Since 1970, on and off, internationally active and respected visual artist, Takeshi Yamada, have been creating bigger than life-size picture banners and mural art paintings for clients internationally. 

This winter (2006-2007) in Florida, Yamada has worked on and completed commissioned 11 large sideshow banners (and also upgraded half dozens of gaffs) for the Four C Productions Inc. The company (established in 1972, CEO is Jack Constantine) is the largest and most active sideshow company in the United States today. It has produced 60 to 70 shows (up to 15 sideshows at five to six different fairs at the same time) at fairs across the nation annually. According to Jack Constantine (president), Takeshi Yamada's sideshow artworks (banners and gaffs) are much higher quality than any other artists who worked for the company before.
 

During this time, Yamada even had an opportunity to visit a local banner company to produce blank banners from the rolled sheets. Large sheets were cut, and sawed together. Then, each side was sawed, corners were reinforced, and brass grommets were attached based on his specifications. Yamada was involved literally from the beginning to the end of making sideshow banners.  

 Yamada stated that many dozens of banner artists he reviewed, investigated and studied in great details really do not know how to paint banners even the old woman who currently lives in New Jersey and teaches sideshow banner classes at a local college there. He also declares that the same can be said to many artists specializing in public mural art project in Chicago and Brooklyn.

 Yamada saw how banner painters work on huge movie picture signs when he was a young child and young art school student in Osaka, Japan. Yamada also observed how Indian banner & sign painters worked in Chicago, Illinois where he lived there for 13 years before his moving to Brooklyn, New York. Yamada stated that they hardly make any mistakes because of what they do every day for so many years. He also noted that they also can not afford making mistakes because they were paid by the piece and not by the hours they spent for completing each job. The speed and "acceptable" high quality are absolutely required in professional (wage-earning) sign & banner paintings in addition to the artist's deep understanding of the fashion, trend and taste of the time. It is also vital that the artist has to be a good communicator to the client.

In this business of highly specialized visual art/craft, an artist must master not by the head (too slow) but by his hand & eyes & spine the vital elements of creating commercial banner art. Examples of them are grand design, golden section, dynamic composition, styles & visual effects of letterings, simplicity, effectiveness of the different brushes & brush strokes, attractiveness, sweetness, decorations, violence, sex, color theory, chiaroscuro, effective application/layers of colors, timing of drying the paint (especially quick drying oil-base paint), sense of balance, grasping the client's desire & vision, and how to paint quickly.
 
I hope the following pictures give insights to viewers about how today's one of the best professional sideshow banner artist created his commissioned artwork. This unique art form and crafts has to be passed down to the next generation of artists just like the crafts of the performance artists on the stage behind the sideshow banner line at the carnival midways.
 
Eriko N. Bond
 
Also see other banner projects of Takeshi Yamada in the following website;

http://sideshowworld.com/TSAmuse.html

 All rights reserved by Takeshi Yamada, January 2007. Museum of World Wonders in Coney Island, 1405 Neptune Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11224, USA. E-mail: yamada108@aol.com

Special thanks to Eriko N. Bond, Lauren D. Travis, and Diane M. Taros.