Films: Sign painting, sign painters, lettering, and signs

Films

Brendan Mooney: ‘Memories of a Signwriter’

Charming short biopic about retired Irish signwriter Brendan Mooney from Birr, County Offaly.

Three wide-format decorated Art Nouveau shopfront designs for "Chaussures", "Bandage", and "Musique" respectively.

Books

Lettres Décoratives and the History of French Sign Painting

Inside Letterform Archive’s new book and a video presentation from its author, Morgane Côme.

Woman painting the colour purple on a portion of a wall with other portions already painted in red and white.

People

Risen Through the Ranks: Colossal Media’s Supreme Janine

Janine Taylor is the first woman to progress from Apprentice to Expert Painter at Colossal Media.

Films

Words with Meaning: The Personal Panels of Luis Benz

Santiago Carrasquilla and Danaé Gosset share the work painted by Luis Benz while filming his biopic.

Films

When Better Letters Met Brian Walker

Short film celebrating the late Brian Walker's life and work as a signwriter in Hackney, London.

Woman standing in front of a hand-drawn and lettered blackboard advertising a variety of colourful cocktails.

Learning

Watch Cheryl McLean's Blackboard Art Seminar from LH50

Blackboard art tips, tricks, and techniques shared in a pre-recorded session for Letterheads 50.

Films

Watch the Recordings from BLAG Meet Inside Issue 06

Five hours of talks, interviews, studio visits, and demonstrations from contributors to BLAG 06.

Warehouse space with scores of signs laid out, including many illuminated neon signs.

Films

Lisbon's Letreiro Galeria Glows in a Beautiful Short Film

Documenting Rita Múrias and Paulo Barata's tireless work to preserve a city's graphic heritage.

Photo from from the air of a hot air balloon hand-painted with Renaissance-inspired art.

People

From Billboards to Balloons: Charlie Markert's Sky High Art

A career as a billboard pictorial artist paved the way into the niche of hot air balloon painting.

Panel from a comic showing two lovers discussing a sign ('Amore, I ❤️ U') that the man has painted for the woman.

Films

Now Streaming: Married to Comics by John Kinhart

Comic artists Justin Green and Carol Tyler profiled in this feature-length documentary.

Hand-painted panels, set in the sun, with lettering and pictorials that have horse racing themes.

Events

It's a Video Finish for the Letterheads' Day at the Races

Films documenting the international gathering of sign painters at Letterheads 2024 in Epsom, Surrey.

Head and shoulders view of a man in a baseball cap in front of a window sign that reads "Hunger Buster".

Films

"A Piece of Urban Theatre": J.J. of LA

Meet J.J. of LA, Atlanta sign painter, in this recently republished documentary by Kelly Richardson.

Close cropped photo of a hand resting on a mahl stick painting a bouquet of roses on a rectangular panel.

Learning

Roses Are Red: A Narrowboat Tradition with Ginny Barlow

Video demonstration of painting roses in the narrowboat style, including comments on their history.

View of a hand holding a brush painting a red shadow on golden block letters on a window.

Films

Meet Claude Dolbec: Montreal's Elusive Sign Painter

Short documentary feature about Montreal's most prolific, but elusive sign painters: Claude Dolbec.

Elderly man standing in front of a shopfront which is emblazoned with a huge fascia sign that reads "SIGNS".

People

Meet Earl Phillips: Cleveland's Greatest Living Sign Painter

Biopic of Earl Phillips, proprietor of Cleveland's U-Need-A-Sign Co. at 131st Street since 1960.

Hand-painted portrait of the Godfather holding a massively oversized cat smoking a cigar.

BLAG

Bonus Material from BLAG 04

Bonus content from the adventures in sign painting in Issue 04 of BLAG (Better Letters Magazine).

Close-up of a hand picking up a tiny tin of paint made to scale for a larger diorama.

Events

Watch the Free Recordings from BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 03

Signs, sign painting, and more in these free event recordings from BLAG Meet: Inside Issue 03.

Man looking through a window with photo taken from the outside. Above is part of a gilded letter K.

Films

Getting Into It: New Bohemia's Modern Twist

Short film about Japanese sign painter Shinya Nakahara and his journey to join New Bohemia Signs.