was coming up with

something that was unique,

and wasn't just, you know,

♪ Do-do-do, here ya go ♪

- I'm inspired by artists.

I'm inspired by art.

(suspenseful music)

- Don't you think a
sign is something that

every person somewhere
along the line has tried?

I don't care if you just
take a piece of typing paper

and a magic marker
and you make a-

Everybody, everybody
has dabbled in that

at one time or another but

We're the ones that just

kinda kept on going.

- I got enough of an ego
that tells me that I can do

anything I wanna do.

(suspenseful music)

- Sign Painting

as we know it here in America,
is an American art form.

It's a good 150-years-old,

and it all started

when growers and
manufacturers started

to badge their products.

Before that, you went
to the general store

and said, "I want
five pounds of flour,"

and they had a barrel there
of flour and they'd fill it up

a canvas bag with
five pounds in there,

but you didn't know
where it came from,

I mean it was just,

People's say, "Geez, you know

that flour I got
here the last time,

that wasn't as good as
the flour I got before."

It just came in a
barrel, you didn't know.

So manufacturers said,

"Geez, we gotta sell our
product 'cause out product

is better than our competitors."

They didn't have a big

agencies on Madison Avenue
creating advertising

campaigns for these companies.

And so it was the sign
painters who did this.

- It started going
from an identification,

identifying what
the building was,

and what was in it,

what they sold,

what merchandise it was.

And it started slowly turning
into an advertising medium.

Not only can it identify
what's in this building,

but we can tell the public

we've got better deals
than my neighbor,

or we've got something you
should come and look at.

So it started to
evolve itself into,

not only an identification,
but an advertising medium.

- Everything needed to be done

by someone who had
lettering skills.

Who had lettering skills?

Your local sign man.

That's who had lettering skills.

- Nothing more either that

or just tape some duck
tape up to the edge here

with the texture of this,
it's not gonna be pretty.

I mean it's gonna, We're
gonna put some around.

- That's basically.

Let's tape this Trunk
Club pattern on the wall.

Then we can figure out
exactly if we wanna

go up, down,

a little bit or whatever.

- Yeah, yeah

- Perfect.

- And then we can figure once
we figure out where that is,

and then where we're
gonna have this,

then we can figure our edges,

because I was gonna take
this just a shade a wider.

You know what I'm saying?

- Yeah, Yeah.

- We might wind up

actually just coming
a shade narrower

(paper rustling)

- Every time they get one.

(paper rustling)

- Right there.
- Yeah.

I just want to make
it work on(indistinct)

- I think anytime

somebody asks me what I
do and I say sign painting

is a part of it, I end up having

to really kind of
explain what that is.

I think people don't think of
it as something you might do.

(laughs)

(machine noises)

- When I would talk
to people early on

about starting a sign museum

a lot of them thought I
said "Science Museum."

When they come through and
they see all the types,

the types of materials and
all the types of signs,

painted, glue
chipped, gold leafed,

I often hear the comment,

"You know signs are everywhere,

but I never thought that there's

actually somebody that
has to make those"

- In Chicago, Chicago was known

for having these just
great, great looking wall

signs, all over,

and the colors.

And it was all started by

Beverly Sign Company.

- Huge amounts of people
all over the country,

where they were painting
one little sign painter

little shop in some little
town in a rural area,

or whether it was a big
shop in San Francisco.

Swans-Thomas Swans
Signs had 2030

people working in there.

They had a whole floor of

show card writers on
their second floor.

12 guys doing show cards.

It was a huge entry,

employed a lot of people.

- And so a lot of
artisans gravitated

to sign work and lettering.

And in fact, this was probably
one of half a dozen large

shops that this city
was able to support.

And virtually every
city in the country

was able to support
100 of lettering guys

who could make a good
living painting signs

all day long, and
actually have a life.

(laughs)

- Beverly, at one time had 50

sign painters.

Not 50 employees,

50 sign painters.

Plus the fabrication crews

the installation crews.

The inside people,
the outside people.

The office staff.

I mean, it was just,

I mean that boggles the mind.

- I remember back in the day,

I worked, I was a tattooer, but,

all the tattooers were
sign painters because

of winter time was slow,

a lot of carnies.

So they would go to
Florida and shit and paint

corn dog stands and
candy apple stands,

and fucking merry-go-rounds,

and all that kinda shit

(suspenseful music)

We did the Home Depot stores

and they paid us a lot of money

and they furnished everything.

And we had to paint all
the signs on the inside,

the signs on the outside,
these big huge vinyl awnings,

so we had to paint 'em
with vinyl ink and fitches.

I would go in and
cut the letters in,

and my buddy Alan would go

and roll the centers of them.

And they figured we was
making too much money,

after we did, like,
8 or 10 stores.

So they offered us a job.

They're like, "we're opening
up an art department,

y'all can be the head
of the art department

and they were going to
give us all these shares

at Home Depot

and

we're like screw it,

ain't got time.

I got too many cars to dye,
too many motorcycles to build

too many drugs to do,

'cause this was like, we
were still running crazy

back-all sign painters

were drunk and crazy
dudes back in them days.

- My name is Roderick Treece

and I'm currently living
in San Diego, California.

I've been a sign painter for,

since I don't do math very well,

I started when I was 12.

When I was on the road,

snapping, I was in
Monterey, California.

And I saw a florist shop,

had this beautiful gold
leaf sign on the window

and I called my dad
that night and I said,

"Man I just saw
this gold leaf sign,

and how do you do it?"

He was describing the process

and it was,

I had no concept of what
he was talking about.

It was,

I likened it

to when somebody
described to me how you

developed a black and
white photograph print.

When you, when
they're describing
how the print evolves,

going I don't get, how could
that possibly, I don't get it.

So when I finally
figured it out,

and did it, I immediately
fell in love with it.

(scraping)

And back then if somebody
wanted a gold leaf window

you did it,

but it was just another
thing that you did.

It was part of the entourage.

(Scraping)

- Back in those days all
the lawyers and doctors had

gold leaf signs.

And every time that
one of them died,

you have to go put their name

down in the deceased list,

and then re-alphabetize
everybody else's name.

