“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”
– Jim Kay
When it comes to fiction, one of the prominent characteristics is the rich writing on the surroundings and characters in order for readers to visualize the scenes. Be it the heavy adjectives or usage of onomatopoeia, good literary fiction consists of it all. However, with every piece of fiction comes book illustrations that help the audience improve their reading experience. Book illustrators keep in mind the characters and the environment described in order to churn out appropriate drawings.
When one talks about literary fiction, hardly can one miss the phenomenon that is Harry Potter. Artist Jim Kay, a British Illustrator, is responsible for the illustrations in new editions of the Harry Potter book series(2015-2022). So how does one do justice to a series of books that have been around for more than 2 decades and inspired millions of youngsters growing up? Kay was in a similar dilemma as he tells Entertainment Weekly, “ I didn’t sleep for months. I was just terrified[…]everybody’s read Harry Potter, and everybody has an opinion on it as well. But you don’t get in the ring without expecting a few punches, so you have to brace yourself for those.”
The artist defines himself to be unpredictable saying, “ I change styles like I change my pants.” Hence the newer version does not follow a consistent style of illustrations as one can find anything from oils to acrylics. What’s interesting about the new Bloomsbury editions is the high concentration of art. The artist in this edition has added quite an amount of personal input in order to fill in the gaps, drawing each shop and piece of architecture.
What is to be noted is that the series focuses on the development of Harry and the other characters through the ages. Hence, the illustrator has to conceptualize the growth of each character through their illustrations while maintaining consistency. Talking about illustrating children, Kay says, “ They’re really hard to draw, because you know, you age them. With just two lines, you can age a child five years if you put the lines in the wrong places.”
With movies as famous as those of Harry Potter, the readers and audience have had their brains imprinted to associate Harry With Daniel Radcliffe or Hermoine with Emma Watson. As a book illustrator, however, the primary importance is that of the text and the description of the characters in the books. As has often been pointed out, the inconsistencies between the book description of the character and the actor cast in the role. However, Kay believes that “The text is absolute king. It’s the most important thing, and you have to remind yourself, as an illustrator, to do this, because once you start scribbling and drawing, you can very easily wander off-script. You have to constantly remind yourself to go back, and keep checking what the authors put.”
In order to track the age correctly, the artist took inspiration from real-life children so that he could get a good grip on the facial structures as they grow up. Further, the illustrator bespoke of how Harry was inspired by this kid he saw on the London Underground and his niece was the inspiration behind Hermione. The complexities of Harry Potter books don’t just end with ageing children and old architecture. One of the most challenging parts is the magical creatures. On drawing creatures that do not exist in real life, Kay explains his process to the New York Times, “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 plasticine. I’m not one of those illustrators who can pull stuff out of my head, I’m afraid. I’m not that good.”
Lastly, it is needless to say Harry Potter fan universe is diverse and widely popular, however, most of the audience is either millennials or GenZs. In this age of low attention span, these book illustrations are a good way to guide the young ones towards reading. As the artist tells Google Arts & Culture, “I’ve had a few letters saying they couldn’t get their children to read a book, but the illustrated version has finally got them reading. So I couldn’t ask for more really. It’s such a privilege. If you help one person engage with books, the hours, the solitude is worth it because you’ve hopefully helped somebody on a life of literary discovery.”
References:
- Entertainment Weekly: Harry Potter illustrator Jim Kay interview: how he created breathtaking ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’ images
- The New York Times: How a Harry Potter Illustrator Brings the Magical to Life
- Google Arts & Culture: Jim Kay On Drawing The Boy Who Lived
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Vaishnavi Srivastava is a learning writer, a keen researcher and a literature enthusiast. She is a Sub-editor at Abir Pothi.
