Mary GrandPré

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Mary GrandPré (b 1954 in South Dakota) is an American illustrator, best known for her illustrations in the US version of the Harry Potter books, published by Scholastic. She resides in Sarasota, Florida with her family.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Early Years
- 1.2 Career
2 References
3 External Links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Years

Mary GrandPré was born in South Dakota but spent most of her life in Minnesota.^[1] She began drawing when she was only five years old, beginning with a reproduction of Mickey Mouse.^[1] By age ten, she was imitating Salvador Dali, experimenting with stretched objects painted with oils, before graduating to copying black and white photos from the encyclopedia. GrandPré graduated from college with a degree in fine arts, and in her mid-twenties chose to go back to school, earning a degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.^[2]

After her graduation, GrandPré spent several years as a waitress while working to be noticed by ad agencies and attempting to find her own style. Her drawing evolved into what she calls "soft geometry," featuring pastels used in a "colorful, light-hearted, and whimsical" manner. Her work is created completely by hand, without the assistance of a computer.^[2]

[edit] Career

[edit] Miscellaneous Work

As GrandPré's work has become better known, she has found herself offered a wide variety of jobs. Mary GrandPré has created images for advertising and magazines, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Wall Street Journal.^[2] Among her other famous works, she was commissioned to illustrate the official poster for the 2005 Minnesota State Fair.^[3] A Dreamworks executive who enjoyed her work called to invite her to participate as an illustrator for their movie Antz. GrandPré was involved with creating some of the landscapes used in the movie. She has also participated in character development for another animated film.^[2]

[edit] Harry Potter

GrandPré has illustrated all of the American editions of the Harry Potter novels. She is one of the few people who are able to read the Harry Potter books before they are released to the general public. When she receives each new book, she reads the story through once, highlighting descriptions that she feels would do well as an illustration. She then creates various sketches as ideas for the cover and chapter art, before sending her favorites to the editors to decide which should appear in the final publication. GrandPré is very careful to make sure that her illustrations give hints as to what will happen in each chapter or within the book, without making it very obvious where the plot is headed. GrandPré does not collaborate with J.K. Rowling at all.^[4]

[edit] Other Children's Books

In addition to the Harry Potter series, she has illustrated picture books including Pockets, Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat, Vegetables Go to Bed, The Thread of Life, Swing Around the Sun, The Sea Chest, and Sweep Dreams. She also illustrated Plum, and Henry and Pawl and the Round Yellow Ball, which was co-written by her husband, Tom Casmer.^[5]

[edit] Recognition

GrandPré's work with the Harry Potter books has been featured on the cover of Time Magazine. Her work, chosen from thousands of illustrators, has also been featured on the cover of Showcase 16. She has received awards from The Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, Graphis, Print, and Art Direction, and has been profiled in Step-by-Step Graphics and Communications Arts Magazine.^[6] GrandPré has also been featured in the book How Jane Won, which examines fifty women who have been successful in their chosen career and in their personal lives. ^[7]

[edit] Latest Work

GrandPré has recently begun creating art for herself instead of for an assignment. She has donated several pieces to The Wellness Community of Southwest Florida, a non-profit organization providing support for people with cancer.^[8]