Illustrator and Illustrator-Author Study

Jim Kay utilizes a wide range of styles and techniques, though he first came to recognition from his black and white/charcoal based work. The illustrations in A Monster Calls truly lend the text a unique ambience that is innately threatening, yet simultaneously tender and sympathetic. His illustrations are breathtaking and gut wrenching with their use of shadow and glowing components like the night sky.

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He was also selected to illustrate a new release of the Harry Potter series. This has been a large undertaking, with hundreds of pages of illustration in each book. His style evolves in these, and he embraces a widespread use of color, but sticks to his roots with sketching and pencil work throughout. What was also enjoyable to see in these books, was Kay's use of watercolor to create gentle backgrounds behind the text and to add extra emphasis to the whole page as a canvas.