(laughs)

so there was a lot of gold leaf

laying back then.

Recently they were
doing a little thing

in the student
newspaper about me.

They wanted to have a person
say something about me.

And my friend Eddie Wilson that
owns that Threadgills place

he said to them,

which was really good
because he's good with words,

He's said, "I don't
know what I would have

a description of his style,"
said Eddie Wilson who owns

Threadgills and is a repeat
Martin Sign customer,

"I just think of
it as Gary Martin.

It is a combination

of quality, style, and a retro
sense that he didn't have

to go back to, he brought
it forward with him."

Which means, I'm old.

(laughs)

Which I liked.

(laughs)

I brought you here, this one,

'cause it was Rock of Ages.

That sign is getting kinda old,

but I do all their
work for them.

I painted that one,
but I didn't design it.

I guess I kinda did.

It was like, that
signs from like,

I found out in a field,
and I remodeled it.

They didn't like
that man, they said,

"He looks like he
needs a haircut."

And I said, "I'm
not changing it."

It's like,

(laughs)

It was so hot this summer.

It was 187 days of
over 100 degrees.

The devil took over.

I noticed people
taking pictures of that

and selling them as
Austin souvenirs.

I don't know if I could get any

royalties out of it or not,

but,

I basically do it all for me,

and it will work out
for the other people,

if I like it.

All original.

I mean, I copied the style,

'cause, it's basically
like a 1940's style,

its just a little bit fancier.

I thought, well if I
really wanna become

like a real good sign painter,

I'm gonna have to
go to a big city.

I called up the
union there and said

"What's the chance of,
like, an apprentice

type person getting a job in
the sign shop there, at Union?"

And they said like, "zero."

And I said, "Okay, I'll
see you in two weeks."

And so I went there and got a
job right away in a big shop.

So I just kept painting signs

and eventually, it kinda of,

I'm not saying it paid off,

I'm not rich or anything,

but it's like, I think I
made the right decision.

Well I did like that little
sign, I thought it was nice.

With a nice little
terrier on it.

That's about it.

(vacuum hoovering)

- This old sign kit man, it's
where all the good shit is at.

This just,

the base color for everything.

- I've been fascinated
by colors and letters,

letters are really cosmic
things because of, the whole

universe is made out
of them really like,

with those letters
you can make any name

in the whole universe.

I never get tired of it.

It's like a meditation where
I got into my own world,

just pure attention.

This is the best
sales office I've had.

I got all my order catalogs,

my alphabet books.

You know I got my tax records,

my work orders, my new
business policy, $250 minimum,

pay in advance,

because people are not
paying their bills,

driving me nuts.

I can be really nice
or really crazy,

I'm trying to develop in
between, because when bills

how do you get your money

when someone owes you
money they won't pay?

I mean, I try to refrain
from becoming anti-social,

but-

Here's our, this is my sign kit.

There's about $1,000 worth
of brushes right in here.

These are the quills.

These are sword stripers
or dagger brushes.

This is what they
use on the cars,

I'm not very good at this,

they just run the perfect
pinstripes like that,

down the thing, so,

this is what it's all
about for me right here.

- This is a liner,

so you have a thinner,
this is for doing lines,

obviously.

You got your truck brushes,

a little bit bigger and
seem to work very well

on trucks and not
very well other place,

badger hair, squirrel hair,

it's kind of whatever
you have on hand

is what you use a lot of times.

I was just doing art,

I was doing some signs
for some chicken coops

and garden signs and
just different things.

I was just trying to keep
my hands busy I guess.

And,

just kinda needed to
figure out something to do

that to pay the bills.

♪ Far from weak ♪

♪ So you fall from love ♪

♪ Wait till after the storm ♪

♪ With the same eyes ♪

♪ And lace ribbons in creeks ♪

♪ So you jump for luck ♪

- It's alright, I guess.

I started working with 1
Shot about eight years ago

but there's the Ronan
Company, which makes a

variety of oil-based,
water-based Japan colors,

then there's regular
oil-based, regular latex,

I mean I guess 1
Shots is a go-to

paint for anything exterior,

for myself, anyway.

- Traditional signs,
you mix colors,

and there's a whole unlimited
palate of colors in there.

Now the window splash

you don't wanna mix colors
because they get muddy.

You have to use what
manufacturers make,

and there's basically about
five basic colors that I use,

Saturn Yellow, Arc
Yellow, Yellow Orange,

which is almost a
school bus color,

and then there's Blaze Orange,
which is a middle orange,

then there's Rocket
Red, and then the blue

that I used is a florescent,
it's called Horizon Blue,

and then Aurora Pink.

Now Aurora Pink I
don't use a lot of.

A lot of people,
I tell my students

or anyone that
asks, never use pink

without asking the
customer first,

some people don't like it.

I'm Nick Barber, I paint
temporary window signs

all over Southern California.

Have fun all the time.

Other than talent scout
for Spearmint Rhino,

and taste tester for Sara Lee,

I think I got one of
the best jobs around.

It started out here
in the late 60's.

There's a guy from New York

drove cross country, did
a few of 'em in Texas,

then he got out
here and he thought,

"let's paint temporary
signs in water color

that they can change
every couple weeks."

And it evolved from there.

Back when I started,

I bought a bunch of
these font catalogues

and I would spend my
time drawing them,

and at first I was doing just,

real Looney Toon
cartoon lettering,

and some of my more,

some of my customers
weren't into it.

They were not liking it.

They wanted something a
little more structural,

a little more
professional looking,

so I had to bite the bullet
and learn that to survive.

You know I love
mixing up the fonts,

I love adding,

contrasting loose fonts
against structural fonts,

thick against thin.

That's where you
get your eye appeal.

- "Love your font."

Well, I say,

"thank you, I've
designed many of 'em,

which, which one
do you like best?"

"No, I mean, what
you just wrote.

I like the font you used."

They are misappropriating
the terminology.

And they don't know better

because all they
have for reference is

the font menu on the computer,

and that is taken to
mean, lettering style.

So, I design type, and
I also design lettering.

- My name is Ken Barber

and I am a letterer and type
designer at House Industries.

