FYI on Book Covers

[Annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 166964

Debi:
> When an artist does a book cover its based on a description of what 
the
> publisher would like to see on the cover, not because the artist 
has gotten
> to read the book yet, the artist is given limited information to the
> contents of the book. I'm an amateur artist and my daughter an 
amateur book
> writer so we have looked into this, this information is based on 
what we
> have been told by no less than 9 or 10 publishers. So its hard to 
guess what is (exactly) between the pages by the covers. There had 
been a lot of speculation
> about what's inside the book based on the covers, for example, in 
the US
> edition Harry has no scar, IMO either Ms. GrandPre forgot it, left 
if off or
> is suggesting its covered by his hair.


Annemehr:
Actually, Mary GrandPre does read the books first, I suppose because 
she does an illustration for each chapter heading as well as the 
cover.

I was searching for an old interview where she talked about this, but 
I found a more recent one at Mugglenet, instead:

http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/638
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Daniel: Could you describe the process of illustrating for a Harry 
Potter book? 

Mary GrandPre: Well, first they send the manuscript and it's just 
usually on typed sheets of paper on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets, and it's 
usually a pretty big stack. Then I just read through and highlight 
visual descriptions of people and places so that I know how to draw 
them. I make ideas for chapter headings and ideas for cover art. Then 
I sketch out all the ideas and send them to the art director in New 
York and he either approves or has me redo, and then it just kind of 
goes back and forth a little bit during the pencil stages. Then, 
after it's approved by the art director, the publisher, and J.K. 
Rowling, then I start the final artwork with pastels, and I just take 
that through final stages. 
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As I recall (from past news items difficult to find now), none of the 
Bloomsbury illustrators read the books beforehand, but had to work 
from what they were told.

I think GrandPre's PoA and GoF were the covers that were the most 
filled with little significant details, but the ones since then, it 
seems to me, have given us much less fodder for speculation.

Annemehr

P.S. For what it's worth, I concur with those who think GrandPre's 
cover melds several disparate elements into one scene.