Literary Art/Illustrations
Introduction
Because we have lived for over a decade with photographic images of actors in the film versions of Harry Potter, we might forget the fact that there was a lot of other “literary artwork” available before that depicting the world of wizards and muggles. The term literary art refers to illustrations that are created based on descriptions of characters and places in the book version of a story. We are most likely to identify literary art with the original illustrations that appear on the cover and interior of Harry Potter books, but it also appears on countless other products licensed by the Harry Potter franchise. This page considers literary art for the world of Harry Potter, and shares some links and samples for their artists’ work.
Mary Grandpré
Mary GrandPré created the book covers and chapter art in the Harry Potter series. I have shown the front covers from the US series on the Books page.
Ms. GrandPré is not the only artist whose work has been featured in the Harry Potter universe, but she is likely will long be considered the main one due to the popularity of the Harry Potter editions that use her cover art and illustrations. Here are some articles and links about Mary Grandpré that I particularly liked:
- Scholastic’s biographical sketch of her.
- Her page on Art Insights, an Animation & Film Art Gallery.
- An Exclusive Amazon Interview with her, on their webpage for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix deluxe edition book.
- A Communications Arts article about her, written by John Jarvis.
For information on other key Harry Potter artists, see the description in the Clampett Studio section below.
“Literary Art” by Fred Bode
"The Balance Challenge" ~ Literary Art Illustration by Fred Bode
The above literary art sample by Fred Bode comes from a promotional postcard for the “Harry Potter Spells & Potions Activity Kits” #509 – Physics. This was one of the early licensed products that was in development/production before the first film in the Harry Potter series was released in 2001. This “Balance Challenge” postcard is part of this Physics set, which was released in 2002.
Clampett Studio
Clampett Studio features three artists who produced images from the world of Harry Potter: Mary GrandPré, Jim Salvati (see also here for more of Mr. Salvati’s work) and Fred Bode (who did much of the promotional artwork used for licensed products prior to images from the movies being available). Included on the home page is a link to the Artist Biography section. There you’ll find links to all three of these Harry Potter artists Fred Bode, Mary GrandPré, and Jim Salvati.
Clampett Studio produced a limited edition series of giclee artwork from Harry Potter. (Giclee is a type of inkjet print process, using advanced technology for reproducing digital artwork in high detail.) On the home page, there is also a link in the Archives section to Harry Potter Fine Art Prints (lithographs, giclee, prints on paper or canvas). That page will show all the series they have available. Most of the works shown are literary art, and a few are artistic adaptations of images from the movie series.
Fred Bode
- Other Harry Potter Artwork
- The Harry Potter Portfolio by Fred Bode
Mary GrandPré
- The Harry Potter Book Cover Art Series
- Harry Potter Fine Art Giclee Prints on Paper
- Harry Potter Fine Art Giclee Prints
Jim Salvati
- Harry Potter Fine Art Giclee Prints on Paper and Canvas
Warner Brothers
- The Witches and Wizards of Harry Potter Collection
Clampett Studio Fine Art Prints
Mary GrandPré ~ Promo Card for Harry Potter Fine Art Prints ~ Clampett Studio
Mary GrandPré ~ Promo Card (reverse side) for Harry Potter Fine Art Prints ~ Clampett Studio
Harry Potter Literary Collector’s Card Set ~ From Artbox
Literary Collector's Card Set ~ From Artbox
There is a wonderful set of 45 trading cards from Artbox that features the illustrations of Mary GrandPré for the first five books in the Harry Potter series. This “Literary Collector’s Card Set” has 9 cards for each book, with an illustration on the front and a one-paragraph description on the back. The subset for each year in school uses a different color scheme to help set it apart. The sample shown above is the illustration-side of the 9-card subset from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
