The Harry Potter Lexicon

I meant to post this last week, but got distracted by the terrific cover art.

Red Scharlach has released new artwork of Madam Rosmerta — in the style of Toulouse Lautrec’s poster art.
New Lexicon artist Sloan de Forest (cf: Eileen Prince) has sent us her drawing of Luna (3rd image down on right), and I think she really captured her sweetness. I love Sloan’s thoughtful backgrounds!

Edit: After conferring with Steve, I removed the links to Red Scharlach’s fandom satire; the humor was just too adult.

Of course GrandPre is not doing to tell us what happens (you wouldn’t want that anyway!), but she does talk about how she creates the covers, and provides clues to those of us (who me?) who are trying to figure out what they might mean.

“Potter artist Mary GrandPre makes magic” by Janis Campbell, from the Detroit Free Press, dated June 5, 2007

This article is mostly autobiographical and doesn’t really discuss her artwork. However, she does say something interesting about the details she works into her paintings:

And speaking of the final cover, does she get a kick out of all the excitement created by the early release of the cover? “I think it’s fun to see the reaction from people. The fans that are really diehard fans look very closely at the artwork,” Mary says.And they should. “I try to make everything have a meaning. … There is a reason why something is in the illustration. I don’t just put it in because it looks better. It really does have to have a meaning or part of the story has to support it.”

“Harry Potter illustrator says goodbye” by Molly Millett, from the Pioneer Press, dated June 7, 2007

This is an interesting one if you are curious about her technique and how the design of the images has changed over the years. Do you have a veil=curtains theory? Read what she says (snippet below) about the curtains on Book 1 and 7! I’m not sure she has closed those ideas down — she doesn’t say it isn’t *also* the veil. Indeed, if it is solely for compositional/symbolic reasons, it would seem to contradict her statement in the earlier article.

When asked to specifically critique her work, GrandPre says: “The first couple, three covers, definitely, they were smaller figures; it was more about a big scene happening in the book. And then we started to close in on Harry and started to deal more with mood or atmosphere. For the last one, I took the curtains from the first cover and put them on the last one. I brought back some of the jeweled tones but kept the more strongly rendered Harry.”

What do you think?

It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! Scholastic has released the cover art for the Deluxe edition. I think it will be a big surprise.
I won’t spoil it for you, take a look for yourself: Scholastic Deluxe edition cover art.

WARNING, SPOILER BELOW
Later edit:
From the Scholastic Press Release: David Saylor, Vice President, Creative Director, Scholastic described the art as:

Set during a highly dramatic sunset, Harry, Hermione, and Ron–clothes in tatters–cling atop a flying dragon in this astonishing artwork created by Mary GrandPre for the deluxe edition. As mist creeps down towering hillsides to a village below, questions arise about where the trio is headed and what has led them to this spellbinding moment.

Usually there is also bonus art inside the deluxe edition. According to the press release, Here’s what we still haven’t seen yet:

• never-before-seen full color frontispiece art on special paper.
• “Illustration Showcase” insert that features near scale reproductions of Mary GrandPre’s chapter openers
• bonus black-and-white illustration that appears at the end of the “Illustration Showcase”

The deluxe edition will be a total of 816 pages; the suggested retail price is $65.00 and the print run will be 100,000 copies.

The Wizard of the Month calendar on Jo’s official site has changed to display Happy Birthday wishes for June 5th to Draco Malfoy.

This coming weekend I’ll be in Southern California where there will be a couple of opportunities for me to meet some of the west coast Potter fans. It is always such a thrill and an honor to meet people who enjoy the Lexicon and share my love for Harry Potter.

On Saturday, June 9, I’ll be speaking at Sonorus in Lancaster. This event is a one-day con with vendors, a British-themed dinner, and a number of excellent speakers, including John Granger.

Then on Sunday, June 10, I’ll be spending a couple of hours at Whimsic Alley in Santa Monica from 2 to 4 p.m. I’ve been hoping for a chance to visit the store since it opened. I really hope to meet a lot of you there. We’ll talk Snape, the Order of the Phoenix film, Deathly Hallows, and whatever else is on your mind.

Today, June 3rd, is the birthday of our Essays Editor… Paula Hall!
Please join us in wishing her a day filled with magic and all her dreams come true.
Happy Birthday Paula!