New Illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

I went to a book store last Friday and noticed on the shelves just at the entrance  a new illustrated Harry Potter! It was released just three days ago. With the usual difference in  the title - Philosopher's Stone in Britain and Sorcerer's Stone in USA.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The Illustrated Edition (Harry Potter, Book 1) on Amazon

It is illustrated by the British artist  Jim Kay. Currently he is working on the second book about Harry Potter in a lovely little studio where tiny birds come inside easily through  a door from a beautiful garden.

On the cover there is one of the illustrations - Harry arrives at his platform to the Hogwarts Express. The book is rather big, printed on beautiful silky paper and fully illustrated. .

Kay wrote about Hagrid on his site: "Hagrid in the Wooden Shack. My favourite character to illustrate, I have already decided on the badges he wears on his coat (when I was a child the school caretaker used to wear things the children had given him, which gave me the idea). I love illustrating giants. They remind  adults like me of being a small child again, a time when everything was hard to reach, and adults were just a forest of legs.".

All pages are painted under the text. You can see how the sky on illustration  on the right continues in paler tones on the text background on the left.

The illustrations are generously large and look bright on glossy paper. To make Malfoy's  appearance  creepy the artist drew his eyes perfectly symmetrical. 

The book is too big to fit into the frame so I moved camera to the left or to the right to show more important parts. A bright red bookmark is a nice touch. 

Hagrid used an old boat to make his house. 

Jim Kay loved to draw books inside the book! Guide to Trolls looks authentic:)

Ron is completely "normal" - there is nothing symmetrical in his face!

 

Jim Kay made models for some parts of illustrations - like these dragon towers - to see how they look at different angles. 

Four friends

All pages are colored - pale watercolor washes, spots and splashes.

Hogwarts Express. The illustrator made its paper model too!

Diagon  Alley - meticulously planned and drawn.

The Sorting Hat. Do you see a face on it? 

Here Jim Kay is writing about creating these beautiful illustrations. There are about a hundred illustrations in this book. 

A lovely video about Jim and his little studio.




The book is exquisite! It will be a perfect gift for a fan or the memorable first Harry Potter for a kid.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The Illustrated Edition (Harry Potter, Book 1) on Amazon