Welcome to another edition of ARTSPIRATION! A little series of mine where I share with you some of the artists that have had a major impact on my own art journey.

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When people look at my art, one of the most common comments I hear is that it's whimsical. If that's so, then I have Mary Grandpré to thank for that!

^{"The Four Champions" by M.G.}

Just looking at her illustrations is like experiencing magic itself. A lot of mystery, and yes! so many whimsical details. I don't think the story would have as much impact if Ms. Grandpré had not illustrated the particular editions I read.

^{My favorite chapter illustration: "The Midnight Duel" by M.G.}

More Unpublished Work

Here is a selection of my favorite scenes she illustrated!

Entering Hogwarts in a stolen borrowed Ford Anglia:

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Christmas in the Great Hall

(I love those wizard christmas crackers):

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Stinksap

(That stuff is nasty):

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Blackmailing the Beetle

(A nosy reporter is finally getting her just deserts - clever Hermione!):

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The Secret Passageway

(To get to Honeyduke's Sweetshop!):

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The Hungarian Horntail

(Love Fleur's hair; do you see her?):

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The Artist

^{credit: wikipedia}

GrandPré, who creates her artwork with paint and pastels, has illustrated more than twenty books and has appeared in gallery exhibitions and periodicals such as The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, and The Wall Street Journal. ^source

Check out her illustrations: The Noisy Paintbox,
Sweep Dreams.
She illustrated many others about which I can't go into detail here, but are easily searchable!

^{The Flying Keys by M.G.}

I remember the books were so hard to get then, I'm not sure why. Either because only a few bookstores sold them - or maybe because there were hardly any bookstores in my city when I was growing up?

^{The Author, in unflattering public school uniform}

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Here I am, fully garbed in the standard Philippine public school uniform. Long green skirt, white blouse, white socks and black shoes. I assure you, it was very unflattering to a chibi-esque body like mine.

Reading books like Harry Potter and seeing all the magical illustrations made everyday life like an adventure too! And of course, inspired me to be the artist I am today.

"Magic is Might" indeed, let's toast to that!

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That concludes my second ARTSPIRATION post! I will try to feature a different inspirational artist every week. Since it's me we're talking about, it may be later than that. We'll see!

If you you want to see more good art, check out the first ARTSPIRATION article on John Howe.

Do you have an artspiration too? Let me know in the comments below so I can look them up!

^{Fine Print Stuff:}

^{Additional photo credits to: The Four Champions click here for source and The Midnight Duel click here}

See you next time,