Happy Holidays From Molly Weasley!

Okay, okay, I know I said I wasn't going to take on any more illustration work this year, but when my friends over at The Harry Potter Alliance asked me to draw a holiday eCard for them this year, I couldn't say no!  I ended up drawing one of the unused ideas that I had pitched them for last year's holiday card.  This concept was originally pitched for a printed card that would open, so it has two parts.

The first part is Molly Weasley, sitting comfortably in The Burrow, doing some knitting:

The second part shows the fruits of her labor, as displayed on the members of her family, and some of their friends:

Since this was going to be an eCard, however, we had to figure out how these two images would work together online.  Since this would all be digital, I thought it might be cool to post the first image as an animated .GIF file, instead of just a static image.

The first variant that I animated had a secret "Alohomora" message that appears in the bottom corner, allowing the user to "unlock" the image by clicking on it, thus revealing the second image.  I animated this by drawing six frames on paper and then bringing them into Photoshop.

This was the option that the HPA eventually chose.  You can see how it all came together (with music!) on their holiday fundraising page.

For the second variant that I animated, I got a bit carried away...  I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if everything in the scene was animated?!"  Really, it was an excuse to experiment with Anime Studio, a 2D animation tool I recently bought to help me with another project.  I tried out a bunch of different techniques and came up with the crazy scene below.  (WARNING! Big file: 2.7 MB)

At the size the HPA was going to use this on their site, the file was actually 5 MB, so it was a no-go.  Still, I had a lot of fun building this, and I learned a bunch of new techniques which will serve me well in the future.  Since it's kind of small here, I thought I'd do some "zoom-ins" on each of the elements.

Here is the garden gnome that Fred and George put a tutu on, painted gold and tied to the top of the Christmas tree:

The snow falling outside the window of The Burrow was probably the most complicated aspect of this animation.  It was only a 4 second loop, so I couldn't get a whole double-window's worth of snow to fall through in that amount of time - too fast!  Instead I took a tiny loop of snow falling past a single window and duplicated it.  Because they are identical, it appears that the top window snow falls into the bottom window snow (if that makes sense).

I wish I had spent a bit more time on the knitting hand poses, but as it was, I had already spent too much time on this animation.  Instead of drawing them on paper, I drew them directly into Photoshop to save time.  It's a pretty clunky 6 frame loop.  If nothing else, at least the needles cross over in different directions each cycle!

It wouldn't be the holidays at the Weasley's without some Celestina Warbeck on the wizarding wireless!  For this one I utilized a visibility "fade in / fade out" preset that was built into Anime Studio.

I was very excited to have an excuse to design and draw Mrs. Weasley's family clock! I used some "ease in / ease out" tweening on the pendulum and then had Arthur and Charlie Weasley's hands snapping back and forth between "traveling" and "work."  Everyone else was either safely at home, or at Hogwarts!

The fire was super fun.  It's just a quick 4-frame loop that I drew directly in Photoshop.

For whatever reason, my favorite part of this whole piece is Errol, perched up on the mantelpiece.  I think this drawing of the Weasley family owl is very funny, and it was fun having him breathe very, subtly and slowly.   Every time I look at this it cracks me up!

Thanks again to the Harry Potter Alliance for giving me a chance to work on this.  Please donate to their great organization if you are able to!

Harry Potter at 1, 6, 11 & 16

While digging through my illustration folder recently, I came across these Harry Potter drawings that I did for the Harry Potter Alliance back in 2009, for a project that never really went anywhere.  I never posted them on here, so I figure better late than never!  They depict Harry Potter at ages 1, 6, 11 and 16.

With this post, I'm all caught up on posting old illustration work.  I'm not currently taking on any new projects, so I'm going to take a break for a few months, while I focus on Isle of Elsi, Phase 7 and my first born child, who will be here soon!

Season's Bleatings!

I had the honor of drawing a holiday card for one of my favorite organizations this year, The Harry Potter Alliance.  HPA co-founder Paul DeGeorge sent me a couple of ideas over email, and then after a round of sketches, he decided on a depiction of the Dumbledores having a quiet Christmas at Aberforth's house, with all his goats:

I added the message "Season's Bleatings" inside, a pun that I lifted from an old Nickelodeon Magazine illustration that Aaron Renier did.  Nick editor Chris Duffy said it was okay for me to reuse this joke, though he couldn't remember exactly who came up with it.  So thanks to whoever came up with that pun!

