Illustration by Rana Zaher - Illustrated Wall Panels

I was handed a project that required me to create a narrative set of panels for covering the walls of an entire restaurant.

This is the largest set of Illustration works that I ever had to do, and definitely one of my most exciting accomplishments. For Em Sherif's new Sea Food Café, I decided to take on Mediterranean cuisine, and meet it with a set of narratives depicting several ancient Mediterranean mythologies. From Europa on the bull followed by her brother Cadmus on his Phoenician ship to Poseidon with his trident and a group of mermaids chilling on a rock. The crowning panel was a 6 x 2.5 m illustration, in which I depicted the scene of the birth of Venus. Also, several pattern and filler tiles were created. Digitally painting each individual panel up to scale, the task was quite daunting, but it made sure the final quality of the illustrations fit in their correct proportions. My digital paintings were then sent to Portugal, where they were individually hand painted Azulejo-style, the traditional Portuguese tile painting technique, and shipped back to Beirut to be carefully installed on the café walls.

Element 1: a set of 5 narrative panels that work individually as well as a group. Photo taken at actual restaurant setting.

Panels 1 and 2: The first panel starts off with a group of mermaids lounging on a rock jutting out of the sea, the second is the iconic scene of Europa being kidnapped by Zeus in the form of a white bull.

(left) Panel 3, the scene of the sea god Poseidon, carrying his trident and flanked by a couple of dolphins. (right) A closeup of Europa from Panel 2.

Panels 4 and 5 (here joined) is a depiction of the ship of Cadmus as he is following his sister's trail

The Birth of Venus Panel, with me for scale!

The actual illustration of the Birth of Venus Panel

Shot of the Café showcasing the patterned tiles facing the illustrated panels

Closeup illustration of the patterned tiles