What began as a passion-project turned into a commissioned series of posters from Historica Canada. Scroll down to see the final art for the completed posters, read about the background of the project, and see sketches and stages of the process.
The first four in the series.
I grew up in Canada seeing The Heritage Minutes running during commercial breaks all the time. Essentially the Heritage Minutes are sixty-second mini-movies that showcase famous moments or figures in Canadian history. They became so iconic for Canadians that the various quotes became part of our vernacular. I, like many Canadians, love The Minutes. They are non-pretentious, good-natured, and often times quaint and humorous. I have quoted from many of them for years now.
Cut to November 2012 and I had an idea to somehow create iconic art pieces for each of The Minutes (There are over 60 of them) to act as a portrait of the historical figure being featured, or the event. I purchased all of the Minutes on iTunes, and kept a sketchbook devoted to ideas for the project, and began watching and sketching some of my favourites first. So after I had already completed my initial rendering of one (The Halifax Explosion Minute), I decided to post it on the internet via Facebook and Twitter, and there was a hugely positive reaction to the idea. Suddenly I was contacted by someone from Historica-Dominion, asking if I would be interested in having a special edition series commissioned. Of course I said yes! Thus began our working relationship.
Below you can see the most recently completed posters. There are two separate pieces: a series of 10 representing the Top 10 Heritage Minutes of the original 63, as voted by Canadians across the country, and then a separate series of 2, for the new Minutes that have been more recently created, relating to the War of 1812.
Eventually all of the posters will be viewable here. These posters will also be available for purchase.
The evolution of the sketches for the Pierpoint Minute. You can see that originally I was playing around with having him in his non-military garb, and even with a slightly different facial hair treatment.
The evolution of the colour blocked version - playing with the colours a bit and background elements. The "bars" in the background are intended to double as trees and bars - the bars aspect meaning to represent the slavery he left behind.
Close look at final Pierpoint Poster.
Closer look at an additional poster that was commissioned for The Queenston Heights Minute.
Some shots of the poster in action at the premiere event for the new Queenston Heights Heritage Minute. The event was held at Six Nations Polytechnic, Ohsweken, ON, and featured a panel consisting of actors from the Minute, as well as employees of The Historica-Dominion Institute. You can see the poster laid out with other materials from The Historica-Dominion Institute, and also see the kids playing around with the poster in class. See the new Minute here: gotaminute.ca
Closer look at the poster that started it all.
Closer look at the Winnie poster.
Closer look at the Underground Railroad poster.
Closer look at Bluenose poster.