As 2014 comes to a close, I'm realizing that I've done a crummy job documenting all the illustration work I did this year.  To rectify this, I'm going to put up some "2014 recap" posts over the next couple of weeks.  I'm also thinking about writing a series of posts about how my comics process has changed recently.  Anyway, there's a lot of new stuff on the way!  Until then, I hope everyone's 2014 wraps up well and that your 2015s get off to a good start!

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #10

Happy New Year!  Here is my final design for the new round Chocolate Frog cards.  When I first got this assignment, I was asked to focus on members of the Order of the Phoenix.  I decided right away that I would draw Professor Snape!  I decided to draw him at the end of book six, right after he killed Dumbledore.  Initially I got a bit of pushback from my art direction team at the HPA.  "Snape?  Really? Of all the characters you could draw?"

I stood firmly by my decision.  Yes!  Professor Snape!  Harry himself states at the end of book seven that Professor Snape was "...probably the bravest man I ever knew."  This scene depicts not only his bravery but one of the biggest sacrifices made by any member of the Order of the Phoenix.

As a reminder, you can get one of these wizarding cards by ordering cruelty-free chocolate frogs from the Harry Potter Alliance!  I hope you guys enjoyed checking these out.

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #9

Happy Christmas!  This week's chocolate frog card features another scene from the final battle in The Deathly Hallows.  Neville Longbottom hacking the head off of Nagini with the sword of Gryffindor!

As a reminder, you can get one of these wizarding cards by ordering cruelty-free chocolate frogs from the Harry Potter Alliance!

Next week: Professor Snape!

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #8

Since this round of Chocolate Frog cards was supposed to feature Order of the Phoenix members, I decided to show some scenes from their greatest battle, against Voldemort and the Death Eaters in book seven.

I was having trouble thinking of a good scene for Professor McGonnagall, when Paul DeGeorge suggested the scene where she magically activates all of the armor in Hogwarts Castle to fight.  Good call!

As a reminder, you can get one of these wizarding cards by ordering cruelty-free chocolate frogs from the Harry Potter Alliance!

Next week: Neville Longbottom!

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #7

Whoa, last week when I posted about these new Chocolate Frog cards, I somehow forgot to mention that these are once again available in the Harry Potter Alliance shop!  You can get milk or dark chocolate, and you'll get one wizarding card from my new set of illustrations.  Maybe you'll get Fred and George!

If you can't tell, this one was a lot of fun to draw.  Professor Umbridge is probably my least favorite character in the Harry Potter series, so it was fun getting to draw Fred and George wreaking havoc during the O.W.L.s!

Next week: Professor McGonagall!

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #6

Earlier this year, one of my favorite organizations, The Harry Potter Alliance hired me to illustrate a new set of Chocolate Frog Cards that they printed up for this year's Leaky Con.  This all ties in to their Not in Harry's Name! campaign.  I thought I'd post one a week for the rest of this year, to ease us into 2014.

The HPA asked me to focus specifically on members of the Order of the Phoenix this time around, so I started off with one of my favorite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood!  This is the scene where the new issue of the Quibbler comes out, with Harry's cover story.  I tried to load this image with as much detail as possible.

Next week: Fred and George!

Harry and the Potters Album Cover

One of my illustration assignments at Pratt was to draw an imaginary album cover for a band.  I chose Harry and the Potters, because I had just found out about them a year or two before and was kind of obsessed with them at the time.  I sent this image to Harry and the Potters, and although it was never used for an album cover, they have used it a few times on flyers or things like that.

I am posting this old work to get it back online after I stopped using Flickr to display my illustration work.

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #5

For my last Chocolate Frog Card, I got to depict one of my all-time favorite scenes in the Harry Potter books, when Harry turns his back on the Minister of Magic and walks away.  It was the perfect moment for these cards, because Harry stands up to authority and fights for his rights.

This moment was also turned into one of my favorite songs, by one of my favorite bands, Harry and the Potters.  Check out track 9 on their album The Power of Love to hear this moment musically rendered.  Fingers crossed that they'll play this at the Yule Ball this weekend in Boston.  I will be there!

Remember, the Harry Potter Alliance is still selling their fair trade chocolate frogs, so order a box if you would like to get a collectable card with one of these illustrations on it.  The chocolates make great holiday gifts!

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #4

For this week's Chocolate Frog Card I got to draw my favorite Harry Potter character, Albus Dumbledore.  I chose the scene from the end of book five for two reasons: 1) It is the only time in the books that Dumbledore faces off against Tom Riddle in a wizard's duel.  Of course Dumbledore is the stronger wizard and Riddle flees.  2) In an effort to shield Harry, Dumbledore also destroys the offensive statue in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic, which depicts wizards as being a superior race to elves and centaurs and goblins.

