Mary Grand Pre's Show

I recently when to a lecture and show opening of Mary Grand Pre's work. I knew of her work from the Harry Potter books but I was not familiar with the rest of her work, and the areas it spans. She has not only worked on illustrations for the Harry Potter books, but many other children's books, editorial, and to my surprise character development for animated films, such as "Ice Age" and "Antz". Her work is primarily done in pastel and I must say she is quite proficient and amazing with the medium. I loved the cover she did for "plum" a book of poems. The color had amazing depth and saturation, which can be difficult to get with pastels because the pigments mix so easily, and the color can become muddy. One of the great things about her show was that they included her process work(thumbnails, sketches. As an Illustrator it was wonderful to see how such a respected illustrator works. I was also impressed by the large size of her sketches, they were typically the same size as the finished piece. I usually work much smaller when planning an illustration, but I could see how working larger could help with the details and composition. I was disappointed that the show did not include any of her finished work from Harry Potter, but I understand that there are legal reasons for that.

Even though I thought her work was amazing, I was disappointed by her attitude towards illustration. I got an inkling of it during her lecture, when she was talking about her legal troubles with Warner Brothers and Harry Potter. But it became apparent the next day when she came to speak to my Professional Practice: Illustration class. She mainly told our class to keep our options open, and not limit ourselves to illustration. This could have been good advise , but then she went on to talk about how she wishes she never went into illustration. Instead she wants to be a Graphic Designer, or sculptor, or anything else besides an Illustrator. Now I understand that after 20 years in the same career you might get sick of it, especially if you've had so many problems with Warner Brothers (like she has), and have to constantly compromise your work for a client. But when you are speaking to a class of young Illustrators who are hopeful for the future and hungry for your advise and wisdom, it's inappropriate to talk about how much you dislike the field. It would of been better to warn us about problems we may encounter, but not basically tell us to switch majors. It was very uninspiring and bordering on rude.

After this class I went to look at her show again. I noticed that her resent work, especially her 2004 oil paintings, reflect her current feelings. These pieces do not have the same care for concepts and medium as her earlier work.