Per O.
Jorgensen
His house was a hike from the station, and also as he casually mentioned, on the grounds of a castle. He offered to show us the castle, and how could we have said no? It was quite cold outside and the castle looked fantastic. The castle, Gjorslev Slot, is from the 15th century and now is split up into a few residences.
We continued on to Per’s house, where you could see both the Baltic Sea and the forest. His cute dog welcomed us at the door; an Alaskan Malamute, which was one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen. Per tended to the fire and showed us into his studio.
Per O, who lives in the middle of the scenic Gjorslev Slots Beech Forest, is known for keeping his doors open, both for curious art enthusiasts and art buyers.
It was surreal to set foot into the studio; I thought about all of the Harry Potter artwork that was made here as I looked around at the paint splatters, posters and art supplies.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
During a signing, Per was confronted by a young reader who asked him, “Why does Harry have 4 fingers?” Per was confused by the question, and then shocked, when he looked at the cover of book 1 and saw, indeed, that Harry only had 4 fingers on one hand. “I said ‘Oh my God!’ I have drawn Harry Potter with four fingers!” said Per with a smile on his face. Here’s the zoomed in cover:
Per showed photos of the original Danish Harry Potter’s inspiration; a kid in the neighborhood, who looks strikingly identical to the one on the cover, save for the glasses. Per likes to use models for his art, whether it be him, his family, friends or neighbors. He showed us pictures of him dressed up in costume in the forest that he had based a piece on. He takes pictures of people in costume and position and it makes it easier for him to accurately draw a realistic image with shadows, movement, etc.
Harry Potter comes from Valby. It was the son of one of my customers who modeled for him, he says.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Per has illustrated all seven Harry Potter books in Danish. For Order of the Phoenix, however, there are two different covers; one that was sold in bookshops, and the other a book club edition for book clubs around Denmark.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
He brought up the cover of Half-Blood Prince; his entire family is on the cover! The man in the back is Per, the woman with her arm on his leg is his wife, Ingrid, and the two girls in the water are Per’s two daughters.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Per recalled the publication of the last book–his first draft of the cover of Deathly Hallows was (SPOILERS AHEAD) an illustration of Harry Potter laying dead in Hagrid’s arms; a rather grim and dark take compared to the US and UK covers. When he realized that Gyldendal, the publisher of the Danish translations, would be hosting a party for Potterheads in their courtyard to celebrate the publication of the final volume and wanted a big banner printed with the art on it, he thought that it would be a little off-putting if excited young kids showed up to be greeted by a dead Harry Potter.
For the final cover of Deathly Hallows, he chose a scene that he said confused some fans; he wanted to clear that up. The last book’s cover is a scene from the Battle of Hogwarts, after McGonagall awakens the statues and they all go to war. The statues are the creatures on the cover, fighting alongside Harry, and Dobby, who evidently was not killed yet in this edition haha! I’m thinking that Per might have included Dobby so readers did not expect his death, but I could be wrong.
Harry Potter was a hit. It was the one that made me famous, and it’s important to be famous as an artist. Because that’s how you get jobs, says Per Jørgensen.