Next week I'll post my last illustration for these cards (one guess who it will feature!).  Don't forget you can still order The HPA's fair trade chocolate frogs from their shop.  They make a nice holiday gift, and you'll get one of these cards as well!

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #3

This week's Chocolate Frog Card was the easiest one to design.  Hermione Granger's Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (or S.P.E.W.) is a perfect parallel to the Not in Harry's Name campaign.  She stood up to authority, and tried to make the world a better place for others.

Claire and I ordered a box of The HPA's chocolate frogs and they arrived this week.  They were great!  Please consider buying a box to help support a good cause and try enact some social change.  You'll also get one of these illustrations printed on a collectable card!  (We got Dobby :)

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Card #2

This week's Chocolate Frog Card features Ron Weasley.  I must admit, it was surprisingly hard coming up with a heroic moment for Ron...  Off the top of my head (and under serious deadline pressure) I couldn't think of a scene from the books where he stood up to authority.  Instead I decided on a moment where he had to face his fears to destroy the horcrux in Slytherin's locket.

Since last week, the Harry Potter Alliance added their fair trade Chocolate Frogs to the shop section of their site.  For $9 3/4 you get three chocolate frogs, one of the cards with my illustrations and more information about the Not in Harry's Name campaign.

Not in Harry's Name! Chocolate Frog Cards

I'm currently ten pages away from finishing my first graphic novel, Basewood.  I'm finding it very difficult to split my focus during this home stretch, so I thought I would take a break from creating new 100 Watercolor paintings for a few weeks, and instead share some recent illustration work I did for The Harry Potter Alliance.

A few years ago The HPA contacted me about a new campaign they were developing, called Not In Harry's Name, which has now gone live.  You can follow this link to read more about the campaign, but the basic gist is that Warner Brothers is using ethically reprehensible sources for the chocolate in their Harry Potter brand Chocolate Frogs.  One of the main messages of the Harry Potter books is basic human rights for everyone, so the HPA has been confronting Warner Brothers, trying to get them to change the source of their chocolate to a fair trade manufacturer.

Here is a web banner that I roughed out for the campaign back in 2009, when the idea was just getting started (click to see bigger).  This was never used, which is probably a good thing.  While I think it gets the idea across, it's a bit too cute for such a serious campaign.  I think the bold, dripping-chocolate design that is being used on the site works a lot better.

Warner Brothers has not complied with The HPA's wishes, even though The HPA's petition has already garnered 16,000 signatures of support.  So The HPA decided to create their own Chocolate Frogs, to prove to Warner Brothers that a product with certified fair trade chocolate could still be profitable.  As any Harry Potter fan knows, Chocolate Frogs usually come with collectible cards featuring famous witches and wizards - which is where I come in!

A few weeks ago, the HPA contacted me to see if they could use some of my existing Harry Potter illustrations on the cards, or if I had time to create some new ones.  Honestly, I didn't really have time to make new ones, but I dug deep and made time to create some.  These are the kind of illustration jobs that I cherish because I get to draw something I love and it allows me to use my illustration skills to help a great organization enact social change.

Using pre-existing images of Harry Potter characters in random scenes seemed to me like a missed opportunity.  Instead, I decided to depict a few main characters in key moments from the books, when they had to be brave and stand up against injustice, or face off against great evil.  That way, when someone buys one of the HPA Chocolate Frogs they will be reminded of the parallel theme from the Harry Potter stories, which is the whole idea behind The HPA.  The first idea that popped into my head was the newly-freed house elf, Dobby, blasting his previous master, Lucius Malfoy.

I made four other illustrations for the HPA Chocolate Frog cards, so I will post one a week, which should buy me enough time to finish off Basewood.  In the meantime, please check out the campaign, and consider signing the petition.  I couldn't find a link for buying these HPA Chocolate Frogs, but if I do, I'll post it here!

Organizational Overhaul!

PLEASE NOTE: I no longer use Flickr to display my illustrations.  Please disregard the outdated information in the post below.

Oh man, I just spent the last two days going through this ENTIRE BLOG and the illustration section of my Flickr account, to get the two to sync up!  Before when you clicked on an image in this blog, it would take you to an empty page with just the image, sometimes blown up, sometimes at the same size.  NOW when you click on (almost) any image in the blog, it will take you to the corresponding page for that image in my Flickr account, so you can view it larger, favorite it, share it, etc. etc. etc.  The only images that WON'T do this are process drawings, or sketchbook things or little images that I use for news posts.  Basically there is now a Flickr set for each label on this blog.

