> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://bl.ag/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # From Billboards to Balloons: Charlie Markert's Sky High Art - URL: https://bl.ag/from-billboards-to-balloons-charlie-markerts-sky-high-art/ - Published: 2025-01-02T14:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2025-01-02T14:37:26.000Z - Description: A career as a billboard pictorial artist paved the way into the niche of hot air balloon painting. - Author: Better Letters - Tags: People, Films Sign painting often precedes [different and tangential career paths](https://bl.ag/celebrity-signwriters-past-present/), but few have moved into a niche quite as narrow as Charlie Markert and his work on hot air balloons. In the video below he describes himself as "really unique in what I did", and it was his extensive experience as a billboard pictorial artist that paved the way. The journey started while he was working for [Naegele Outdoor](https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/naegeleoutdooradv?ref=bl.ag) in Minneapolis, and a request came in to have the Golden Grahams cereal packet painted on a hot air balloon. Charlie recalls exclaiming, "Oh my gosh, hot air balloons; that sounds interesting!", and the rest, as they say, is history, which Charlie recounts in this interview. [**Charlie Markert Interview*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlCKFe7OCsw&ref=bl.ag) on YouTube. ![Black and white photo showing the view from behind a man painting a boy's face looking at a bowl of what looks like ice cream.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/11/Charlie-Markert-Billboard-Painting-1.jpg) Charlie Markert at work as a billboard pictorial artist for Pacific Outdoor in California. ![Black and white photo of an artist posing with his brushes in front of a large-scale painting of two people walking side by side.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/11/Charlie-Markert-Billboard-Painting-3.jpg) Charlie Markert following the move to Minneapolis and joining Naegele Outdoor. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/11/Charlie-Markert-Golden-Grahams-Painting.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/11/Charlie-Markert-Golden-Grahams-Balloon.jpg) Work-in-progress and the finished hot air balloon from Charlie Markert's first commission for Golden Grahams and Whittaker Balloons. ![Colour photo of a man on a platform painting one of two close-ups of a tiger's face on fabric.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/11/Charlie-Markert-Studio-Tigers.jpg) Charlie Markert at work in the barn that he remodelled for painting the fabric used for hot air balloons. Thank you to [Brent Jones](http://renfestsigns.com/?ref=bl.ag) for bringing Charlie Markert's work to my attention. The photos below are of a restaurant they worked on together, and the picture at the top of this page is from a still from the [**The Most Beautiful Hot Air Balloon in the World*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4KfkzwZnvk&ref=bl.ag) on YouTube. ![Mural of a Coca-Cola psoter showing a woman drinking a bottle and the headline 'Tomese'](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/12/Charlie-Markert-Brent-Jones-4.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/12/Charlie-Markert-Brent-Jones-2.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/12/Charlie-Markert-Brent-Jones-3.JPG) ![Man painting a mural showing cowboys galloping on horses.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/2024/12/Charlie-Markert-Brent-Jones-1.JPG) --- ### More People [Sign Painter Profiles on Better Letters MagazineInterviews, films, and profiles of sign painters past and present.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/icon/BLAG_Issue_5_Favicon_C8FF00-18.png)BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community & CultureBetter Letters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/thumbnail/Cyril-Foster-Trinidad-01-1-2.jpg)](https://bl.ag/tag/people/) ### More Films [Film & Video Content on Better Letters MagazineShort and feature length films about sign painting and lettering.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/icon/BLAG_Issue_5_Favicon_C8FF00-19.png)BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community & CultureBetter Letters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/24/aa/24aaa208-ebb0-4f83-bc52-1f4f253367c8/content/images/thumbnail/BL1-1-1.jpg)](https://bl.ag/tag/films/)