Jim Kay (born 4 April 1974) is a British illustrator and printmaker from

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, who won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2012 for his illustrations for the book ''

A Monster Calls ''A Monster Calls'' is a low fantasy novel written for young adults by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd) illustrated by Jim Kay and published by Walker in 2011. Set in present-day England, it features a boy who struggles ...

'' by

Patrick Ness Patrick Ness (born 17 October 1971) is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including t ...

. He was selected personally by

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

to present colour illustrations of every title in the Harry Potter series.

Career

Kay's first love was for art and for natural history, in particular for botany and entomology and its relationship with the environment. He attended the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

at the Harrow Campus, a vantage point for views of London in the smog which had been used by Victorian painters. For two years, Kay worked at Tate Britain, in the Archives, working with the personal papers of artists such as Paul Nash and Stanley Spencer. His later work as the Assistant Curator for the Illustrations Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew brought him into contact with the rich archives from Indian art collections, illustrated manuscripts,

herbal A herbal is a book containing the names and descriptions of plants, usually with information on their medicinal, tonic, culinary, toxic, hallucinatory, aromatic, or magical powers, and the legends associated with them.Arber, p. 14. A herbal m ...

s and the records from the era of British exploration across the world, in particular the work of Indian artists employed by botanists to produce paintings of local flora. In 2008, Kay produced a one-man exhibition which was shown in Richmond on the theme of producing ideas for children's books. In 2012, he received his first Kate Greenaway Medal for his illustrations in the book ''A Monster Calls'' by Patrick Ness. In 2013, he was selected personally by J. K. Rowling to present illustrations of every title in the Harry Potter series. The first four were released between 2015 and 2019. On 24 January 2022 Bloomsbury confirmed that the illustrated edition of ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' would be released on 11 October. On 17 February, 2022 Bloomsbury announced that the fifth book not only contained Jim Kay's artworks, but also featured illustrations from the award-winning illustrator Neil Packer. On 7 October, 2022 it was announced that Jim Kay will be stepping down from his role to focus on his mental health. Bloomsbury said they will continue to work with other artists to illustrate the remaining books.

Works

* ''

'' (Illustrated Edition, 2011) * ''Bugs: A Pop-up Journey into the World of Insects, Spiders and Creepy-crawlies'' (Illustrated Edition, 2013) * ''The Great War'' (Illustrated Edition, 2014) * ''

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a youn ...

'' (Illustrated Edition, 2015) * ''

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and the second novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, d ...

'' (Illustrated Edition, 2016) * ''

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling and is the third in the '' Harry Potter'' series. The book follows Harry Potter, a young wizard, in his third year at Hogwarts School of ...

'' (Illustrated Edition, 2017) * '' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (Illustrated Edition, 2019) * '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (Illustrated Edition, 2022)

References

External links

The creative home of Jim Kay and Louise Clark
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Jim 1974 births Living people British illustrators British children's book illustrators Kate Greenaway Medal winners