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How did you feel when you found out you would be illustrating the new Harry Potter jackets?
It was a bit of a shock. I painted the first cover as a test piece last year, but was concerned that I couldnt give
it the time I wouldve liked due to other commitments. So when I heard that J.K. Rowling and the team at
Bloomsbury wanted me to paint the rest of the series, I was gobsmacked. And then I worried that I just wasnt
qualified for the job, having only read the first book years ago. I felt like an impostor, amongst millions of Harry
Potter fans. A proper Muggle. But then I realised that this gives me a fresh perspective, and Im hugely excited
to work my way through the wonderful books, reading each one as I produce artwork brimming with fantastic
creatures and unforgettable characters.
Is there a particular character or scene that you are looking forward to putting on the jackets?
Ive been briefed on all of the jackets, and in most cases Ive been given a couple of options. I havent actually
read all of the books, so I can only be excited by what Ive read, or the brief for each cover. Im working on the
cover for The Prisoner of Azkaban at the moment, and Im having a lot of fun drawing a key element of that
book. I love drawing characters, creatures and animals, so every cover gives me scope for something new and
exciting.
How do you as an artist approach such a large job? Where do you begin with such a wide range of
possibilities?
Im taking one book at a time. I read the cover brief, and then I read the story, making notes and occasional
sketches. I collect references, from my library of non-fiction books, search online and take my own
photographs. Ive recruited my neighbours son, who is suitably Potter-esque, although he annoyingly had his
slightly wild hair cut for the new school term. I make numerous sketches of the main elements of the cover and
then cobble them all together digitally, until I have a cover rough I feel happy to send to Bloomsbury and J.K.
Rowling. I hear back very quickly with comments on my rough, which I then tweak or redraw until everyones
happy for me to progress. Then I paint each cover digitally.
Are you a Harry Potter fan? If so, what are your first memories of reading the books?
I am now very much a Harry Potter fan. I read Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone a few years ago, and I
bought a boxed set with the intention of reading all of the books. But Ive had a very busy few years with my
career as an illustrator and writer and, along with a young family and late nights in my studio, I just dont read
as much as I would like, and nowhere near as much as I used to. And as a country bumpkin with no cinemas
nearby, Id never seen the Harry Potter films. I saw the first one at the cinema, after I read the book, but thats it.
In some ways that probably makes me unusual, and I think its a good place from which to approach the world
of Hogwarts and Harry Potter, without any preconceptions. Im reading each book in turn and immediately
developing the cover, taking the images that are conjured up in my head by J.K. Rowlings magical words.
book on a long roll of printer paper my dad brought home from work, and painstakingly copying each
illustration from the book on to the map in the appropriate location. I read The Hobbit in my last year at primary
school, which is still one of my favourite books, and then The Lord of the Rings in my first year (or two?) at
secondary school. I felt a connection with J.R.R. Tolkiens work, because the environments of Middle Earth
seemed to echo the environments in which I grew up and explored on my bike, amongst the hills that form the
border between England and Wales, with the rolling valleys beneath and the dark, foreboding peaks of
Snowdonia visible in the distance.
You are well-known for your picture books. Is it easier to come up with ideas for a full book or a single
jacket?
My picture books evolve over many months, or sometimes years, with the words and pictures feeding each other
until an idea becomes more solid. I only illustrate my own picture books, so the writing is intimately connected
to the artwork and a book idea might stem from a single sketch or a single sentence. The illustrations cant be
wrong because everythings coming from me. Creating an illustration for a book cover is very different. It
involves reading some elses story and trying to understand their vision, so in many ways that can be more
difficult. And with Harry Potter, the scenes Im illustrating have been illustrated before, dissected, discussed and
analysed by millions of fans, and made into incredibly successful movies. Ive not been party to everything that
has come before, so Im creating my interpretation of J.K. Rowlings words. Hopefully, my illustrations will
find new fans, readers will enjoy them and be attracted to them, and I will bring something new to the Harry
Potter universe.
What tips would you offer to young people who are keen to become artists/illustrators?
I think anyone can become an artist or illustrator. I dont believe in talent in art, just the desire to practise. If
you practise every day, youll get better every day. The younger you are when you start practising, the sooner
you will begin to feel confident in your abilities. There is such a wonderful diversity in childrens book
illustration today, and a few hours in a bookshop or library can reveal artists working in all manner of styles,
techniques and mediums. If you find a selection of artists you like, study their work and try and create
something similar you can learn a lot.
Most of the artists Ive met and admire are never particularly happy with their work, and are constantly
experimenting and striving to improve. Being an illustrator is the best job in the world, but also one of the
hardest jobs in the world. Drawing and colouring-in is actually really difficult, even for professional artists, and
you can spend whole days getting nowhere. But the more you practise, the better you get and the more
comfortable you get with your own artistic voice.