With the publication of the hugely anticipated sixth book in the illustrated Harry Potter series, we thought we would treat you to some inside information on Levi Pinfold's illustration process.
This photo shows the meeting where Levi and Art Director Sarah Goodwin are choosing the cover direction in the Bloomsbury offices in London. They are discussing different solutions before the final decisions are made, there was a choice of three dramatic scenes which were mocked up into the jacket designs. This is a first rough stage and the images are showing rough compositions. There was a choice of Harry and Dumbledore at the cliffs outside the cave surrounded by the sea, the dark mark over Hogwarts and the final winning image of Harry and Dumbledore inside the cave at the basin with a lasso of fire lighting up the inferi surrounding them. The chosen cover illustration sums up the peril that Harry is facing and the jeopardy he's yet to face chasing horcruxes and spells out the dark tone for this book and the next.
We talked to Levi about working on this amazing project to find out more.
How did Levi approach Working on the Harry Potter series and leaving his own mark?
Levi had always enjoyed unsettling books when he was growing up. The style of his artwork now suits the darker subjects in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. He’s been fully immersed in and focusing on the world of Harry Potter and most of the time he is problem solving with the imagery, thinking on his feet juggling illustration and bringing up two small children.
Which scenes are chosen to illustrate, does Levi have a choice?
When the briefs for the illustrations come in from Bloomsbury he’s able to change the contents if he thinks he needs to, for instance the portrait of Harry entering the room of requirement, Levi was first asked to show the room itself, packed full of magical objects but when he thought about this scene he realised it was really about what Harry was feeling and he wanted to show the emotion on his face, the room of requirement appears as a reflection of the windows in Harry’s glasses.
Re-imagining the characters and settings.
Levi has avoided making anything look like the films, looking instead to the detailed descriptions in the text. He has tried to imagine the characters in his head and they have turned out closely resembling a cast of his own friends and family, there’s an image of two house elves who look remarkably like his own children. Capturing the age of the main characters was tricky, people are hard to draw anyway, teenagers in particular. Featured here Professor McGonagall in the headmaster's office, Draco Malfoy on The Hogwart Express and Professor Trelawney's inner eye.
Stand out or favourite illustrations.
Levi really enjoyed the penseive scene of the Gaunt family, the scene is described as silvery so it was a chance to use a monochromatic palette, the image has dark bluey grey hues giving it a gothic atmosphere, which was used for all the penseive moments throughout the book. A completely contrasting colour palette was used for Dumbledore’s funeral which is set in glorious summer sunlight. This proved the most challenging illustration to get all the detail just right, who sat next to who and when, it had to be true to the text. The greatest challenge was designing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where all the towers were placed correctly and getting the windows just right in hospital wing, so it made sense from inside and out. This illustration appears on the endpapers.
A different drawing style to continue the series after Jim Kay’s legacy.
Levi’s work is a big stylistic change, he loves Jim’s work but found it best to be true to himself when tackling a large project like this. The work is a series of problems to be solved, decisions to be made along the way, and he has own tricks up his sleeve to describe the way things look. Inside the Dursley’s house was guided by the chintzy interiors at the time it’s set and Levi based it on houses he visited himself in the 1990s. Levi grew up loving the llustrations of John Howe and Alan Lee, he loves art history and is inspired medieval paintings, Dutch genre painting, old masters, the Romantics and the Pre-Raphaelites, he's self confessed painting nerd!
You can see Levi Pinfold's full portfolio on this link
Watch this exclusive video of Levi in his studio talking about his illustration process.
Harry Potter and The Half Blood Price illustrated edition is available direct from Bloomsbury.