We would get these
calls from people,

and I remember it was
a catalog that said

"House Industries:

Where Custom Type
is King" I think.

I'm not sure what
that means exactly,

but,

that's what it said.

And we got a call
and someone said,

"yeah I want that font,

that says 'Where
Custom Type is King'"

And we would have this
conversation, and we still have

conversations like this,
"well, that's lettering,

that's not a type face."
"Oh, well yeah, I want that."

"Well okay, we can draw
something for you."

And, we normally get,

if they're calling us,
normally get a little bit of,

dead air time on
the phone there,

before they tell us,

"Well that will take too
long" or something like that,

"I just want a font"

So we run into that and we'd

have to explain to people,

well, lettering is really
a drawing of a letter

or a group of letters,

and it's just that single
context, that's it.

As opposed to a type
face, where a type face is

a group of letter forms
that work in a system

and the context is mutable,

and it has to be designed
with that in mind.

And, the great thing
about a piece of lettering

is there's a warmth and
an individuality to it.

- When Ed and I
teamed up in '76,

and I said to Eddie
said, "Well let's get

our work next to our
competitors to be."

And one was a policeman,

and the other was
a car salesman.

And these guys were
masquerading as sign painters,

and so I did a card sign,

and this is what's
left of the card signs,

it was originally as
big as this orange one

behind it, but it had to
be cut down for a display.

And so,

I got my girlfriend at
the time to place an order

with these other two guys with
the exact wording and size.

Well, the first guy we
got was the car salesman

and this is what
he came up with.

He got the size right,
and that's about all.

Never the less, this is
single stroke lettering,

and he didn't spend
a lot of time fussing

with serifs like I did.

This is an hours worth of work
and our shop rate at the time

was $15 an hour,

so this is what you get for $15.

He charged $12, for this.

The policeman came up with this

you look at this character,

you wonder is that
a poorly formed 'M'

or a poorly formed 'N'?

It's hard to tell.

This guy-

- Well, not only that,

the smudge mark there.

- He had to white out
something that he misspelled.

Why this is so large.

The only thing
that I can see that

my example had in common
with the one done by

the policeman was he puts a
curl on the 'W' and so do I.

(laughs)

That is the extent of it.

So he charged $10 for this.

So you got $10, $12, or $15,

and which one do you
want for your money?

Well, you decide.

So we put these in our shop,

and explained that yeah,
okay $15 at the time seemed

like a pretty high shop rate,

but you do get something
that looks like a sign.

When I was a kid I was

helping my dad paint,
and my mom comes up

and she gave us a popsicle,

me and my dad a popsicle.

He was rolling and I
had the paint brush.

I licked the paintbrush,

instead of the popsicle.

That's how my
paint days started.

(background noise)

(paper rustling)

- Just lightweight paper
here that's getting me.

I'm used to using that
heavy old brown paper.

(upbeat music)

- I'm Norma Jeanne Maloney

and I'm in Austin, Texas.

I think how, well I know
how I became a sign painter

was when a fascination as a
small child with typography

and my dad was in the
army so we traveled

around America quite a bit.

So I got to pick where we
stayed based on the sign,

like Dad would say,
"where we staying Jeanne?"

and I'm like, "I like the
color TV part of that thing",

just the colors

and the type, kinda
sick, a little bit sick,

but, my friend's mom needed
her storefront lettering redone

and she said, "Oh well
you're good at art,

maybe you could do this?"

And I had no idea what
kind of paint to use,

or how these
techniques were done,

so I went to the craft
store and got model

airplane paint in
those little bottles.

And I'm out there struggling.

I'm just going over the
lettering that's already there,

and I'm just making streak marks

and the paint's
running down my arm,

and I'm cursing, and I'm
completely frustrated.

And I'm like how do
these people do this,

how do they do it where
it's just opaque and smooth

and,

I suck.

And this guy came
up on his bicycle

and he had a beard and he said

"young lady are you
a sign painter?"

And I was like, "No,
and I never could be,

there's no way, this is awful,

this horrible, I'm
not enjoying this."

And so I was getting
like fifty bucks,

which was a huge amount of
money for a 19 year old to have

in your wallet, but I
was there for two days

before he showed
up, trying to just

do this simple little sign,

and he said, "I'll
be right back."

So he came back with 1
Shot, a Langnickel brush,

and he got it all worked up for
me, and he said, "Try this."

I was like, "Wow,
this is incredible,

this is amazing,

Thank you," And he was
just peddling away.

I'm like, "Thank you stranger?"

- I feel like I meet
a lot of people who,

they'll say, "Oh my grandfather
was a sign painter,"

because it used to be
a much more common job

than it is now.

Like it, that,

You're right, that's the
way everything was done

and now it's unique.

I don't know too many people
my age who are doing it.

My name is Jeff Canham

we're in San Francisco,
California in my studio

in the Sunset District.

I'm 35-years-old

I started painting signs
about five years ago

and haven't stopped since.

When I went to school,

my focus was typography.

I got a Bachelor of Fine
Arts in graphic design

with an emphasis in typography

and at the time I went
to school it was kind of

it was an interesting time

because they were still
teaching all the traditional

means of graphic design,

I learned how to do everything
on the letter press,

and learned how to cut
and paste everything

and was taught how to do
everything on the computer.

So I was really, I don't
know, lucky in that sense,

and I really liked
all the old methods

and that kind of

I guess that's still
apparent in the stuff that I

do now, because I'm
interested in old techniques

and combining them
with the new ones too.

So, when I moved
to San Francisco

a friend of mine was
opening up a new shop

and went to New Bohemia
Signs and I went with him,

loved what they were doing,

and asked them about
how to get involved,

and they said, you could
do an apprenticeship,

and that's how it started.

I guess I was more
interested in learning

the techniques and applying
them to other things.

I mean, I love
painting signs too,

but, there's, in my experience,

not a whole lot of money in it.

I don't know that I could
really make a career

just painting signs,

so I think yeah for me that's

been one of the more
interesting things,

is learning how to do it all

and then applying it to
graphic design or fine art.

It just worked out
that I was there

five years, you know, so.

(cool music)

- The original
space that I was in

was behind the Elixir
bar at 16th and Guerrero

and most of the
space was taken up by

two gigantic keg refrigerators.

