Jorge Peral was born in Texcoco, Mexico, in 1955. His father was an artist who had his own publicity studio, and as soon as the young Jorge could hold a pencil, his father taught him how to draw. When he was 14, Jorge started working in his father’s studio. But even at that age, Jorge had a deep passion for wildlife, so the question was which way he would turn for a career. The arts won out, and Peral started studying graphic design and photography at the Academy of San Carlos. When Peral met someone from the University Bank of Mexico design department who showed him engraved banknotes, Jorge was sold.
Peral then received a scholarship from the National bank of Mexico, enabling him to go to Italy to learn everything about security printing and hand engraving. Having always loved Italy and Italian art (he even taught himself Italian), this was a dream come true for him. In Italy, his teacher turned out to be the stamp engraver Trento Cionini. The two soon struck up a deep friendship and while Cionini was maybe not the best of teachers, he was a hugely talented engraver, who taught Peral everything he needed to know.
When Peral returned, he worked for seventeen years for the Bank of Mexico, designing all their bank notes. In 1995, Peral came to Canada. He was then employed as an art director at the Canadian Bank Note Company, where he oversaw the creation of the ‘Canadian Journey’ banknotes which were introduced in 2001.
Peral also started engraving stamps for the CBNC. Having always loved nature and animals, it is no wonder that the vast majority of his stamps depict wildlife. Many of his stamps are high value definitives, which are issued in a large format, giving Peral the perfect size to create his little masterpieces. In his spare time, Peral is a wildlife photographer, and on his website are many examples of his work. He admires the beauty of animals, and in his work loves to explore the plumage or fur of the subject matter, trying to portray the beauty of wildlife.
The wildlife high values include many security features, including microprint. The $8 value of the grizzly bear has a further feature, hidden in Peral’s engraving: the value 8 is incorporated into the fur of the bear’s right-hand hind leg.
Unfortunately, in 2010 Canada Post started issuing computer-engraved stamps, though still credited to an ‘engraver’. In the wildlife high values definitive series, it was the $10 blue whale which was computer engraved, though still attributed to Peral. Some surprise then that in 2018, Canada Post announced the issue of a $4 definitive in that series, depicting a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, which was once again hand engraved!
Honouring their promise to collectors to issue an engraved stamp every now and then, Canada Post went all out with this issue, because the sheet margins show photographs of the stamp being designed (by Jorge Peral’s son!), etched and engraved. In an interview with Linn’s Stamp News, Peral said that this new bighorn sheep stamp was by far the most intricate to make of all the Canadian high value stamps. The overall detail, the fur and the texture of the horns proved quite a challenge. Peral, wanting to create a stamp which people could appreciate with the bare eye, had to strike a fine balance between too little detail, thereby lessening the intricate beauty of the fine fleece of the animal or the grass bent in a gentle breeze, or too much detail, which would necessitate the use of a magnifying glass to really appreciate.
You will find Jorge Peral's database HERE.
When Peral returned, he worked for seventeen years for the Bank of Mexico, designing all their bank notes. In 1995, Peral came to Canada. He was then employed as an art director at the Canadian Bank Note Company, where he oversaw the creation of the ‘Canadian Journey’ banknotes which were introduced in 2001.
Peral also started engraving stamps for the CBNC. Having always loved nature and animals, it is no wonder that the vast majority of his stamps depict wildlife. Many of his stamps are high value definitives, which are issued in a large format, giving Peral the perfect size to create his little masterpieces. In his spare time, Peral is a wildlife photographer, and on his website are many examples of his work. He admires the beauty of animals, and in his work loves to explore the plumage or fur of the subject matter, trying to portray the beauty of wildlife.
Unfortunately, in 2010 Canada Post started issuing computer-engraved stamps, though still credited to an ‘engraver’. In the wildlife high values definitive series, it was the $10 blue whale which was computer engraved, though still attributed to Peral. Some surprise then that in 2018, Canada Post announced the issue of a $4 definitive in that series, depicting a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, which was once again hand engraved!
Honouring their promise to collectors to issue an engraved stamp every now and then, Canada Post went all out with this issue, because the sheet margins show photographs of the stamp being designed (by Jorge Peral’s son!), etched and engraved. In an interview with Linn’s Stamp News, Peral said that this new bighorn sheep stamp was by far the most intricate to make of all the Canadian high value stamps. The overall detail, the fur and the texture of the horns proved quite a challenge. Peral, wanting to create a stamp which people could appreciate with the bare eye, had to strike a fine balance between too little detail, thereby lessening the intricate beauty of the fine fleece of the animal or the grass bent in a gentle breeze, or too much detail, which would necessitate the use of a magnifying glass to really appreciate.
You will find Jorge Peral's database HERE.