Picture Pottery
Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the bookstore, the Harry Potter franchise comes back to bite you. The latest temptation? Limited edition illustrated Harry Potters, the third of which hit shelves last month. Artist Jim Kay spoke with india today on developing a visual style that is refreshingly new despite the glut of images already crowding Potterheads’ minds.
Q Readers pictured Harry’s world in their minds long before the films came out. Did you have an image of Harry’s world from when you were younger?
A I can’t remember what my ideas of Potter were from 20 years ago, but the world I’m building now is very much my own. It took a few months to get my head around it; now I really am immersed in something quite apart from my memories of the film series.
Q Your style varies considerably within the book.
A I’m still struggling to find a style I can call mine; the closest I’ve come yet are the illustrations for A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. With Harry Potter, I just threw everything I could at the book initially to see what would stick. Bloomsbury were very good in letting a variety of styles appear in the publication.
Q We heard rumours on Pottermore that you have a cardboard Hogwarts for your illustrations.
A I haven’t built a cardboard Hogwarts, just little scraps here and there. I sketch in three dimensions, sometimes using whatever I can find: plasticine, clay, paper, polystyrene and wood. It helps understand how things are lit, and how shadows fall. I’d love to build a facsimile of Hogwarts, but I am always, always under terrible time pressures, and it would be difficult to justify.
Q We hear you have a real life inspiration for all your human characters. Who was the inspiration for Voldemort?
A No actual person for Voldemort. Instead, I looked at animals with emotionless eyes, like sharks. There is no one individual character that exactly resembles the models I use. I have to make changes to all of them in order to fit Jo’s descriptions. When you work on a fantasy book every day for years, it becomes very difficult imagining everything from scratch, exhausting, in fact. So any excuse to use something real or tangible, such as real life rooms, locations, props or patterns, is heartily embraced.
Q Would you consider yourself a Potterhead?
I was a Potter fan, but my appreciation for what the author has created has grown exponentially. I’ve seen first hand the impact the books have had upon several generations of readers. The stories have entered every area of popular culture now, Amazing really.