[wind blowing]
[man 1] It's an invisible art. It's an invisible industry
People just take it for granted
[man 2] I remember going down Beach Boulevard
and seeing signs everywhere, all of a sudden
You know, it was like this experience where, like,
"Oh, my God, I know how to make a living now"
That's the only thing I could do
and I could do whatever the fuck I wanted to do
and make a living
[faint conversations in background]
♪ ["Falls" by The Cave Singers] ♪
This is a liner
So you have a thinner just for doing lines, obviously
You got your truck brushes, a little bit bigger
It seemed to work very well on trucks
and not very well on other places
This is 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 just doing some signs for some chicken coops
and some garden signs and just different things
I was just trying to keep my hands busy, I guess
And just kind of need to figure out something to do that—you know—
to pay the bills.
♪ Far from weak ♪
♪ So you fall from love ♪
♪ Wait till after the storm ♪
♪ With the same eyes ♪
♪ Lace ribbons in creaks ♪
It's all right, I guess.
I started working with 1 Shot about about eight years ago,
but there's the Ronan company,
which makes a variety of oil-based and water-based Japan colors
Then there's regular oil-based, regular latex
But I guess 1 Shot's the go-to paint for anything exterior...
for myself, anyway
[engine rumbles]
I don't use a maulstick
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 for you,
that's what you would work with
And sometimes I'll use a maulstick
if I'm working where it's wet and I need a shadow
Otherwise, I just go pinky-down
When we're doing signs,
we're making money for other people
And what I tell people when I'm selling them a sign is,
"You're going to make more money on this sign than I ever will"
[wind whistling]
So I am Marjory Garrison,
and you're at my home in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California
My process varies, really, depending on who I'm working for,
who the client is
I mean, maybe that's an obvious thing to say,
but in some cases, I've totally taken the design process offsite
and it's something that I do on my own
I have always had a crush on graphic design, I would say,
but 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
I think that I've stepped into a trade that is so established
and historically, you know...
You spend years apprenticing
before you ever go onsite for a job,
so, you know, the way that I've gotten into sign painting
is somewhat accidental but now very intentional
There are so many tricks that would make sign-painting easier
You pick that up by learning from, you know,
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
I'm Paul Lindahl, Co-Founder of Colossal Media
I'm Adrian Moeller, Co-Founder of Colossal Media
[Lindahl] We're an all-hand paint outdoor advertising company
[Moeller] This is our shop in Brooklyn, New York
♪ ["Mirrors" by Crocodiles] ♪
[Lindahl] Training somebody to learn how to do this
really takes about, you know,
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
The sign is, I think, 50 feet, maybe a little taller,
and then the wall's probably 70 feet
A common misconception that we have a lot is that, you know,
"I'm a good artist. I can be good at that"
You know, they look up at the walls and they see that,
"Oh, that's a great painting
I'm a great painter. I will 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,
'cause I like to fucking pull the shit up
You know, you can't just people in here that are gonna slug through stuff
because we've spent so much time trying to establish ourselves
as like a hands-down, you know, like excellent company to work with
We put all that stuff on the line every time we 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, you know?
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
There is that, you know, bromance
There's not a whole lot of room for it
because we got to get stuff done, you know?
♪ I think I'm gonna die in a while ♪
♪ I'm gonna hang on wood and try to smile ♪
♪ And when peasants with their pitchforks come ♪
♪ I'm gonna skip the town on everyone ♪
♪ They're all scum ♪