How a Harry Potter Illustrator Brings the Magical to Life

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/books/jim-kay-harry-potter-illustrator.html

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Jim Kay’s favorite part of drawing is right before he makes a mark.

“The best moment is a blank sheet of paper,” he said. “Every line is a slight degradation of that ideal.”

Kay, the artist behind the illustrated editions of the Harry Potter series, works long days and often into the night in a free-standing studio in the garden of his home in Sussex, England.

His cluttered work space contains virtually every artist’s tool imaginable, and some unlikely props: metal scrapers from a dentist’s office, which he uses to add details to clay models; insect specimens; a model skeleton; and leaves, branches, seeds and feathers that he collects. He uses those motley materials to build three-dimensional models of winged dragons, elves, goblins and trolls, which he then sketches.

“The problem with fantasy books is these things don’t normally exist, so you have to create them to give them a sense of reality,” Kay said.

In October, Scholastic released Kay’s latest illustrated volume, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” He gave us a tour of his studio and explained his elaborate process.

What appealed to you about this studio space and this spot?

We’re surrounded on all sides by National Trust land. It’s amazing for wildlife. We have badgers and owls at night and rabbits and foxes during the day, and a huge number of birds.

What objects do you keep in your studio for inspiration?

Hares are my good luck thing. In every book I’ve done, there’s been a hare.

When I was a bit younger, my brother lived out in the countryside. It was a hot summer day and I was lying in a cornfield and a hare appeared. If you’re ever face to face with a wild hare, it’s quite a strange experience. They’re quite freaky looking. Ever since that, I’ve been very fond of them.

I’ve always drawn crows. They’re straight from Edgar Allan Poe and Gothic horror, and I love them. They’re beautiful things.

I’ve got a lot of toys I’ve been collecting for many years since I was a kid. I’ve never grown up, that’s the problem.

You also have quite a few insect specimens, which show up a lot in your illustrations.

When I was a little boy I used to keep insects under my bed in ice cream tubs. I used to catch butterflies and beetles. I had an entomologist uncle who used to send me insects in the post. It’s never changed. I’ve always drawn from the natural world.

You seem to collect little bits of flotsam from nature, leaves and twigs and seeds. How do you use them in your work?

I collect loads of leaves. I’m working on an illustration at the moment that’s predominantly green. On the floor I have all these different leaves and acorns from oak trees around the garden. Everything is starting to turn into really beautiful autumn colors. I’m trying to get more colorful. I think in black and white and I’ve got to go past that, so I surround myself with beautiful colors to make me push myself a bit harder. Otherwise everything I draw will look like a movie from the 1920s.

How do you make these abstract splatter images, and how do they factor into your work?

I make random marks or splatters with inks. Your own drawing becomes very predictable and formulaic, so it’s nice to have something that has a bit of chance. It’s nice to have visual images that I’ve not created myself. I’d lost confidence in drawing and so I thought if I randomly made marks and shapes, then it’s not my hand that’s doing it, it’s just randomness. So I collect textures and mistakes and splatter spots. Sometimes if I’m working on a painting and there’s a piece of paper next to it that I use to clean my brushes on, I’ll often get rid of the painting but keep that piece of paper with the brush marks. I love the way you’re not consciously thinking of making a mark, and you get these beautiful effects where the color bleeds or breaks up. It throws something random into the mix.

When you’re drawing imaginary creatures that doesn’t exist, how do you make them look real?

You’re trying to get people to buy into an alternative world. The more you can seat it in apparent reality, the better it works.

On a more practical level, it’s much easier to draw if you have something in front of you. If it doesn’t exist, I make it. If there isn’t something in the wild or it’s not in a museum, I’ll try to make it out of clay or plasticene. I’m not one of those illustrators who can pull stuff out of my head, I’m afraid. I’m not that good.

You seem to have a lot of 3-D art material in your studio, modeling clay and fabric and models. How do you use those materials in your illustrations?

I really struggle with drawing, still, so it’s great to have something in front of you. Particularly for lighting, I struggle with how shadows are cast. It’s a difficult thing to do, to understand how a solid object casts a shadow in a landscape. The main thing is to give it a more sculptural feel, because drawing can be very flat and two-dimensional. I have trouble with that, so I’m trying to get more depth and a more sculptural feel to the drawing.

The people who do the best drawings I think are sculptors. If you look at Henry Moore’s drawings of elephant skulls and the London Underground, they’ve got such a sense of weight and gravity to them. They look solid, like they are occupying space, which is very difficult.

As the illustrator of the Harry Potter novels, you have a unique challenge, because the movies are so popular and most people already have an image of the characters in their heads. Was that an obstacle for you in developing your own version of the characters, and how did you overcome it?

It was very difficult because I’m very fond of the films. The only way to do it was to start from scratch. I built the landscape first, really physically built it with models, so I built a model landscape for Hogwarts. After that, I recast the film and I used people I know. For Ron, Ginny and Molly who are the Weasleys, I used a real mother, daughter and son as inspiration for the illustrations. By dint of the fact that I’ve got a real family, I buy into my version. I cast people I know who fit the character. My niece is a perfect Hermione. It took about two years, but now I think of my world and not the film one.

Which character is the hardest for you to draw?

Harry by miles, I find him so difficult. Children are difficult anyway, because if you put a line out of place on a child’s face you age them by about five years. But Harry, also because he wears glasses and glasses are a nightmare to draw. I’ve literally smashed up and thrown stuff across the room in frustration trying to draw Harry. He’s very hard. I think because I’ve got a very particular idea of him in my head that I’ve never been able to execute the way I want it. Even though I’ve got a boy who models Harry for me, I still can’t get him right.

How would you say your style has evolved over the years?

I haven’t found a style yet. I’m desperately trying to find a style. I’m a bit worried.

Produced by Erica Ackerberg.

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