I'm Damon Styer

and I'm the proprietor
of New Bohemia Signs.

Which is where
we're at right now.

The business, it
was started in '93,

and I think in the
first three years

Steve Carbo, who'd founded
it, says they were growing,

doubling in size each year.

The place had built
up a lot of good will

and had a lot of
beautiful signs,

basically even when Steve and
Eve had left for New Orleans.

I came in in June of '99,
looking for an apprenticeship.

So I ended up,

while I was still apprenticing
as a sign painter,

managing the shop up here
and basically I would come

in and practice for about
a half hour every day

and then take photographs
of the practices

and snail mail them to

New Orleans, where
they would look at them

and give me an idea about
what it is I should practice

this week.

Basically what happened
is, by December,

well even before
December of '99,

they decided, like this
just isn't working out,

it's too much of a
hassle for them down in

down in New Orleans
to manage this thing,

it's not making enough money,

there wasn't, it
wasn't all that busy

so either help us close it
down, or we'll sell it to you,

and so I scrambled
resources and found a friend

who was willing to
loan me the pittance,

really that they
were asking for it

and bought it from 'em.

And then had to make like I
was an expert sign painter

with years of experience
to every new customer

that came in the door.

With a lot of people,

I'm not sure why it
occurs to them to call us,

because a lot of people call up

and they just want a
sign quick and cheap,

and I don't know if
something about our ad

in the Yellow Pages

in that particular
edition stood out or what.

But, in fact, I just heard Scott

on the phone not
twenty minutes ago,

saying something,

"Yeah you know, everything
we do is hand painted

yeah, maybe we'll send
you to budget signs."

And it doesn't come to us.

But there does seem to be some

segment of the population

that they want it
to be hand painted

and they're delighted
to have found that

someone is still doing that.

- So full on there
a little bit better.

- [Man] No I didn't.

- I'm going to cut a little
bit of water in here I think

(indistinct)

- Kinda got an
angled coat on it,

and so you can get in there
and dab paint in the corners

and all that shit.

It didn't have the
angle on there,

then you get a
viscocity breakdown

- [Man] That's the best paint.

(engine revving)

- It's a nice,
quaint little town.

These are reflective,
so lights behind me,

I don't use a maul stick.

I've always been, what's
called, 'Pinky Down.'

When I was in sign school,

you had to learn with
everything and then

whatever was
comfortable with you,

that's what you would work with.

And, sometimes I'll use

a maul stick if I'm
working where it's wet

and I need to shadow

but otherwise I
just go pinky down.

When were doing signs

we're making money
for other people.

And what I tell people when
I'm selling them a sign,

is you're gonna make
more money on this sign

than I ever will.

If my sign does the job
that it's supposed to do

like a store front,
or a truck letter.

I mean, I've had signs

out there for 20 years,

that the store front
might have been

$700, well it's time
to redo that sign,

you get more than your
money out of that.

(cool music)

- So I am Margarie Garrison,

and you're at my home in Echo
Park Los Angeles, California.

My process varies
really depending

on who I am working
for, who the client is.

I mean, maybe that's an obvious

thing to say, but in some cases,

I have totally taken the
design process off site

and it's something
I do on my own.

I have always had a crush on
graphic design I would say

but, so I don't have a
graphic design background,

but I do think that the way
that I come into projects

and approach projects
probably does

mirror graphic design in a way,

because I think it is,

sometimes someone has
no idea what they want,

they're really open minded,

they might have a color
that turns them on,

or the design might really
be driven by the space

that's available and

I get to take something
and really run with it.

I think that I stepped
into a trade that is

so established,
and historically,

you spend years apprenticing

before you ever go
onsite for a job.

So, the way that I've
gotten into sign painting

is somewhat accidental,

but now very intentional.

I think LA has a really
interesting mix of,

higher design hand-painted work,

but then so much
incredible folk work,

that's just beautiful
and full of character,

and I feel like that
kind of sign work

you can really take,

you can really get a sense
of someone's personality,

and there's so much
of that here in LA.

Here's the thing about
me as a sign painter,

I have made certain
things up on the fly,

but I have also called
every single sign painter

in the book to ask them
ridiculous questions,

I mean I have called
and emailed John Downer,

I've talked to every
time I'm in San Francisco

I stop in at Damon's place and
I pepper him with questions,

And what's been amazing
is that response.

I mean, they're
so willing to talk

you through problem
solving on a job,

which has been great.

There are so many tricks
that would make sign painting

easier you pick that
up by learning from

and working with people who
have really done it for years

and I haven't had
that opportunity yet.

But I would love for that
to happen at some point.

(gentle music)

- The public perception

of what I do that's always
been a mystery to me actually.

So I don't know, it's, my
stuff's too wildly diverse

to say does it trend
towards anything,

and I kind of push everything

to the comical, because it's
a sign, it's not fine art.

I don't really have
to worry about that,

it's just a sign, it's meant to

convey information
and be attractive.

Be decorative and
informative at the same time.

- I think probably
as kids growing up

we all took for granted
how much of a part

he had in the urban landscape,

but I don't think
that any of us were

fully aware that that
was attached to a person.

So we're approaching a kind of,

prime example of what
me and Phil like to do,

and would really
taking the building,

and using the whole
building as our surface.

That's Scott Fitzgerald's

granddaughter and great
granddaughter confirmed

that it looked like
him, so that was good.

So we yeah, we just
used an actual picture,

we went to the historical
society in, right up the hill,

and had them print
out a picture of him

and his wife at the
Whitby Yacht Club.

So we used that religiously,

that was what we
used all day long.

It's always been a
real challenge for me

to be a sign painter.

I'm not a natural talent,

I don't have a natural
hand and I'm not

I can't just pull the things
out of my back pocket.

I have to draft, and design,

and ruminate over them.

- But there isn't old
timers around anymore

I guess I'm an old timer,

and I don't consider
myself really an old timer.

I didn't really start
until I was 26, I'm 58 now.

I constantly learn stuff.

I've been better as a letterer,

but, I really enjoy
getting outside,

getting up on ladders
and painting a building.