Here, I'll show you how it works!  While I was going through my Flickr account, I realized that I never posted these album covers that I drew for the Harry Potter Alliance.  (You can still download this compilation for FREE at www.stopbigmedia.com/potterwatch/ )

The other nice thing about this set-up is that it allows me to post the images a little bit bigger than I was before.  I also changed the design of the actual blog, to accommodate the width (though I know most of you are probably reading this via RSS).

Anyway, I found a few other things in my Flickr that I never posted in here, so I will be posting those soon, along with more gags and some other recent illustration stuff I have been doing.  There's a lot more on the way, so keep checking back!

Claire's Dumbledore Portrait

Since it is the holidays, I thought I would post some photos of a gift I painted for my girlfriend Claire last year.  It was a portrait of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the greatest headmaster that Hogwarts ever had.  First I bought this old antique gold frame, and then I painted his portrait, using some special "Wizard Paints" that I ordered from a shop in Diagon Alley.

Claire and I were both amazed how well the Wizard Paints worked, because from time to time Dumbledore will get up to visit his other portrait frame in the headmaster's office at hogwarts! 

Claire moved in with me a few months ago, so this painting now rests above the head of our bed.  It's nice to know that Dumbledore is watching over us as we sleep, unless he is away tending to other important matters!

Happy New Years everyone.  Let's hope 2011 is a good one.  I'll do my best to post on here more regularly, so that you don't all have to wait until next winter to see what I've been working on all year.

What Would Dumbledore Do?

The Harry Potter Alliance recently started a new campaign, called What Would Dumbledore Do? To help promote the WWDD? campaign, the HPA created a banner using one of my old illustrations of the greatest headmaster that Hogwarts has even known! The banner is posted above and the original watercolor illustration, which I painted for a Harry Potter fan art show at the Padlock Gallery, is below. Dumbledore is far and away my favorite character in the Harry Potter books, so it's a real honor for me to be a part of a campaign honoring his memory! The new Harry Potter movie comes out tonight at midnight, so I hope people have a Wizardly Week!

Harry Potter!

Well kids, here it is! My very last drawing for the Harry Potter Drawing Challenge featuring the man himself, Harry Potter!

I thought about drawing Harry in some sort of heroic, action pose (fighting off dementors, or the basilisk, or dark wizards) but really, when I think of Harry Potter, I always picture him like this; sitting in his room, brooding, stressing out about all of the tasks that lie ahead of him. This was a lot of fun to draw and I tried to cram in as much detail from the books as possible.

Now, this whole time I have been calling this Matthew Reidsma's drawing challenge, but Matt wrote in recently to let me know that it was actually JP Coovert's idea! Matthew was just nice enough to put together the master list and post links to all the contributors. Besides being a good friend, JP is also the mastermind behind One Percent Press and a fine illustrator to boot. So thanks to BOTH Matt and JP for coming up with the idea for this challenge! It was a lot of fun and I hope all of you enjoyed checking out these drawings.

I've got some "real" illustrations to share in the coming weeks and then I'm going to dive into my next illustration challenge. There's more on the way so keep checking back!

Voldemort

Okay, here is the penultimate post for the Harry Potter Drawing Challenge that I have been tackling. This week I had to draw He Who Must Not Be Named, which was a bit of a downer. Here he is in the graveyard with the corpse of Cedric Diggory and his pet snake Nagini.

Since this week's drawing was kind of a bummer, I thought I'd also include some 1" pin designs that I created for Harry and the Potters!

The guys will have these on sale all summer at the merch table of their Unlimited Enthusiasm tour. They're traveling all across the USA, playing 40 shows, so look for them in a town near you!

Next week will be the FINAL Harry Potter character... can you guess who it will be? :)

Professor Dumbledore

Professor Dumbledore is far and away my favorite character in the Harry Potter books, so I was pretty pumped about this week's Harry Potter Drawing Challenge. It was fun not only drawing the man himself, and Fawkes the Phoenix, but also all of the sleeping headmasters and headmistresses from years past. I tried to match colors for Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

Okay, and as promised, here is the final postcard I drew for Harry and the Potters. The timing of this is nice, as they are playing a FREE SHOW tomorrow (5/10/08) at the New York Public Library! Also, people know that they can click on these smaller images to see the bigger versions, right???

Okay, there are only two more characters left to draw and then the Harry Potter madness will be over!