Adrian
Macho

Before a person gets into the sights of JK Rowling’s team as an illustrator, they have to have gone a long way. Adrián Macho was in the same situation. He was told from a young age that he had talent, which naturally led him to all kinds of creation. Although he studied a creative field – ceramics – his steps initially led him to an agency, where he created graphic designs for clients. But it didn’t stop there.

He was born on June 27, 1982, in the village of Smrdáky in the Záhorie region. He studied artistic ceramics at the high school in Modra. He worked in various advertising agencies as a graphic designer, later as a freelancer.

I’ve always been a creative person and from time to time I felt the need to somehow vent these creative pressures. A few years ago I started posting my pictures on social media and it quickly turned into real commissions. However, talent alone is not enough and, like in other areas, you need to work on yourself and improve yourself, sacrifice your time, not be afraid of challenges and not lose perspective. Over time, it will become clear whether you will reap the harvest you have sown. With your first successes, you are much more confident and certainly have no shortage of new projects and collaborations.

When the first part of the Harry Potter saga was released in Slovakia, I was already practically an adult, so I got to the whole series a little later. I started reading the books only after watching the first three films. However, the wizarding world was nice to me from the beginning - hand on heart, who wouldn’t want to go to Hogwarts, play Quidditch or visit Diagon Alley? First and foremost, it is a nice story about courage and love in various forms, which, together with these realities of the wizarding world, turns the wheels of imagination and fantasy.

He himself likes all the books, but the third (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and the sixth (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) are his favorites. The Sorting Hat put him in Hufflepuff because, as he says, they are the best.

Celebrating 20 years of Harry Potter in Slovakia

Knowing the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter’s publication in Slovakia was fast approaching, IKAR publishing house knew they wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. They approached revered illustrator and graphic designer Adrián Macho, who they describe as a ‘die-hard’ Harry Potter fan.

He had worked with the publisher on other projects before, so he was drawn to it this time. “I was kind of known as a Potterhead,” he says. He admits that when he got the very first email, he broke out in a cold sweat.

Fans are probably wondering how someone from Slovakia could get to illustrate the anniversary edition of the Harry Potter book series by JK Rowling.

The publisher approached me and I enthusiastically agreed, but first I had to get Rowling’s agents to approve me. We sent a portfolio and, fortunately, they liked my work, so I was able to get to work. At the beginning, I received recommendations on what things to avoid, but you could say that I had a free hand in this and the publisher’s full trust. Editor Alenka Hošková helped me with the preparation, with whom we went through all the books and every detail.

I would say that it was a dream come true that I never even dreamed of. When the publisher wrote to me that they were preparing an anniversary edition of Harry Potter and they wanted to try it with me, at that moment my whole life flashed before my eyes and all the wheels in my head started turning. First, however, I had to be approved by Rowling’s agents, to whom we sent a portfolio of my work. The time between when they approached me and when they approved was really difficult for me, I was afraid to believe that I would do it, to avoid possible disappointment. However, by Christmas I already knew that they had approved me, they liked my work and I could start thinking about the whole concept.

So the publishing house sent his portfolio to the UK. 

It was about a week after the first email, but luckily they replied almost immediately and they liked my work.

Adrián worked with editor Alena Hošková for the best part of a year on all aspects of the artwork and these amazing covers are testament to how that work has paid off. The publishers say they believe their editions ‘will be some of the most beautiful ones in the world’ and we’re not about to argue with them.

First, I had to prepare the whole concept, think over the layout so that the books and the entire box would look compact and at the same time each cover would be unique. I wanted the books to appeal to a new generation of readers and also please the fans. I think one of the reasons why these anniversary books are published is because they want to show a new perspective on this story. That’s why I had a free hand in almost everything.

There was definitely a lot of work, it was necessary to prepare illustrations for the covers and the anniversary box in which the books are placed, while the work took about a year and the drawing itself took about 70 percent of the entire time. This would not have been possible without a proper dose of patience, because the agency representing the famous British author examined every single detail of the drawings. Where can one find the patience needed to endlessly redraw the pictures? Did Adrián discover some secret trick?

Honestly, I don’t know, at the beginning the publishing house warned me that it would be difficult, so I counted on everything. Of course, I wanted to be happy with the result too. I think I received quite relevant feedback, so in the end the illustrations look the way they do.

One of the conditions of the British agency was that the characters and the environment would not resemble the film adaptation and that they would be based only on the book. So let your imagination run wild and enjoy this winter with the adventures of the brave wizard who ultimately saved the whole world.

Among the restrictions that the illustrator had to think about were, for example, the ban on drawing animals in cages or the fact that his illustrations were not allowed to resemble actors from the film series. 

