In addition to the unlocked image of Gilderoy Lockhart unveiled through Bloomsbury's social media this week, several new photos from the upcoming
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets illustrated edition were released online, including the first look at Dobby the house-elf and Aragog, all drawn by Jim Kay.
Kay revealed that author J.K. Rowling was reading the illustrated edition of the first
Harry Potter book,
Philosopher's Stone (released last year) to her youngest child, Mackenzie Murray, as an introduction into the Wizarding World she created.
Quote:
Jim Kay (as told to Event Magazine): ‘She really likes it. She said she was reading it with her youngest child, who is of the right age now to start the Harry Potter journey, so Jo is using the book with my illustrations, I believe. I can’t think of a better compliment.’
Quote:
Kay: ‘Dobby the house elf is a difficult one, because he is very popular. He is more comprehensively described in the book than most characters. His eyes are supposed to be the size of tennis balls but the moment you do that it gets very Disneyesque. I made a model out of plasticine and positioned him. This image was my fourth attempt.’
Quote:
Kay: ‘I love drawing Hagrid. I was looking at the eyes of alcoholics. These belong to Winston Churchill, who had wonderful eyes: slightly yellowing. He has the nose of a guy I saw in Kettering and the mouth of somebody else. Originally he looked too much like the comedian Mel Smith. His outfits are inspired by an old guy I saw wearing a heavy metal T-shirt.’
Quote:
Kay: ‘That’s a drawing of my niece Milly, who is absolutely perfect for Hermione because of her character. She’s very bright. She occasionally loses her temper with me. So she’s Hermione. I chose to portray the characters with semi-realism, which is really hard. If you put a line out of place with children you age them.’
Quote:
Kay: ‘I was instantly reminded of Shelob, the spider in Lord Of The Rings. The description of Aragog sounds very like her. I love spiders. They’re beautiful. We’ve got an amazing array of spiders in our house. They just live there but I do occasionally encourage them by feeding them. You should welcome spiders into your home. Were it not for the spiders we’d have God knows what else to deal with.;
The
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets illustrated edition, in hardcover, will be available on October 4, 2016 around the world.