- That's about 77 feet,

I think up and

it's about a 60 foot sign.

- We had to drag all this
heavy equipment up an elevator,

that was a big deal.

And we had to assemble
it on the roof,

and then lower it.

- And so that was made
all with drafted patterns.

So what we did was
took the photo,

we made a copy of it,

and then we projected
it in the shop

on the projection wall at the,

we did a lot of trial and
error in terms of going

the right distance without
distorting the image,

so it came to be about 44
inches that we could work it

that wasn't distorted.

So we just blew it up to
scale with center lines

and just really worked out
the math and then blew it up.

So each,

so that's like, 15, 20
patterns at 40 inches wide.

Just paper patterns
with the pouncing wheel

I'm sure you've seen it all
before, but done just that way.

With the center line.
- Once we got out there,

we were amazed with how
little information it give us.

- Yeah, you realize that
you really have nothing

and then two guys stand
really close to each other

and look at a photo together.

(laughs)

One of the biggest
differentiating

factors of signs is that
there is a wrong way to do it.

An art naturally can
subject itself to abuse

'cause there isn't
necessarily a truth to art,

because you're
pursuing yourself.

And you're pursuing
an exploration of
your ego and your self

there isn't really
right or wrong.

Signs, you're pursuing
the ego of your client

and the truth behind
letter formation.

So there is a right and a wrong.

- And when you go
paint on a building,

it was not like fine art.

I mean it's like you might
wanna do something extra

to the building,

but you realize
there's a certain

kinda limit, you do it and
then you say, okay, stop.

And it's done and don't hang out

and work on it anymore.

It's done.

It's just a sign.

And-

(jazz music)

- I just read this book, called,

"Sign Painters Don't Read Signs"

and it's an autobiography
by a sign painter

from Portland written
in the late 1950's.

And his perspective
on sign painting

is that it was
completely permanent.

That there was no topping a
sign painter as a visual artist.

And that the sign industry,

the hand painted sign
industry was here to say.

And his confidence it so
heartbreaking to read.

Because he is just so
proud of the industry

that he's involved in.

It's heartbreaking
to read about.

(jazz music)

- I get a call
from this young guy

and I'm talking to
him on the phone

and had quite a
conversation with him.

I get off the phone
and I turn to this,

one of the other
guys that was there

and I says, "I don't
know who this kids is but

he's gonna be,

if he's got any talent at all,

he's gonna be a sign painter.

He's really gonna be it

because he's got the
fire in the belly."

I mean it's not like

"Geez, I'd like to
be a sign painter.

It's like, I gotta
be a sign painter.

I have to do this.

This is what I have to do.

And,

so,

It was Mark Oatis.

- My name is Mark Oatis

- Oh, I'm Rose Oatis.

- And we are here in our
studio in Anderson, Nevada.

(gentle music)

This has been an adventure that

has been unfolding
for 30 odd years.

We met at Jerry
Albright's sign school.

We're both, Rose
was an apprentice

and I was a newly
minted journeyman
back in the late '70's

when we got together.

- I guess about the first year,

I was in school at Albright's,
he had a Christmas Party,

and he used to invite
sign shop owners

and people

who were working in the trade
to come in and talk to the

apprentices, and
that's when I met Mark.

But he had a lot to say.

(laughs)

- In 200... I think it was 2001

John invited us to a
type design seminar

that he was giving out
in Denver, Colorado.

And it was at this shop
of a guy named Mark Oatis.

And Mark Oatis is one of
the original Letterheads.

And the Letterheads were
a bunch of guys who met

like in the mid 70's.

- We would just get together,

usually in one of the
shops of one of the guys

who was self employed,

to talk about a lot of the stuff

we were really interested in,

as far as trends and designs,

particularly old techniques

that we would learn
about in sign books,

was not being taught in the
shops where we were working.

- The old guys were a little
guarded about their techniques

and their process and
everything like that,

and these younger guys

they were just really
hungry to learn.

And what they did
was meet and start

to share some of these things

that they were learning.

- Like one night we would
work on gold leaves,

some other time we
would bring in somebody

who was really
skilled on show cards.

- They would dig
through old books,

they would try new techniques
they hadn't before.

And so it was kind of,

I don't know if you call
it a Renaissance exactly.

- And then in 1972 Noel Webber,

who had,

recently moved to Boise,

held the first meeting
outside of Denver.

That meeting was attended
by 70 or 80 people.

Then a meeting in Oklahoma

that was hosted by Mike
Jackson six months later

had about 150.

And then, that began
the modern movement.

The name is Letterheads

and it was coined
by Earl Vehill,

who just happened to use that

and the finer points of whether

or not there was any link
between anything else

that people might have
been doing recreational.

(laughs)

recreationally at that
time is lost to obscurity.

- Okay there gonna have a
little Letterheads meeting,

so I'm there and their
going through this,

so I kinda go off to the
back of the room there,

and Mark says, well he says,

"We got some business now
we got to take care of,"

like that so I step
back, get out of the way.

This is their thing,

and so Mark says well,

"We gotta new member
we gotta initiate

into the Letterheads."

So, I absolutely didn't
think it had anything

to do with me,

So they,

next thing I knew they call

on me and had me go up there

and I had to through
the oath and everything

like that, and that I was
the one that had inspired 'em

to put this thing together.

And they told me what the motto

of the Letterhead is,

You, you do know the motto?

Well just about the time
you get to thinking that,

you've found a cure
for the common cold,

you're really thinking
you're pretty well hot stuff

and you remember the motto.

It's, IOAFS,

"It's Only A Fucking Sign"

(indistinct)

- I think we're okay
here for a minute.

(paper rustling)

There's little
holes in this paper

it's called pounce
pattern and there's,

oh shit, I got a lot
of chalk on there,

there's holes in the,

you can see the holes

through the back side
of the paper here

and then when you rub
the charcoal over it,

it just goes through there.

What's the guy, he was the
guy who did all the stuff

on the mural work
on the ceiling?

Michael Angelo, yeah.

He did pounce pattern.

