Artist Aquil Virani creates “Art of the Lip” painting at MAC Cosmetics launch in Montreal!

When MAC Cosmetics was launching their new flagship store on Ste. Catherine’s Street in Montreal, they asked me to create some live art inspired by their colourful visuals. It was a great experience and I met so many cool and down-to-earth people. I worked closely with The Idea Hunter (theideahunter.ca), an events-industry leader based in Toronto, to work within the City’s restriction to make some art happen.

Artist Aquil Virani creates artistic reproduction of “The Babadook” poster.

A good friend of mine is really into horror movies. He wanted to live with “The Babadook” in his den, so I painted and I splattered until the official poster had been reproduced. Thanks so much to Darren for the opportunity (and to Thais, for helping us with the surprise).

Aquil Virani creates commissioned portrait painting in Montreal.

I was commissioned by the couple to create a portrait of them, based on photos from their wedding, their very sweet wedding vows and some illustrations they liked. It was actually a surprise birthday present from Anna to Francois, so we had to keep it secret during the process.

Anna and Francois, I hope that you like the artwork and appreciate what I’ve tried to capture.
I wish you two an eternity of happiness and good health during your life-long partnership.

Artist Aquil Virani creates visual illusions. purchase Zoloft order Prozac

I think this is the most beautiful piece of spray painted cardboard I have ever made. I learned that people can love a painting but refrain from spending money on beautiful cardboard.

Using a stencil and a very modern colour palette, I came up with a design that repeats infinitely. The eye-mouth design fits with itself in a ormation to form a human face. Each part of the stencil works whether it is interpreted as the eye or the mouth; the different lines around the eyes, for example, serve as the contours of the lips for the mouth; it’s been carefully crafted to work that way.

We Are All Artists

This is the feature piece of my second solo art show that garnered media attention from Global News Montreal, CUTV, and several on- and off-campus publications in the university sphere of Montreal. I learned that calling yourself an artist is purely a mental attitude and no one needs to wait for permission.

The “We Are All Artists” Project that has taken me across North America started right here with this painting. It includes hundreds of contributions from various members of the McGill community in Montreal. Ultimately, my goal was to include the general public in the process of art creation. I often say that if you have the motor skills to write ‘a, b, and c’ on a piece of paper, then you have the motor skills to draw. The joy of drawing and the feeling of creating beautiful artwork is something I love to share with others.

As Jessica Prupas of Leacock’s Magazine writes, “It would be hard to find someone more enthusiastic about the idea of involving the viewer in every step of the artistic process. The charismatic Virani … is the people’s artist.”

This is a photo I took in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for the Matrix National Sales Meeting of 2013 (part of L’Oreal Canada). I learned that I work well under pressure and can impress people with my calm and composed demeanour.

As part of the Matrix team, I was flown to Punta Cana to present to our sales representatives across Canada, be on call for design work, take photographs of certain events and ensure that everyone was having a good time.

One of the main events was a “Top Secret” hair show (directed by Matrix Canada’s Roch Lemay).

Above is Julio Rodriguez.

This is someone making sure they can show their friends how cool the event was.

And this is Derrick Rutherford.

Behold, the entire team in Punta Cana. What a fantastic experience.

Aquil Virani designs corporate identities for any type of business.

This logo was created for a local depanneur or cornerstore in Montreal.

The goal was to create something bright, professional, and eye-catching.

Artist Aquil Virani uses repetitive patterns in his art.

This work is titled after the number of times I applied the stencil design. I learned that black spray paint pops the most against a yellow background.

I’ve created a kind-of “optical paradox” in this series of works. Because the figures share eyes (the eyes being the focal point of the artwork), your brain becomes confused in its interpretation. The design has been crafted so that it can be repeated horizontally forever. I created three different versions with three different pallettes (or “colour schemes”) to see how much the colour choice affected the overall mood. Each of them included some interesting textures; I used a mix of paper, napkins, tin foil, saran wrap, and fork carvings.

This was the feature artwork of MINDFCUK, the first ever solo art show at McGill University.

Artist Aquil Virani creates live painting in Montreal at Dans la rue fundraiser!

This is an interactive painting that you might have seen on CTV News for Dans la rue’s 25th anniversary fundraiser event. I learned that I can create artwork even when stuffed with gourmet hot dogs created by Montreal’s top chefs.

“From the street to the stars” is the name of the event; it raised about $175,000 for Dans la rue, an organization dedicated to helping street and at-risk youth. There were over 500 spectators who were treated to delicious food, a free photo booth, and various other entertaining activities. I agreed to donate my time to create something to commemorate the evening; the finished piece now lives in Dans la rue’s head office.

The phrase “NOURRIR L’ESPOIR” translates to “FEED HOPE.”

I asked Sue Medleg for a testimonial; she’s the Coordinator of Development & Volunteering at Dans la rue. This is what she said.

“Aquil is professional, flexible and delivers the goods. He embraced our work and brought it to life on a canvas, all to the delight of our partners, stakeholders and guests. Aquil uses all of his creative and graphic talents to embody the vision of his clients.”

Aquil Virani is a graphic designer based in Montreal.

ColorLocale is an introductory hairdressing course that I developed and designed along with award-winning stylists Roch Lemay and Lana Nicholson while working at Matrix (L’Oreal Canada).

The goal was to create educational material that was predominantly visual and hands-on. In addition to project management responsibilities, I helped to design a 60-page workbook, activity handouts, printed flyers, sell sheets, and web graphics.