When Ikar Publishing approached me, it was amazing. On the one hand, it was a responsibility, but at the same time I wanted to enjoy it, savor it, and not stress.

I had to forget all the film versions, characters, situations, and go my own way. Invent something completely different. 

Yes, before I started working, I received several recommendations on what to avoid, for example, not showing animals in cages, the scar on Harry’s body to be clearly visible at all times, etc. One of them was that none of this could resemble the film adaptations, since Warner Bros. owns the rights to them. I also think that these annual editions are created in the world mainly to bring a new wind, a different perspective, make the wizarding world more diverse and, above all, to appeal to a new generation. It was definitely a challenge, because most people have the image of Potter fixed precisely from the films or the first edition of the books. I have seen the films several times, and I have also studied the companion books to the films. At first, it was difficult to detach myself from all that, but on the other hand, it was quite liberating and I could draw everything my way.

At the beginning, I was given a list of recommendations on what things to avoid. For example, none of the characters or objects could resemble the film version and had to be based only on the descriptions in the text and my imagination, no animals could be depicted in cages, the clothes had to look as little Muggle as possible (for those who don’t know who a Muggle is - a person who can’t do magic, ed.).

Before I started working on all this, I realized that it would be difficult and that it could change my view of the entire Potter series. I tried not to stress about it and to enjoy the work. I made it more of a game. I was helped by the editor Alena Hošková with the whole project, with whom we went through all the books and came up with scenes for the covers so that they would be unusual, eye-catching and the box as a whole would look compact.

It was challenging at first, but I tried to find something positive in it. I was given the opportunity to reinvent everything, and this opened up possibilities for how to portray the characters, objects, Hogwarts, according to the descriptions in the books and my own imagination.

He was even given free rein and was free to choose which of the many scenes on the book cover would be. Nevertheless, the illustrator had to think about certain limitations and in the UK they were assigned an agent who handled all the details during the entire process of creating the new covers.

For the first two weeks, I was thinking about what I might like as a new reader, what I would be interested in. I know different publications from all over the world and I know what worked for me and what didn’t.

Editor Alenka Hošková played an important role in the entire illustration process. Adrián went through all the books with her, trying to find scenes from the stories that would reflect the main storyline on the covers and at the same time not repeat themselves from previous editions.

We went through all the books and looked for scenes that weren’t used on other covers so that it wouldn’t be repeated. I thought about how to ensure that the concept would appeal to young readers in particular, but also please die-hard fans.

All sketches and visuals were continuously sent to London for approval and then redrawn or new comments were incorporated. It took a lot, a lot of patience, but the publishing house warned me about this at the beginning. I also worked on other projects during the year, but Harry was always the priority. When the first lockdown came and the whole world stopped, I thought for a moment that nothing would come of it in the end, or that the entire project would be postponed. Fortunately, it worked out. In the summer, when all of Slovakia was munching on highland mushrooms at Kráová hola and elsewhere, I finished the last illustrations so that everything could be prepared and the books could be on the shelves before Christmas.

This was something completely different. First, all my ideas were approved by the publisher, then Rowling’s people approved them again. I had to think everything through in advance and sharpen my vision. Despite the fact that many things were redrawn or redrawn, in the end the covers are very similar to my original idea. I reworked almost all the characters several times, especially Harry. He is depicted on each cover with an interval of one year, but at the same time the emotion of a specific situation must be captured in the face. I tried not to take all the comments as criticism, but rather to transform them into a better result. It is much easier with authorial projects, where I am my own master and the approval process is eliminated.

We were looking for a balance between how the characters would be depicted, so that the covers would also include fantastical beasts and it wasn’t just a portrait of Harry in some pose everywhere, alternating colors and moods. Each illustration on the cover is framed by a ‘gold’ frame and decorated with pictograms that refer to the plot of the book. One of the pictograms then represents the entire plot of the book on the spine and title page. We then communicated all the ideas with JK Rowling’s agent, who knew all the spoilers, but also made sure that we avoided the conditions.

I spent several days on each one, and first we sketched them all in a very simplified way to get an idea of ​​the colors and composition, but then we incorporated comments and fine-tuned details.

He usually worked on the covers continuously. If he couldn’t handle something, he would take a break for a few days and come back to it with a distance. During that time, however, he didn’t idle away and prepared other things or prepared notes from books. 

Speaking of birds, Adrián left Slovakia’s capital city, Bratislava, during the project and moved to the countryside for more peace and space to work in. He discovered that the house had a garden containing trees on the branches of which nearly ten different owls slept during the day. There was even a barn owl – you may remember that Augusta Longbottom liked to communicate with her grandson Neville via a barn owl in the stories.

I moved into a house with a garden and a ten-meter willow tree, on which about ten owls slept. I discovered them by accident. The day before Harry Potter’s birthday, an owl crashed into my window. Then I noticed that the owls climb onto the terrace in the evening. They come out at dusk and have a party.