Yeah, he draw shit out
like this on paper,

and pounce it

but they had a
little wheel, with,

kinda like a little pizza
cutter, with spike on it,

little spur, and that'd
poke holes in it,

and they just rub
powdered charcoal on it,

so at least that gave
him some outlines

and he could lay on his
back and make it happen.

- There was a guy that had a
video, he was from California,

named Mike Stevens.

And a lot of people,
including myself,

tell people that are just
going into the business,

you gotta get this

'The Art of Hand
Lettering' by Mike Stevens.

And he showed everything,

and it was, sometimes
the way he talked

or what you were reading
would go over your head,

a lot of big words,

it's like, just show
me how you did that,

but at least he was somebody
that started all of this.

And that was before a lot of

us were using the word font,

it was, "oh that's a
Mike Stevens' alphabet.

I like that casual,
or this or that.

And he set a whole
precedence for

and really made
something we could go by

otherwise we had
nothing to go by.

- I started buying the
Sign Craft magazines

and just looking at all
these amazing people.

And Mike Stevens, he was
a big show card artist

sign painter,

I would say one of the
best living sign painters

that I got the
opportunity to meet,

I was having a sign
class in Lexington

and I'm like, oh my god,
Mike Stevens is coming

to Lexington I'm
gonna study with him

and it was really
expensive at the time,

it was $700 and some dollars,

which when you're that young,

to come up with
that kinda money,

but a bunch of friends
of mine banded together

and got the money for me.

And unfortunately,

I'm getting ready to take
this class with Mike,

and I get there on the first
day and there's no one else.

Not one single other student.

And you know he was so cute,
he had coffee and donuts

and little lane nickels
that weren't used

lined up, and he
was just devastated.

I mean visually devastated.

And, he said, "I
don't think I can

have this class with
just one student."

And I said,

"Please don't send me away,

I mean I've been looking
forward to it for weeks,"

and he said, "I can see
you got fire in your belly,

let's do this thing."

His hand would
just be like this,

and as soon as that
brush hit the surface

it was just like magic,

just I would just sit there
and watch him and just be like,

oh my god.

So I was a student for
two weeks with him,

and he passed away.

He had a heart attack.

(engine revving)

- First time I saw a
computer was in '82.

There in Moore, Oklahoma.

It was, real basic, and
it was real expensive

and didn't do much.

And Mike Stevens was there

and Mike and I knew
one another real well.

He's the one who did the book,

"Mastering Layout:
The Art of Eye Appeal"

And we used to fight
all the time about

terminology, and
stuff like that.

But it was

in the pursuit of knowledge.

And he says, "well you
know, the computer is gonna

put some of the mediocre
sign painters out of work

and like that,"

but he says, "It isn't
gonna affect the good guys."

And I said,

"well, I hope you're right
Mike," but I says, "I doubt it."

I says, "The problem
with technology is

it never stands still.

Next year this machine is
gonna do ten times things

that it doesn't do now.

And it's gonna be cheaper.

And the year after that
it's gonna do 20 times

as many things as it does now.

And it's gonna be cheaper."

And that's what's happened.

That's what's happened.

- When I worked at a place
called Darnell Advertising

years and years and years ago,

back in the 60's

and,

I remember, in the 70's,

late 70's, early 80's,

Dusty was telling me, he's
like the guy that owned

the place, was
telling me, he's like,

"One of these days there's going

to be a prima donna
motherfucker you gonna

all y'all prima donna
motherfuckers are gonna get

put out of business, yeah
you're gonna make something

that's gonna put you
all out of business."

And that's what
the fuck happened.

- And we joke about
the electric penci-

electric brush but
have a wire out the end

and you have a brush
and it would just paint.

Two years later

we started to see the
first vinyl come out.

- It was quite a an occasion.

I know it was in White Plains,
New York in September 1982,

a company came
out with a plotter

that could actually
cut out vinyl letters.

They had this
computer that would

either pounce, pounce
letters, cut out letters,

had a pencil that
could draw a pattern,

so it's called the Sign Maker 3.

- It's the very first Sign,
vinyl sign lettering cut out

machine they had,

I don't ever hardly use it.

- And we all kinda thought,

Where are they gonna use this?

Maybe they can
use it in windows,

'cause usually paint
doesn't stick too good

to windows on the outside.

I thought there was a
lot of different things

they could do with it.

Well as things progressed,

more and more people
bought these machines,

and then, more and more
people were using them

in different areas where
we normally would paint,

on vehicles, on windows,

and trucks.

Just regular signs.

- Now, in our industry
has changed because

we had people buy the software,

no background, no design,
no layout, no technique.

They just go in to business
and they virtually decimated

our whole industry
as far as pricing

and getting a decent living,

because they charge too
cheap, they do shoddy work.

And in a general
sense, it's just

part of our culture.

Our culture is being dumbed down

on every level.

Aesthetically, especially.

- Well that was a true
nightmare when that

movement came where
all of those little,

franchise things opened up.

Any area that those
guys came into,

just wiped out little guys

that were doing
really neat work,

but it just wiped
them out, because,

oh, well we've just gotta
go down to the corner

to the little strip mall

and get these guys to do it.

None of these guys
had any background

in the sign making
world, at all.

No back ground and
design, nothing.

It's just, you can cut
out these many letters,

out of this many
square feet of vinyl,

and make this much
money, and that's what

motivated 'em.

And it almost wiped
out the whole industry.

- People just kinda
have come to expect,

if they order a sign now,

that they're gonna be
able to get it overnight.

Sometimes it is hard to explain,

Well, gee, you have drying time,

you can't, if it's hand done,

it's not gonna be instant.

- I got a feeling
10 years from now,

something that's produced today,

a car something that
somebody wrapped,

it's gonna be gone.

You're never gonna
see the history

of what was produced in 2011.

I can go still see the history
that was produced in 1960

because somewhere

there's a truck, somewhere
there's a sign on a wall

that's still there.

And that's the part about
it that is really sad.

- It's, all about the bottom
line and no longer about

the quality of life, the good
things, the right things.

It's always about the fast
things, the cheap things.

And certainly

our industry has been
impacted by that.

- But how many people
dropped down the brush

and got a machine
is astounding to me.

