Great link! I feel for those guys! My gig - hand drawn concept art is going that way too. Gonna be all zbrush and PS5 autohealing brushes. Not to worry, artist just have to adapt. Wouldn't want it any other way. Potential quality just goes up. But still - that idea of the old ways fading gets ya "right here" *dramatic chest thump* :)
I grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 60's and marveled at those guys when I was a kid. I would sit for hours and watch the old Italian craftsmen produce these (to me) amazing works of art on the sides of run down tenements. This really brought me back there for a while. Thanks for posing this!
First off, great piece. The film itself was really well done.
Second, I'd like to add to what marctaro is saying. It was fun to see their technology, with burning the pattern into paper then using the charcoal to transfer it. I guess that as things change, artists will adapt and talent will still win out over Photoshop filters =)
Fun post, and well done video! The timing on this is pretty good for me… I just returned from Lodi and San Jose, Ca. where I painted several large outdoor signs and mascot/totem murals for a couple of schools up there. One of the mascots was a 16’h x 12’w Titan figure painted about 30’ up on a clock tower, with a graphic-sign about the same height by aprox. 60’ long, on an adjacent building; the second project was a much smaller sign, 8’ by 12’, with a Couger’s head aprox. 12’x 15’. This video, and your earlier post (Monday, May 3, 2010: Working Small, Working Big,) shows exactly how it’s still done! I don’t use a swingstage very often, and I’m not so sure about that chair suspended on ropes that Dean Cornwell was using, I prefer a scissors-lift or a boom-lift when possible, or a ladder and plank system for projects less than 20’ high. Some of the Studio backdrop shops have these really cool canvas frames that can be raised and lowered down into the ground. The guys in the video were right about us being a bunch of dinosaurs, (maybe one day we will only be found on the lost island of ‘Signotopia’!) but they were also right about these techniques going back to before the Renaissance! Good craftsmanship and custom hand-painted art, will always be around, though the media and specific applications and clients may change (at least that’s what I keep telling myself). I’m looking forward to the sign painter movie, (thanx for the link ‘cjb’) Thanx for the post James, it’s fun to share a little bit of ourselves and what we do. -RQ
Great link! I feel for those guys! My gig - hand drawn concept art is going that way too. Gonna be all zbrush and PS5 autohealing brushes. Not to worry, artist just have to adapt. Wouldn't want it any other way. Potential quality just goes up. But still - that idea of the old ways fading gets ya "right here" *dramatic chest thump* :)
ReplyDeleteI grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 60's and marveled at those guys when I was a kid. I would sit for hours and watch the old Italian craftsmen produce these (to me) amazing works of art on the sides of run down tenements. This really brought me back there for a while. Thanks for posing this!
ReplyDeleteone of the top 3 things youve posted, thanks!
ReplyDeletegreat post. makes me think of my grandfather.
ReplyDeleteMost interesting! Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, great piece. The film itself was really well done.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I'd like to add to what marctaro is saying. It was fun to see their technology, with burning the pattern into paper then using the charcoal to transfer it. I guess that as things change, artists will adapt and talent will still win out over Photoshop filters =)
@Scott: you may need to look back in your family, even before your grandfather. The beer is from Flanders, Belgium.
ReplyDeleteSmart campaign by the way: it makes the beer look like it's part of traditional north-american culture.
That's how James Rosenquist got his start.GREAT POST!
ReplyDeletelove anything where craft is still part of the passion. thanks.
ReplyDeleteIf you like this, then you might like what these guys are putting together:
ReplyDeletehttp://signpaintermovie.blogspot.com/
That was great watch.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Very fascinating.
ReplyDeleteFun post, and well done video!
ReplyDeleteThe timing on this is pretty good for me… I just returned from Lodi and San Jose, Ca. where I painted several large outdoor signs and mascot/totem murals for a couple of schools up there. One of the mascots was a 16’h x 12’w Titan figure painted about 30’ up on a clock tower, with a graphic-sign about the same height by aprox. 60’ long, on an adjacent building; the second project was a much smaller sign, 8’ by 12’, with a Couger’s head aprox. 12’x 15’. This video, and your earlier post (Monday, May 3, 2010: Working Small, Working Big,) shows exactly how it’s still done! I don’t use a swingstage very often, and I’m not so sure about that chair suspended on ropes that Dean Cornwell was using, I prefer a scissors-lift or a boom-lift when possible, or a ladder and plank system for projects less than 20’ high. Some of the Studio backdrop shops have these really cool canvas frames that can be raised and lowered down into the ground.
The guys in the video were right about us being a bunch of dinosaurs, (maybe one day we will only be found on the lost island of ‘Signotopia’!) but they were also right about these techniques going back to before the Renaissance! Good craftsmanship and custom hand-painted art, will always be around, though the media and specific applications and clients may change (at least that’s what I keep telling myself). I’m looking forward to the sign painter movie, (thanx for the link ‘cjb’)
Thanx for the post James, it’s fun to share a little bit of ourselves and what we do. -RQ
Great video, amazing artwork, it semi boogles the mind seeing this work painted in such a small area while keeping in mind the over all composition!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff :D
-David