These made their way directly into Adrián’s artistic process:

I made my own pens from the owl feathers which I found under the trees, and sketched drawings and made notes with them.

Inspired by Victorian fonts, Adrián drew the Harry Potter logo and book titles by hand. He didn’t want to get the proportions exactly right: 

I think the imperfections make it look more authentic and playful, yet at the same time harmoniously ties together all the illustrations on the covers.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

From the beginning of working on these covers, Adrián says he wanted ‘to build the whole concept on the play of light and colourful moods. 

I was inspired by twilights and sunsets. It is that time when day meets night, the time between being awake and of dreaming.

I had the idea of ​​a concept based on the play of light in my head from the very beginning, but it took a lot of time to choose specific scenes for the covers. For example, I imagined a scene with a willow tree and a flying car, or a panorama with a train on a bridge and a castle on the horizon from the beginning. Rowling often describes the colored sky in her books to bring the atmosphere and magic of the moment closer, but the wands themselves also emit light effects and flashes when casting spells. Twilight is the part of the day between when we are awake and asleep – that is, we dream, which is particularly suitable for this fantasy genre. I think it was quite successful in the end, and the illustrations on the covers shine like windows into the magical world.

I wanted to connect all the illustrations with a common element – ​​the play of light. First, during the actual magic, light rays come out of the wands or are reflected on objects. There is also the atmosphere of dusk and sunsets, which is magical even in the Muggle world, repeated several times. Dusk itself is the time of day between waking and dreaming, and I think that is exactly what this genre (and the story) literally asked for.

We can see this immediately in the dusk-like quality of the cover of the first book, Philosopher’s Stone, which depicts a large-eyed Harry fixing his gaze on the elusive Snitch during a game of Quidditch – against the backdrop of Hogwarts castle surrounded by empurpled clouds.

Have a look at the concept sketch for Harry’s purple and vermilion uniform...

Macho had to come up with his own Quidditch jersey or “spyscope,” for example.

Hogwarts was inspired by the castles and chateaux of Slovakia itself:

I found it fun to connect the world of fantasy with the real places which we all know so well.

For example, for Hogwarts, I was inspired by our Bojnice Castle. I wanted to connect it with something real that we all know at home. So I used the broken roof on the turrets... 

For Hogwarts, I was inspired by some of the turrets and the roof of Bojnice Castle. But in my opinion, it is not even visible at first glance and it does not seem to me to be a Slovak motif. Pálffy himself was inspired by Italian and French castles and chateaux during the reconstruction. However, I liked the idea that someone visiting Bojnice would dream and imagine for a moment that they were in Hogwarts. A lady from Bojnice wrote to me that she found my version of Hogwarts familiar and was happy about it. Bojnice Castle even shared my sketch of Hogwarts on its Instagram, saying it was a great honor for them.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The flying Ford Anglia of the second book is familiar.

Mr. Weasley’s flying car looks more like our Trabant than a Ford Anglia.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The depiction of Hagrid’s hut on the cover of Prisoner of Azkaban is a great example of how Adrián sought to put aside previous representations and brought his own perspective to what he (perhaps surprisingly) describes as his ‘dream house’:

I knew Hagrid likes these strange, kitsch and ostentatious items, so I thought he’d probably enjoy a chimney top in the shape of a wizard’s hat, or have bird houses hidden in the straw roof. The straw roof itself gives the cottage the look of a cake.

Or Hagrid’s cottage in the films is made of stone with a stone roof. My cottage is all wooden with a thatched roof, in which there are birdhouses. I tried to bring my own original elements into the illustrations.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Goblet of Fire was originally supposed to show a scene with a dragon and a golden egg, but in the end we decided on a scene in a lake and I think we did a good job,” says Adrián. However, that one is also different from what it originally looked like. “This is the second version. When I finished drawing the first one, I realized that it didn’t resemble the original idea. I decided to draw it all over again and only then show it to the publisher.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

He even redrawn the fifth sequel – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – several times.

The boxset

Owls are also intrinsic to Adrián’s wonderful wraparound box-set design, with the Hogwarts Express seeming to zoom across the packaging itself into an orange sunset. Inside, Harry and friends look out of the window at a tawny owl making progress against the slipstream of the train. On the topside of the box, a barn owl flies with a prized Hogwarts letter in its beak.

The technique I chose is time-consuming, but I always tell myself that there’s no rush, so that’s why it looks the way it does. I drew the scene with the train on the box for about three days, then there were a few adjustments, but here I had a clear idea from the very beginning of how it would look. “I drew it last, I wanted it to look pompous and worthy of the fact that it’s Harry’s 20th birthday. I believe he’ll like it.