I mean hundreds of sign painters
just threw in the towel,

like had been lettering
signs for years and said,

"Well, we got this
plotter and it's faster

and there's more money
in it, and might as well"

How do you walk away from
your craft like that?

I just don't, I can't wrap
my brain around it at all.

- Everything's disposable.

I never thought that I
would stop painting signs.

I never thought about
that they would make,

a computer would
come out and punch

out these vinyl letters

I mean it still can't do as
pretty of stuff as you can

by hand but still, it put a
lot of people out of business.

But the world's changed,
totally changed.

I'm glad I'm on the back side.

I got the good end of the stick.

Just these little young kids now

they're the one's who's
gonna have it tough.

Back in the day,

hell, you could get in a pile

and do whatever
you wanted to do.

Can't do any of
that stuff no more.

So...

(gentle music)

(car honks)

- I think that every
human being has the

capability of altering their
environment for the better

with their bare hands.

In the past 10 years
I've done nothing

but market myself as an artist.

Market myself as a sign painter.

At first I knew I
had a very long road

before me, and I still do.

I don't have anyone to
teach me how to do this,

I'm gonna have to
do this old school,

I'm gonna have to hustle
it like a salesman

and just fake it.

And I totally, to some
degree, am still faking it,

because I haven't had
any formal training,

but, all of those place
I started working for

10 years ago,

and I went in there and I said,

I am a sign painter.

I can paint a sign and I
had no idea how to do it,

but I figured it
out along the way,

and it worked,

so,

and I've gotten to this
somewhat comfortable position

where it's not hard
for me to make rent.

It's not hard for
me to pay bills,

or buy a new truck, or, you
know, take care of myself.

But, it's really hand
to mouth, and it's easy

for me to go round up a
couple thousand dollars

if I need it in a month

And that feels good,
but at the same time,

it's not secure.

I still know that I
need a backup plan.

That I'm not gonna be
able to do this forever.

That I'm not gonna be
able to retire on this.

(gentle music)

- I'm Paul Lindahl,
Co-founder of Colossal Media.

- I'm Adrian Moeller,
Co-founder of Colossal Media.

- [Man 2] We're an
all hand paint outdoor

advertising company.

- [Adrian] This is our shop

in Brooklyn, New York.

(gentle music)

(upbeat music)

- [Paul] Training
somebody to learn

how to do this,
really takes about,

five to seven years
to get somebody

from the point of
walking in the door

and not knowing anything,

to knowing all the stuff in
between and being able to,

execute any project.

(upbeat music)

- The sign is, I think 50
feet, maybe a little taller

and then the wall
is probably 70 feet.

That guys a sign painter.

A common misconception
that we have

a lot is that, you know,
oh I'm a good artist,

I can be good at that.

They look up at the walls

and they see, oh,
that's a great painting,

I'm a great painter, I
would be a good match.

But they're not considering
all the things that

lead up to that final product
that are so important.

- All these guys call me the ox,

because I like to
fucking pull the shit up

We're setting up,
like, our climbing

cables that we raise up
and down the building on.

And what were doing
back here are parapet

clamps, which are secondary
safety line supports.

Painting, too much rain is
when the water is dripping

down the wall, and
rigging, I guess tsunami

would be too much water.

- You can't just get people
in here who are going to slug

through stuff, because
we spent so much time

trying to establish ourselves

as like, a hands down like,
excellent company to work with

You put all that stuff
on the line every time,

you show up to work

and we need to feel confident

that the people
that are out there

are going to town for
the sake of themselves,

and the sake of the company,

and the sake of the people
that are around them.

It's a pretty big undertaking.
At the end of the day.

It's more than just
a job, for sure.

A cool part about it,
about being a painter,

is that you can always
grow as a painter

you can always get
better as a painter.

We get a lot of
appreciation from the public

about keeping something
like this going,

and more and more,
people are like,

"Oh, that's Colossal, we
see your stuff everywhere,

we love what you guys do.

Good job, way to keep
this thing going."

There is that, yeah romance

there's not a whole
lot of room for it,

because we gotta get stuff done.

- My name is Stephen Powers.

I am a sign painter.

I am an artist.

Sign painters are subjected
to their clientele.

Where they're supposed to paint,

how they're supposed to paint.

I've reversed that
trend a little bit

by being my own client.

I work from the point of view
that a sign painter would.

Certain techniques

and certain ways of

painting that I think are
right and correct are because

sign painters did it first.

Sign painters showed
me those rules

and those ways.

Over 100 years of the sign
painting tradition that I'm

looking at and learning from.

A love letter for you

was, a project where I

kinda meshed the elements of
sign painting, wall painting,

and ultimately graffiti,

and I made a very adult version

of what graffiti is to me,
and always has been to me.

And that is, a vehicle for
projecting larger ideas.

I understand design and
I understand fine art,

but when it comes
to painting signs

in a design or a
fine art context,

the sign writer is the
ultimate judge of what's right.

Not the designer, not the

million dollar graphic
specialist, or the architect.

It's the guy ultimately

with the brush, that's
looking at the wall

or looking at the sign,

that I think in my world
has ultimate authority.

It works best when you let
the sign painter do his

or her job and paint the sign.

(indistinct)

- [Woman] It right actually.

(indistinct)

- I'm Sean Starr.

I own Starr Studios.

One huge project this
summer was for The Gap,

the jeans company.

And that to me was
very intriguing to
try and understand why

they wanted to bring
in hand painted signs

and from the
conversations I had there,

they're trying to go back to

the passion and roots that
launched them in 1969.

And instead of just the
corporate, polished,

plasticy kinda stuff that

everyone else is doing.

They're trying to reignite
the passion that got

them started and that's what

they're to reestablish
now, is bringing in,

Craftsman on every level.

We've gone through so many years

in this country where
everything's become
so homogenized and

strip malls,

and just everything
is watered down,

that a lot of companies have

lost sight, that it
is that old passion

that got them started

and got them successful
in the first place.

So that for us is very exciting,

because we see that potential of

being able to do what we
do and that spreading to

sign painters in other cities.

Which I find exciting,

just if nothing else,

for the cultural
aspect of this country

that has been so washed
out for so long now.

