Oh wow, one backer and my 'soft-launched' Kickstarter is already 26% funded.
I'll be sharing more via tomorrow's (free) email newsletter, but here you can get in on the action now:
Oh wow, one backer and my 'soft-launched' Kickstarter is already 26% funded.
I'll be sharing more via tomorrow's (free) email newsletter, but here you can get in on the action now:
I thought I'd have some stuff to edit out of my conversation with sign painter, designer, and all-round Letterhead Elaine Wallis, but there wasn't, and so her session runs to just over 50 minutes, versus the advertised 45, at today's BLAG Meet: https://bl.ag/meet.
During the conversation you can learn all about the kit box that she's resting her foot on in this picture, and its role in her life in signs that spans over 40 years.
People always enjoy taking a look around others' work spaces, and for this BLAG Meet (https://bl.ag/meet) we'll get a peek behind the doors of Jay Smith's studio/workshop in Idaho.
This will include a browse through some of the classic sign painting books that he was lucky to get his hands on recently, as reported here: https://bl.ag/bookish-good-luck-at-mclellan-signs-in-nampa-idaho/.
BLAG Meet (https://bl.ag/meet) is tomorrow, Saturday, completely free, and online from 4pm London time.
One of the live talks at the event will be from Rick Janzen of Canada's Streamline Studios: https://streamlinestudiosinc.ca/.
Rick is a veteran of sign painting for film, and has worked on numerous blockbusters, as well as series such as The Last of Us. You can expect plenty of wise words and insights into this and commercial sign painting applications.
I'll also be delivering a short session during Saturday's BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 06 (https://bl.ag/meet).
This is'ot strictly connected to the latest issue of the magazine, but I'm using the free, online event to share details of my forthcoming Kickstarter that aims to raise funds to finish a short film I've been working on: When Better Letters Met Brian Walker.
You can pre-register for the Kickstarter now: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/samroberts/when-better-letters-met-brian-walker-a-short-biopic?ref=9wh6qg.
After India and Belgium, we fly across the Atlantic for a look behind the scenes of the recent American Sign Museum expansion. 'Magic on Main Street' is the third BLAG Meet session (https://bl.ag/meet).
I got to see the new spaces last month, and the report is here: https://bl.ag/my-week-at-the-american-sign-museum/. Saturday's session will only scratch the surface, but will give you the opportunity to hear from those that brought the whole thing together.
BLAG Meet is happening this Saturday, 26 April, with a dozen sessions packed with even more adventures in sign painting from contributors to Issue 06 of the magazine.
It's free and all online, with details of the line-up and registrations available via https://bl.ag/meet/.
For a look inside BLAG 06, visit https://bl.ag/06.
And, to bring things up-to-date, here's my deep dive into contemporary sign painter vehicles from 2023: https://bl.ag/what-a-ride-the-wonderful-world-of-sign-painter-vehicles/.
Given the relatiive popularity of the post above, here is another 'neon' vehicle.
It's perhaps less exciting, but does come from a collection of related historical sign shop photos here: https://bl.ag/ye-olde-sign-shoppe-at-the-american-sign-museum/.
Sneak preview of a little film project I've had bubbling away in the background:
It's going to be the fifth in the 'When Better Letters Met' series:
https://bl.ag/tag/when-better-letters-met/
Boosts appreciated for this 'pre-launch' page on the kickstarter that will go live next month
"Everything I do, I try to make the next one better." — David Ybarra, sign painter and mural artist, San Diego, California
'Mr. Plywood Stands Proud Again: Recreating a Portland Icon' is the latest at bl.ag online. Visit https://bl.ag/mrplywood to learn more about Kirsten Bauer and Alina Radetsky's collaboration to replace a celebrity sign of 60 years' standing.
One to check out online and in-person (Cincinnati) tomorrow, Thursday:
'The Golden Age of Sign Design: The Lost Sketches of Beverly Sign Co.'
Smoke a pipe, watch a menu board getting lettered — sounds like the life for me!
From the archive at Lauretano Sign Group, established in 1946: https://lauretano.com/about-us/
"When I open a can of paint, I just love how it looks; I almost want to drink it." — British artist Richard Wright on training to become a signwriter.
From the Art Newspaper (@theartnewspaper@bsky.social) interview here: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/03/28/richard-wright-when-i-open-a-can-of-paint-i-just-love-how-it-looks-i-almost-want-to-drink-it.
PS. I've added Wright to the list of 'celebrity' sign painters here: https://bl.ag/celebrity-signwriters-past-present/. Thanks as always to Tony Mead for the ongoing tip-offs.
'Ye Olde Sign Shoppe at the American Sign Museum' is the latest at bl.ag online, where I get to indulge my fetish for photos of old sign painting shops and related tangents.
https://bl.ag/ye-olde-sign-shoppe-at-the-american-sign-museum/
Pictured are the dapper fellows that once plied their trade at the Raiford Sign Co. in Houston, Texas.
Starting to do a touch of decorating in the new space, and this was one of the first things to go up.
'Measure Twice, Cut Once' by Painter Kafeel (https://bl.ag/kafeel) with a BLAG cameo from studio buddy Daniel (https://instagram.com/insertdaniels).
Kafeel's piece was the 'Wise Words' in BLAG 02 (https://bl.ag/02) and Daniel's, inspired by Costa Rica's 'carretas', made an appearance in Issue 06 (https://bl.ag/06).
The full article is available in English here, but requires a paid Le Monde subscription: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/lifestyle/article/2025/03/08/the-forgotten-art-of-sign-painting-is-reviving-french-streets_6738944_37.html
cc @camillewber
A while back, Kirsten Bauer discussed the topic of sign painters signing signs, and while I was at the American Sign Museum I happened across this at the end of Raymond LeBlanc's book, Gold Leaf Techniques. He refers to them as 'imprints'.
Kirsten's original post with a section on the topic is here: https://kirstenmbauer.substack.com/p/end-of-year-inventories
There was then a little follow-up in the next issue of her newsletter: https://kirstenmbauer.substack.com/p/january-blues
To coincide with International Women's Day, I've republished the BLAG 03 (https://bl.ag/03) article from Rachel E Millar, 'Women in Sign Painting: Burds of the Brush'.
https://bl.ag/women-in-sign-painting-burds-of-the-brush/
Pictured is a mural being painted at the Pre-Vinylettes show in Chicago, 2017. From left: Hana Sunny Whaler; Kelly Golden; Rachel E Millar; Miranda Ensink.