The Boy Who Lived

Okay, it's finally done. Finito. It's a wrap. The Harry Potter franchise poster project is complete.
For some reason, this one for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone has been the one that caused me the most trouble from the beginning. I don't know what it exactly is that's made it so difficult. Maybe it's that the main conflict/defining moment from the film, which is something I've generally focused on in the top section of these posters, is simply not that big of a deal in the film. Most of the running time is  spent introducing and building the world.
My first run at Sorcerer's Stone was based around the showdown between Harry and Quirrell/Voldemort in the chamber where the Mirror of Erised is kept. Although I liked the imagery of Lily and James Potter in the mirror and what that means to Harry, I felt everything surrounding it was a bit boring.

Snapshot of Harry and the Mirror of Erised on their own

So after abandoning that idea, I decided to focus on a different important moment: when Harry is sorted into Gryffindor by the Sorting Hat. It's in this moment that Harry's fate for the next seven years is essentially decided.
Rather than crowd the Great Hall scene with all of the students at their House tables or the professors at their table at the back wall, I made it so that Harry was like the only person in the world in that moment. I've loved the look of the Great Hall set from the very first film onwards and was very excited to draw it.

Detail - Harry and the Sorting Hat

With this one done, the complete series of posters has been compiled into one big image...all eight films from Sorcerer's Stone to Deathly Hallows Part 2! In this image, it's especially clear how Harry is growing up through each poster.

I'm terribly pleased with the way that the whole series has turned out. It was a great exercise in style as well as a commitment to an extended project. Thanks for sticking with me throughout this whole series!

--CKL--

The Battle of Hogwarts

Here's the poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and I think it might be my favorite of this poster series thus far. Or at least tied with Chamber.
Wonderfully directed by David Yates, this movie is such a satisfying conclusion to the franchise. It's swift and doesn't waste a second away from the story. Although that ends up leaving out some key parts from the book. its a solid, emotional, and impressive film as well as a great bookend to the films.
So when it came to the poster, I decided to pare down and concentrate solely on the battle between Harry and Voldemort in the Hogwarts courtyard.

Detail - Voldemort 

Hogwarts  has been beautifully captured in the films since day one (and I loved depicting it before on Prisoner) so I really wanted it dominate the image on top. I feel like it really drives home the point that Hogwarts is Harry's true home and it is under attack. Simple as that.

And with this one, I've got seven out of the eight posters done. Now time to go back to the very beginning with Sorcerer's Stone. I originally started Sorcerer's after Chamber, but was having trouble with what direction to take it. So I shelved it. That way, I could tackle the other movies that I simply enjoy more and get a more definite idea of what I was doing with these posters. Anyway, look for it soon!

--CKL--

P.S. Here's one of my favorite songs from the film score by Alexandre Desplat.

Enemies of the Heir Beware

Hey! It's another Harry Potter poster! This time it's for the second installment Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. After doing the poster for Prisoner of Azkaban, the idea of doing a whole series of posters for the films began to take root in the back of my mind and gnaw away until I finally dove in and started on another.

Basilisk-Detail

For this one, I really wanted to depict the Chamber of Secrets itself, as I thought it was pretty wonderfully done in the film, with the carving of Salazar Slytherin. I also wanted to communicate the pretty dark nature of the story and the serious danger that the Basilisk poses to Harry and all of Hogwarts.
I'm not sure if I'll be going in any particular order as I move through the rest of the series, but if anyone has any ideas for key elements or scenes from the other films, please leave them in the comments below!

--CKL--

Mischief Managed

Hey, it's another poster for fun!
Over the holidays, I was given the Harry Potter Blu-Ray boxset by my girlfriend's parents (I also recently brought all of my Harry Potter books back from MI so I'll be re-reading that whole series as well) We promptly began marathon-ing through the movies. In watching them all, I realized just how significant of a leap in maturity and depth the franchise took when Alfonso Cuaron took on the third movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It's really an astounding change and I think that it nailed the darker turn the books were taking. Plus, it's just a great movie start to finish, from the performances to the production design to the cinematography and the music.
I may have done a Harry Potter illustration before (which has a ridiculous number of views for some reason) in anticipation of the Deathly Hallows Part 1, as well as just a quick drawing of the good ol' Boy Who Lived, but I think I like this one the most. Castles, dogs, and hippogriffs? Good fun.

Harry - Detail

The Grim - Detail

Buckbeak - Detail

--CKL--