- Well, part of what's
going wrong with us is

a lot of guys getting
older are quitting

We got a whole new generation
of project managers

and executives in
these companies,

they came up with the
computer, they don't even

know that you can
have a wall sign.

That's why you're seeing
these horrible plastic

banners advertising
quality companies.

You go, oh that looks
like fly by night.

Why don't they do
a real wall job?

So I'm thinking it's
up to me to go around,

talk to these people, say,

"Look, here's what
we can do for you."

I go out, I say,

"Good to meet ya,
let's see now,"

and then I study the
buildings on either side,

and the color, and I see well
who's gonna see this sign?

What angle are they gonna
come from on the street

at how many miles an hour?

So I'm really trying to

serve the client,
'cause half the time,

they design something on
a screen, you put it up,

it just doesn't get it.

- Vinyl is the new way,
but it's not painting,

and yeah, when I get
to paint a building,

yeah it is a little
bit of a victory.

Over vinyl.

(laughs)

Victory over vinyl.

That's a good name
for a sign shop.

- What's the first thing a
sign does when it gets old?

- It fades.

We're gonna take
some paint off here.

(scratching)

Darken there that's about right.

Now we haven't done any
painting techniques at all,

all we've done is scrape.

What do you think?

- [Man 3] It looks good

- It looks aged already.
- [Man 3] It looks pretty old.

- We have four levels,
and beginning to advance.

I teach all four levels

in the same room
in the same time.

These are beginning students.

We're five weeks into
the 16 week semester.

They've already learned how

to draw the letters
with a pencil.

Just regular block,
standard letters,

and now they're learning
to handle a brush.

If you see the
charts, they're making

vertical strokes, horizontal
strokes, and diagonal strokes.

They're bored out
of their skulls.

But it's a challenge and
they're improving every day.

Once we get the
basic strokes down,

in a week and a half, we'll
start forming the letters.

'Cause we teach exact
lettering science,

it's not just a guess it's
got to be almost perfect.

And there is always a demand
for hand crafted whatever.

I don't care what it is.

There's always a
demand, someone wants,

I don't want it done by
a computer or a machine

I don't want the short cut,

I want it done the right way,

I want it done the real way.

I used to get people coming
in my shop and they say,

"Can you do something besides
those stick on things,

I don't want stick on letters?"

I said, "You mean, painting?"

and they'd say,
"yeah, painting!"

Like they'd never heard
of what that was before.

"Sign painting."

I'd say, "Yeah, we
still do that here."

So every time I turn
out the real deal,

one of these students who'll
go out there, yeah, I'm glad,

because they're gonna
keep this craft alive,

and they're gonna keep it going.

(bell rings)

- And it get refreshing to
see especially young people

interested in sign
painting for example

and focusing on this one craft,

and educating themselves.

- There's still now
a place for brush,

where like say in the 80's
and you're already 90's

and it was gone away and

looks like well nobody
cares about it any longer,

well they do and
it's showing up now

(upbeat music)

- I just got a call
here two, three days ago

from a real good friend of mine.

He told me there's a major
company in the United States

that wants to have
all their sign work

done by hand with paint.

- If you follow every
known law in the sign game,

you will be a
master sign painter,

or you will at least
do a sign that works.

That's correct.

(upbeat music)

- I mean you can
be rolling in signs

every day for five months

and then have three months
where there's nothing.

And you gotta be a certain
kinda person to do that,

but I think the thing my
kids have really gotten,

is that not so much
what I'm doing,

but why I'm doing it.

Like, if you love something,

I just try to tell them,
if you love something,

you're gonna be good at it,

you're gonna be successful.

- So that's why I just
paint signs but I don't-

I'm not interested in making
making a lot of money.

- It's the coolest thing
I've ever come across

and I'm not gonna just
kick it to the curb.

(upbeat music)

- At some point there's
gotta be a back lash

against all this computer cut,

as cheap as you can get it work.

There's gotta be a
Renaissance of appreciation

of hand done stuff.

There was a bumper sticker
on this one car that said,

"Drum machines have no soul."

And it made a good point.

- I felt like this
story had to be told,

it's an epitaph for
a whole (indistinct)

an artistic vision
that is disappearing,

as we speak and the human spirit

is the worse for that.

(upbeat music)

- Old signs become art
they become wall art.

They're cool, they
fade and all this.

Vinyl will never become,
because it shrinks

and gets dirty on
the edges and cracks

and it looks like hell,

and then you just
wanna throw it away.

I wanna make signs
that turn into art.

- There's certain jobs

that you need to
approach with the 17th

century technology.

(laughs)

And that's what we are

we're guys who use the old
technology in a new way

and it's a wonderful
thing, because it's human.

(upbeat music)

- When I was sitting there,

it didn't make any difference

I was doing a 4 x 8, or
doing an aluminum blank,

or lettering a couple
doors on a truck,

what it was, it was just,

I was in my element,

this was it.

I was contented.

Just to feel that brush,

and just a little bit
of drag in the paints,

in the way it,

and you'd get that brush

and you'd master that brush.

You could make that brush do
anything that you want it to.

I mean, that's power.

That's real power.

♪ Get up let's go
and have some fun ♪

♪ I ever find my way back home ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you ♪

♪ Get up let's go
and have some fun ♪

♪ I ever find my way back home ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you ♪

♪ Get up let's go
and have some fun ♪

♪ I ever find my way back home ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you ♪

♪ Get up let's go
and have some fun ♪

♪ I ever find my way back home ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you ♪

♪ Get up let's go
and have some fun ♪

♪ I ever find my way back home ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you ♪

♪ Get up let's go
and have some fun ♪

♪ I ever find my way back home ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you ♪

♪ Get up let's go
and have some fun ♪

♪ I ever find my way back home ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you ♪

♪ Get up let's go
and have some fun ♪

♪ I ever find my way back home ♪

♪ I'm gonna tell you ♪

♪ Sway us ♪

♪ What the
(indistinct) you know ♪

♪ Hey ♪

♪ Be the way the birds ♪

♪ Sings along ♪

♪ And now ♪

♪ We want strength ♪

♪ I guess ♪

♪ And I ♪

♪ Long to sleep ♪

(soft rock music)