“You’re trying to get people to buy into an alternative world,” Jim Kay says. “The more you can seat it in apparent reality, the better it works. ”Credit…Charlotte Hadden for The New York Times.

Jim Kay, who lives in Sussex, England, talks about his work as an illustrator of Harry Potter novels.

How would you say your style has evolved over the years?
I haven’t found a style yet. I’m desperately trying to find a style. I’m a bit worried.

I think in black and white… so I surround myself with beautiful colors to make me push myself a bit harder. Otherwise everything I draw will look like a movie from the 1920s.

Sometimes if I’m working on a painting and there’s a piece of paper next to it that I use to clean my brushes on, I’ll often get rid of the painting but keep that piece of paper with the brush marks…

I really struggle with drawing, still, so it’s great to have something in front of you… The people who do the best drawings I think are sculptors… Henry Moore’s drawings… look solid, like they are occupying space…

Which character is the hardest for you to draw?
Harry by miles… Children are difficult anyway.. But Harry, also because he wears glasses and glasses are a nightmare to draw…

(Alexandra Alter, “How a Harry Potter Illustrator Brings the Magical to Life,” NYTimes, 11-6-19)

(c) 2019 JMN