Edmonton illustrator, Jason Blower, says ‘Hello #YEG!’

EDMONTON—A local illustrator has combined his love of history, drawing, and education to create colouring books he hopes will inspire people to further explore the city in which they live.

Jason Blower’s books feature a mixture of some of Edmonton’s most recognizable landmarks, historical information about each landmark, and activities people of all ages can enjoy. They have all been self-published.

“From the get-go I’ve never gotten grants, I’ve never gotten funding from anything else. Its always been me reinvesting in what I’ve made. I’ve gone from 2010, with my first painting of Edmonton, to 2015 completely self-employed,” Blower said.

“I thought [making a book] was a good opportunity to transition my paintings into a book format that could be used by kids, and whomever would like to learn a little bit more about Edmonton, as well as teachers in schools, to teach about landmarks and buildings, and civic things that are typically found in K to grade three.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I thought [making a book] was a good opportunity to transition my paintings into a book format that could be used by kids, and whomever would like to learn a little bit more about Edmonton, as well as teachers in schools, to teach about landmarks and buildings, and civic things that are typically found in K to grade three."

The idea behind Blower’s colouring books is simple: getting people involved in the community.

“I truly believe that the more you know about the city, the more you’ll love it. The more you love it, the more you make a difference in it,” he said.

The second edition of Blower’s colouring book, ‘Edmonton-A colouring book’, is currently being used in schools to teach children a little bit more about the city in which they live.

’Hello #YEG’, Blower’s current project, follows Lucy the Asian elephant, Atoo the African tortoise, and Reena the European hare on their quest to find out what the city of Edmonton has to offer.

“It’s a Kindergarten to grade 3 curriculum-based activity book. It covers math, science, social studies, language arts, and is all based in the realm of Edmonton,” Blower said.

“Even though it’s more directed to kids, there’s a tonne of valuable educational material in there. I’m learning while making the book, so I’m quite certain that anybody else who picks up the book will be learning more about Edmonton themselves,” said Blower.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Even though it's more directed to kids, there's a tonne of valuable educational material in there. I'm learning while making the book, so I'm quite certain that anybody else who picks up the book will be learning more about Edmonton themselves," said Blower.

Blower estimates The Hello YEG book is going to be published this year, provided he can raise the funds needed to publish it.

He has arranged for the book to be sold in various book stores in the city and will also be selling copies at the markets he frequents throughout the Christmas season.

For more information, visit helloyeg.com.