The Book Cover Part 2

Feb 28, 2019

In part 1 of this discussion I explained how the project was born. In summary, the book was supposed to celebrate the diversity and unity of Canada with its different geography, cultural mix, languages, diets etc. A page of the book was going to be devoted to each province or territory where a local artist would contribute to painting a scene photographed by the photographer/writer Ray Belcourt of that region.

The recent, December/ January 2019 edition of the magazine "Our Canada", (a Readers Digest publication) has published the story of this book from the perspective of the author , A very interesting read indeed. Our Canada Jan 2019

I was commissioned to paint the Book Cover of the Country Wildflower Bed & Breakfast. It was supposed to be on 4 separate panels, each being about 36 inches by 15 inches. The entire painting was based on the theme of "Diversity and Unity Of Canada"

The four seasons would project the diversity as would the different painting and image styles and media. The unity would be the single scene weaved together with these different styles and media.

I painted the first panel in watercolour, A Winter Scene.

The second panel was a reproduction of a digital photograph by Ray Belcourt. A Scene In Spring.

The third panel was my painting of the Summer Scene. To depict the hot season and create the variation on the theme of diversity, I decided to paint it on crackled medium to illustrate parched landscape. This was in acrylic.

The final panel was my painting in oil. Depicting the Fall Season.

Putting it all together was the book cover. I called this the Four Seasons.

All the panels were painted such that the image flowed from one to the other seamlessly.

The book was launched at the renowned Winspear Centre in Edmonton amidst a lot of fanfare with a larger than life size banner of the painting as a backdrop.

Book Launch At Winspear Centre , Edmonton

A few days later there was a party and a book signing at the Bed & Breakfast.

Not surprisingly, all copies of the first edition of the books were sold out in 2 days.

Here a lady enjoying some munchies with a signed copy of the book besides her.

Due to popular demand, Ray recently decided to get the book reprinted. The second edition is available on Amazon.

Hope you enjoyed accompanying me on this journey.I would be interested in your opinions regarding the blog and answering any questions you may have. What other art related topics would you like me to tackle? Just drop me an email. If you enjoy this blog, please forward it to your friends and contacts.

Thank you for following.

Mohamed Hirji