INSIDE OUT: Diego Abreu X The Creatures of the Wizarding World

Written by Garrick Webster

The Brazilian illustrator Diego Abreu has collaborated with designer Matthew Reinhart and Insight Editions to create A Pop-Up Guide to the Creatures of the Wizarding World, a deluxe publication for which Diego painted the all the key characters and creatures from the Harry Potter universe in intricate detail.

The book is a wonder to behold – even by pop-up standards. Open one of its main spreads, and creatures such as Aragog the Acromantula, The Basilisk or Buckbeak the Hippogriff, spring to life before your eyes, each rendered in a traditional painterly style by Diego – honed to perfectly suit the fantasy themes of the Wizarding World. To each side, additional foldouts reveal other aspects of the stories – like the Boggarts, the Triwizard Tournament and Arnold the Pygmy Puff – accompanied by text about the characters and the making of the films.

"I watched the Harry Potter movies when I was young, now suddenly I was working on something directly related to them, in an official capacity. I never imagined that one day I would do something like this," says Diego. "To prepare, I relived the Harry Potter universe, going back to the stories and researching each figure. In total, I painted each element for more than 30 pop-ups."

BEHIND THE SCENES
Each spread was meticulously engineered by Matthew Reinhart, a pop-up book specialist, who sent a Photoshop file outlining all the parts needed. Diego then painted the elements in authentic detail. To ensure the pop-ups not only worked but looked correct, Diego
collaborated closely with both Matthew and Chrissy Kwasnik, VP of Creative at the publisher Insight Editions.

Painting digitally in Photoshop, Diego kept his strokes loose enough to convey an artisanal feel to convey the lost tome atmosphere of the book, but with enough detail to ensure the best representation of the characters and creatures. The artwork moves away from the dark color palette of the films towards a more lively and colourful approach that supports the dynamism and interactivity of the pop-ups.

"The challenge for me was to understand what each part was meant to do and how I should paint it so that the creature or character would be correctly represented. It was like a puzzle but learning how to do it was a lot of fun. Matthew’s work is very clever. The main pop-ups were the most challenging because they had many parts and required more careful study, but Matthew helped me with any questions I had," says Diego.

THE RIGHT ARTIST
Diego is a versatile illustrator, whose work spans contemporary commercial projects, editorial and entertainment, classic portraiture and fantasy. He was selected for the project based on a specific piece in his portfolio depicting an old Japanese street scene at night, with neon signs and a shimmering wet pavement. He carried out a test piece of Harry Potter riding Buckbeak and was selected for the brief.

Portfolio piece

Diego's test piece

"I was drawn to Diego’s work because his impressive photorealistic style still retained the charm of being hand drawn. He also has a remarkable ability to capture the likeness of characters as well as creating intricate detail such as the fur on creatures. His rich and
dynamic illustrations made him a perfect fit for the complex and interactive nature of a pop-up book from the magical world of Harry Potter," says Chrissy Kwasnik, creative director on the project.

From there, it was a matter of painting the vast number of individual parts – each to a high standard, ensuring that every pop-up had a look and feel matching Matthew Reinhart’s vision, within the aesthetic of the Wizarding World.

"Diego was a pleasure to work with on the project. He was very professional, very responsive with taking feedback and incredibly fast with any art adjustments needed. Working with him made my job so much easier," says Matthew.

 

A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE
Every spread had its challenges, but for Diego the toughest character to work out was the giant spider Aragog. The escape from Gringotts bank is another major feature of the book, and was particularly tricky to create, combining architecture, a flying creature and several key characters from the films. However, Diego enjoys any opportunity he gets to exercise his imagination.

"I loved making Buckbeak, Fawkes, the Hungarian Horntail and, of course, Dobby was really cool. I think they are very interesting figures and were fun to paint,” says Diego.

WATCH the video created by Insight Editions.