Quebec Rock City: 50th-anniversary edition of summer festival inspires Limoilou illustrator
Creating commemorative posters for Festival d'été de Québec a dream come true
Trucks brimming with instruments, sound equipment and gear, along with tour buses transporting some the biggest names in music, are converging on Quebec City.
This golden anniversary is a particularly meaningful for one Quebec City artist: not a musician, but an illustrator — and an ardent music fan.
Fred Jourdain was commissioned by the Festival d'été to draw two commemorative posters for its 50th edition.
For someone who's been attending the festival since he was 13, more than 20 years ago, Jourdain says being chosen to represent the festival on paper is an honour and a dream come true.
"When I started making posters of musicians in illustrations and paintings, one of my goals was to do posters for the festival," he said.
Strumming days behind him
Jourdain does not play an instrument, having been forced to give up the guitar after an unfortunate accident.
"I ended up cutting myself with a kitchen blade pretty badly, actually, a couple of years ago, and I chopped one of my nerves in my left index," Jourdain explained.
Luckily, he's right-handed.
Jourdain has been living off his art for more than a decade. The festival has always been a source of inspiration for his work.
"I saw a lot of my idols at this festival," Jourdain said.
Many of the illustrations he's created come from witnessing those idols — the likes of Roger Waters and Paul McCartney — perform on the Plains of Abraham, as well as other big names such as Keith Richards, Jean Leloup and Patrick Watson.
Red hot bass guitar
After years of drawing what he saw on stage, Jourdain approached festival organizers two years ago with the idea of creating a poster for them, but they weren't interested.
Then last year, they came knocking.
"They called me to do an original painting on a bass guitar that we gave to Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers," said Jourdain.
Jourdain managed to meet the bassist and give him his bass backstage before the Red Hot Chili Peppers' performance at the festival last summer.
"I did something pretty psychedelic, and Flea liked it," he said.
Turns out the festival also liked Jourdain's work. They called him back, asking if he could come up with a poster for this year's festival.
"I worked for a couple of months making like hundreds of sketches," he said. "I ended having, like, carte blanche.
He showed festival organizers four concepts, and they chose two: On The Shoulders Of Giants and Quebec Rock City.
With the international visibility the festival gets, Jourdain considers the two posters he's illustrated as more than just another contract.
He hopes having his name associated with the festival could lead to bigger and better things for him outside Quebec.
Meanwhile, Jourdain will be drawing away in his studio in Quebec City's Limoilou neighbourhood.
And you can bet he'll be at the Festival d'été de Québec over the coming days, seeking new inspiration.