“This Country” cover book exercise.

"That’s the beautiful thing about living in the village. Everyone comes together on days like Scarecrow Festival and just forgets their utter hatred of each other.” – Kurtan

Hello! It’s Lea again.

I hope you had a great week if you don’t know me, nice to meet you! This is Sunday Spreads, my personal illustration challenge. This week, I want to try a little design challenge and make a paperback cover exercise. My subject is “the collected scripts of the BBC mockumentary series: This Country, written by Daisy May Cooper & Charlie Cooper”. (The book is fictional and does not exist to my knowledge.)

Here is the final result :

And you can read more about the show and the process of this illustration below!

[Okay I realise after edit that I chat quite a lot about the show and the mockumentary genre…if you’re interested only on the design challenge, you can skip below]

This Country is another one of those countless BBC shows that I put in the background while I draw “ just as companion noise”, and end up binge watching and crying when it’s over.

The show is about 2 cousins, Kerry and Kurtan as we follow them through the eyes of a documentary crew, in their day to day life living in a village in central England. Here is a little peak into the show ( if you’re a non-native English speaker like me, I recommend putting on subtitles) :

I have to say, I am a huge mockumentary fan. I love the concept of a cast of characters in their mundane life, followed by a camera crew asking them questions. I love this genre for the way it makes fun of documentary and reality tv codes, from surveillance footage to following the characters with a hand camera, to sound bites in their living room. The setting is also perfect for breaking the 4th wall: sometimes we forget the camera crew, who embody us, the viewers, only to have the characters directly ask questions at the camera or beyond, to the crew. I also love the way characters react to the camera. The main one is, of course: flattery. Like in this clip of Rowan Atkinson:

The main character feels important and flattered with a camera crew following them around and will act in absurd ways to keep the camera on them, often at the expense of other characters around them. Like Michael Scott (US) / David Brent (UK) in The Office.

And to complete the exuberant main character, you need a very rational side character. These characters are the voice of reason, of better sense, and the ones that can save the day when the main character screws up. It’s a very common formula but it works so well. A great example is the show What we do in the shadows, series set in the same universe as the excellent film with the same title by Taika Waititi. In the show, we follow Guillermo, the human familiar taking care of 4 flatmate vampires, completely insane and out of touch with our modern world and customs.

And every episode follow the same pattern of “ oh no, the vampires did something stupid” and “ Guillermo came and saved the day, even though the vampires will never admit it, Guillermo is essential for their well being.”

Going back to This Country. It follows the same mockumentary traditions as the shows mentioned above. We follow two exuberant main characters who are delighted to talk to the camera and show their daily life. First Kerry, played by Daisy May Cooper who steals the show. She is also the creator of the series.

Kerry is a very proud character. She can appear quite self-centred, and she only helps if she gets something out of it. She is also quite resentful, a bit of a rebel, and has a lot of abandonment issues from her absent dad. But she is considered an important mascot for the village, she likes to play with all the kids, no matter their age, and needs to be involved with anything that happens in the village. She is joined on her adventures by her on-screen cousin Kurtan ( and real-life brother Charlie, who is also a writer on the show.)

Kurtan is very a complimentary personality to Kerry. He is way more self conscious and sweeter than his cousin. You often see him helping out people and he goes above and beyond to make Kerry happy even if she takes advantage of it. He loves the village but often tries to take concrete steps to escape it (like trying to pass his driving license or applying for uni).

But he also share a sort of destructive energy with his cousin. He likes to cause chaos and play tricks as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody.

Kerry and Kurtan would be way more wild and mischievous if it was not for the Reverent who cares for them and tries to encourage them in whatever interests them. He is our “Rational side character”.

The Reverent is really the glue that holds the village together. He is in charge of creating social events, of maintaining mental health among the villagers through counsel and advice. He also drives Kerry and Kurtan around as they don’t know how to drive. He is the one everybody calls at the smallest issue.

And this is where the show shines and steps away from traditional mockumentaries. Every episode of This Country uses real statistics from social studies on Rural life, but uses comedy. For example, when the Reverent tries to teach Kurtan how to drive but Kerry keeps distracting them. The episode is funny, lightweight, but right before the end credits, we see a message on screen about how rural youth have less access to studies, employment, health, etc, without a car or driving instruction, which is expensive, hence creating a vicious cycle.

And this is why I love the show. It manages to create great comedy from depressing statistics, but with so much love for the life at the village. In interviews, Daisy May and Charlie Cooper say quite clearly that This Country is based on their love and frustration of growing up in a small village, where not much ever happens, yet everyday is an adventure.

Sorry I might have blabbered a lot about the show, but I hope you will give it a try. In this world, filled with multi-million dollars productions, streaming platforms competing for your money and attention, it might be nice to watch a “more peaceful” show that makes you laugh and learn.

Anyway the Spread ! Okay so I started with this sketch on paper:

And taking this into procreate to make it fit a paperback cover template I found online. You can see the sketching/refining process below:

As I was about to go on the final painting piece, I was looking for reference and found these beautiful old railway posters. Absolutely gorgeous, and loved the color palette.

I made a little color blocking sketch, I wanted to play with different shades of yellow to green for different crops, and purple shadows.

As I was working, I suddenly remembered a book cover I loved as a kid on my grandparents’ bookshelf: the first French edition of Bilbo the Hobbit:

I mean look at that composition, the design, those colors. Damn, 60s books were something else, I love that Mustard yellow. I tried changing the letter’s color to that yellow, but it ended up less visible with the values of the green underneath. Oh well, another time Mustard Yellow.

And finally after a bit of struggle, here is the final result :

I also tried a little book mockup on my lunch break at work the next day and thought I would share the test here:

Let me know what you think, and don’t hesitate to reach out, I am always looking to connect with fellow artists & illustrators to share the joys and sorrows of creating pretty pictures from our heads.

Lea