Illustrator Thomas Taylor Announces Exhibition Sharing Early “Harry Potter” Sketches
Illustrator Thomas Taylor, who created the cover sketch for the original UK version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, has announced an exhibition showing a variety of early work from the Wizarding World.
From May 1 to May 4, Taylor will host the exhibition at Naples Comicon. The exhibition will showcase a host of character sketches, including some of Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Hagrid, as well as early visuals and drafts of the cover art for the first Harry Potter book. There will also be a pen drawing of Severus Snape on display. All of the memorabilia is dated in the 1990s.
Taylor’s work is iconic across the Wizarding World. Just last year, a watercolour painting he created of the book cover sold at auction for $1.9 million, making it the most valuable Potter lot to ever sell in an auction house.
Taylor shared how the exhibition had forced him to “properly search [his] chaotic paper archives” for the first time, leading to interesting finds such as the image he posted to his Instagram page – a painting created to help him with the composition for the Philosopher’s Stone book cover.
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The exhibition will document Taylor’s journey as an illustrator, meaning that while there will be plenty of Potter pieces on display, there will also be artwork from other books he has worked on, including his own original children’s stories. It will be the first chance to see behind-the-scenes work for his Eerie-On-Seas mystery series.
All work shown at the exhibition in Naples will also be showcased at Comicon Bergamo in June.
Will you be checking out Taylor’s work at either Comicon?
