Who to illustrate Harry Potter after Jim Kay?

Jim Kay recently announcement that he stopped illustrating Harry Potter, after the release this month of fifth volume.

When I was called in 2013, with the offer of a job as an illustrator, I could not have imagined the impact on my life. I am extremely lucky […] After ten years of working with Bloomsbury, it is with deep sadness that I must step down from the Harry Potter project.

Jim Kay

The immense work represented by each book has become over the years unmanageable for Jim Kay. He reasonably decided to pass the torch. The beauty of his illustrations, his meticulous work, his nods to the universe, are highly appreciated by readers. It will not be easy to rise to the height of his work. So who will Bloomsbury choose to illustrate the sixth and seventh volumes? Let’s explore some (more or less) plausible leads.

Neil Packer, the right arm

Neil Packer’s participation in the illustration of The Order of the Phoenix could aim to relieve Jim Kay, but also to introduce the general public to the future illustrator of the saga.

According to Bloomsbury, Neil Parker was an artist ” guest on the book. He took charge of the secondary illustrations“. Agreed, but we still owe him a quarter of the drawings in the book, and some important illustrations like those of the Ministry of Magic and the Divination course of Firenze.

Critical – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix illustrated by Jim Kay

We should also remember that Neil Packer is a great friend of Jim Kay who said about him ” It’s perfect for Potter”. But we can think that the opinion of Jim Kay will weigh in the choice of Bloomsbury.

Neil Packer is known for his illustration of The Iliad and the Odyssey by Gillian Cross. He has more recently published One of a Kind, a nonfiction book for children where a boy discovers the categorization of objects and the classification of animals. Parker would seem comfortable pursuing Jim Kay’s anatomical boards…but his style does not particularly lend itself to illustrating an entire volume, and the illustrator does not seem in a hurry to replace his friend.

Alan Lee, for the “fantasy” touch

Alan Lee’s name is inseparable from the Middle-earth saga. Since the early 1990s he has worked on around twenty books by Tolkien or drawn from his work, such as the trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. This month, moreover, a new edition of the Unfinished Tales and Legends that he illustrated was released in bookstores.

The universes of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are not the same of course. But they still have some common traitswhich strengthens the candidacy of Alan Lee. We can also think that his style, both realistic and romantic, would respect Jim Kay’s style.

Ian Miller, for the dark and disturbing line

Ian Miller is an illustrator who greatly inspired Jim Kay, as we analyzed in an article. Its very dark drawing and disturbing colors would correspond to the atmosphere of the last volumes. Not sure, however, that his gothic style suits the universe.

And then, let’s be realistic, it is unlikely that Ian Miller, 76, would invest in such work, over several years. It is also difficult to know if he is still carrying out book projects. His website seems to indicate that he draws unique works.

Emily Gravett, for the attention to detail

Emily Gravett is an illustrator of children’s literature, very inspired by nature and the animal world in particular. In 2020, they are chosen to illustrate Quidditch through the ages.

His work does not lack points in common with Jim Kay. Like him, she sometimes makes the objects she draws herself. She has tinkered with a racing broom with wood from her garden in Wales, or even sewn a stuffed leprechaun, mascot of the Kenmare Kestrels club..

Like Jim Kay, she would undoubtedly be able to brilliantly highlight anecdotal elements of the narrative. As she was able to do for example with the emblems of the British Quidditch teams, very detailed. Note that she designed them from real models in carded wool.

The characteristic touch of Chris Riddell

He’s no stranger to the Harry Potter universe either, and it’s not because his last name comes close to Voldemort’s in English (Riddle). Chris Riddell has indeed illustrated The Tales of Beedle the Bardin an edition released only in the UK.

The artist is also known for his illustrations of Chronicles from the end of the worldof the Chronicles of the Stinking Swamp (co-writing with Paul Stewart), Pirate Stew Where Coraline (Neil Gayman). His work is teeming with details, in black and white or in color, and oscillates very easily between lightness and horror as evidenced by the following illustrations (The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Gulliver’s Travels). This versatility would be perfect for the last volumes of the saga.

Nevertheless, Bloomsbury seems to seek to collaborate with separate illustrators for its various projects.. They probably won’t call back an illustrator of a book from the Hogwarts Library to work on the saga. Chris Riddell’s style could also be unrealistic in some aspects, and too associated with other works.

Chris Wormell, at the crossroads of worlds

Another Chris! Less versatile in his techniques than Jim Kay, Chris Wormell is currently working on all of the illustrations for the books. At the crossroads of the worlds. He designs the covers of the reissues of this classic of children’s literature, as well as those of the new Dust Trilogywhich extends the adventure.

But, above all, he recently took up the challenge ofillustrate the first three volumes of Philip Pullman’s saga. His drawings, both dark and colorful, marvelously sublimate this adventure in all its complexity, sometimes terrifying and sometimes poetic.