Thomas Henry Taylor (born 22 May 1973)
[ is an English children's writer and illustrator. He painted the cover art for the first edition of '']Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and was Rowling's debut novel. It follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who disco ...
''.
Biography
Taylor attended Norwich School of Art and Design
The Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) is a public university in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom that specialises in art, design, media, architecture and performance. It was founded as Norwich School of Design in 1845 and has a long history ...
in 1991. Then he studied illustration at Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public research university in the region of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins date back to the Cambridge School of Art (CSA), founded by William John Beamont, a Fellow of Trinity College at the Unive ...
in Cambridge, graduating in 1995.
In 1997, Taylor painted his first professional commission, a cover illustration for a children's book, ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', by then unknown author J. K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...
, for which he was paid a flat fee of two or three hundred pounds.watercolour
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...
drawing sold for £85,750;Sotheby's
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
in New York. Taylor was replaced by the more experienced illustrator Cliff Wright for the next book in the ''Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' series.Bloomsbury Publishing
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...
. ''Dan of the Dead'' sequel named ''Dan and the Caverns of Bone'' was issued in June, 2013. The book ''The Pets You Get'' with his illustrations won the ''Stockport Schools' Book Award'' in 2013 (early years category) and also the ''Oldham Brilliant Books Award''.Picture Books
Retrieved on 2 Feb 2018
Picture books
* ''George and Sophie's Museum Adventure'' (1999)
* ''The Chocolate Biscuit Tree'' (2001)
* ''The Loudest Roar'' (2002)
* ''The Biggest Splash'' (2005)
* ''The Noisiest Night'' (2007)
* ''Jack's Tractor'' (2009)
* ''Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake'' (2010)
* ''The Pets You Get'' (2012)
* ''Too Many Tickles'' (2013)
Fiction
* ''Haunters'' (2012)
* ''Dan and the Dead'' (2012)
* ''Dan and the Caverns of Bone'' (2013)
* ''Malamander'' (2019)
* ''Gargantis'' (2020)
* ''Shadowghast'' (2021)
* ''Festergrimm (''2022)
* ''Mermedusa (2023)
References
External links
*
Taylor at United Agents
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Thomas
British children's writers
British children's book illustrators
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
1973 births
Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University
Alumni of Norwich University of the Arts