Amazon.com have interviwed Mary GrandPré, the illustrator of Harry Potter and thw Order of the Phoenix.
It covers her impression of Harry Potter, and a lot about her life and work.
Here are some highlights:
Quote:
Amazon.com: You've read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - what do you think?
Mary GrandPré: I think it's wonderful. It's unique, it's different from the rest. I think it's a really exciting part of the Harry Potter series.
Amazon.com: How closely do you work with J.K. Rowling?
GrandPré: I've only met her once, a couple years ago. The publisher shows her sketches and gets feedback, but she and I don't communicate. This is pretty typical for illustrator/author relationships: they keep our visions and voices separate.
Amazon.com: How are you handling Harry growing up?
GrandPré: It's exciting. I kind of feel like his mom--or maybe his step-mom. J.K. Rowling is his mom. But I feel like it's a tricky thing to create a character and then age him. You have to take careful note of how that happens because any little tiny difference in a face can make the whole person look very different. Over the years Harry has become pretty solid in my mind. I just do a lot of experimenting on the drawing board, playing with how I would technically change this or that part of his face. What's really exciting is how Harry's personality changes from book to book, his level of confidence, things you see in normal kids. It's really fun to bring that into the drawings.
Amazon.com: It must have been amazing to see the characters you worked with come to life in the movies.
GrandPré: It was pretty cool. I thought they were really good. It was so much fun to see the magic on the screen. Once in a while I would catch a glimpse of something that might have been inspired by something they saw in one of the books that I had drawn and that was great. I don't know if it was in there or not, but I'd like to think so!
To see the full article, click
here.
