Stuart Craig’s name might not be familiar to you, but his work is. In fact, every fan of the Harry Potter movies knows what Stuart has done, even if you don’t know his name or job title. Stuart Craig was the production designer for all eight of the Harry Potter movies, and it was Stuart’s imagination that brought J.K. Rowling’s wonderful books to life.

The way Stuart worked his magic on Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Burrow, the Ministry of Magic, and all other aspects of J.K. Rowling’s world to life was by starting with a sketch. He would do rough pencil sketches or drawings for each aspect of the wizarding world then make sure they all measured accurately so their scale was correct. He trained for 12 years as an architectural draftsman so this is something that is second nature to Stuart.

Movie #1 – Creating Hogwarts

This print shows Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in three different settings. The top one is a simple sketch, the middle has the castle surrounded by sharp looking mountains, and the bottom one is surrounded by much softer looking hills.

Creating Hogwarts

After Stuart was sure the drawings were done to scale he would forward them to his architectural artist, Andrew Williamson. Andrew would take the sketches and drawings and create full color images from them.

Movie #1 – Journey on the Hogwarts Express

This print shows the Hogwarts Express train that transports students to and from Hogwarts as it makes its way through the woods that surround Hogsmeade. The train is facing away from the castle so my guess is that the students have finished their year at school and are boarding the train to head back home.

Journey on the Hogwarts Express

The next step in the movie making process was that Andrew’s images would then be given to the construction crew, whose job was to build movie sets from the color images. The entire Harry Potter universe for all eight movies came from Stuart’s interpretation of Rowling’s books. You can read more about his process here.

Movie #1 – Journey to Hogwarts

All first years get to Hogwarts for the very first time in boats, led by Hagrid. This shows one of those boats as it nears the dock at the lake that surrounds the castle.

Journey to Hogwarts

To sum it up, here is how the scenery and locations from the books were converted to film:

• Stuart did sketches and drawings and made sure they were to scale
• Andrew created color images from the sketches and drawings
• The images were given to the construction crew so the movie sets could be created

Movie #2 – The Burrow

This shows the Weasley home, commonly known as The Burrow. It is a crooked house that was built with magic and expanded as their large family grew. Did you know that The Burrow started out as a pen for pigs?

The Burrow

There are several limited edition prints that have been reproduced from Stuart Craig’s original film designs. The prints that you see below are all the original images that Andrew Williamson made from Stuart Craig’s original drawings for the movies. These are not recreations done after the films were finished, so you have a chance to buy a little piece of Harry Potter film history with these prints.

Movie #3 – Creating Hogsmeade

This is very similar to the first print on this post, Creating Hogwarts. The top image is a sketch of students walking through the snow to the wizarding village. The middle image is the sketch brought to life, and the bottom image is a different view of students in the snow.

Creating Hogsmeade

Each piece is printed on Giclee paper and come with a certificate of authenticity, and many of them are hand signed by Mr. Craig. As you can see, the color images are stunningly beautiful.

Movie #4 – Quidditch World Cup Tents

This print shows Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger walking through the tents of witches and wizards who have gathered to go to the 422nd Quidditch World Cup.

Quidditch World Cup Tents

As of this writing all pieces are still available and can be purchased at ArtInsights Animation Film & Art Gallery. ArtistInSights also has a store on Amazon so you can buy most of the pieces from there, too. I also included links to eBay, since that may be the easiest place to find these when they sell out on ArtInSights. With three sources to choose from you are sure to find the print you want.

Movie #5 – Harry’s Trial

This shows Harry Potter as he sat in front of the entire Wizengamot while on trial for using magic in front of a Muggle, which he was forced to do to protect himself and his cousin Dudley because Delores Umbridge sent two dementors to Little Whinging.

Harry’s Trial

Movie #5 – Making a Great Exit

Who can forget this magical moment? It’s when Fred and George Weasley decided to leave Hogwarts to start their joke shop, but they did their best to cause mayhem for Umbridge on their way out with fireworks that she couldn’t figure out how to get rid of.

Making a Great Exit

Movie #5 – The Twins Depart

This shows Fred and George flying through the halls of Hogwarts as they set off their magical fireworks on the day that they left the school.

The Twins Depart

Movie #6 – Dark Mark Over London

The series was deeply dark at this point and the opening scene was an excellent example of this. This print shows a Dark Mark over the city of London as Death Eaters ran amok causing death and destruction.

Dark Mark Over London

Movie #6 – The Horcrux Cave

This shows Dumbledore and Harry as they searched for the Slytherin locket Horcrux in the cave where Lord Voldemort hid it, which they found but ended up being a fake.

The Horcrux Cave

Movie #7 – Malfoy Manor

This shows Lucius Malfoy’s grand home after Lord Voldemort took it over. Snape has just entered to join the rest of the Death Eaters as Voldemort plots how to capture Harry Potter as he leaves his home for the last time in Little Whinging. Hogwarts teacher Charity Burbage can be seen floating above the table, as she was tortured by the Death Eaters.

Malfoy Manor

Movie #8 – Escape on the Dragon

This shows a very exciting moment in the final film, when the Golden Trio escaped from Gringotts by riding on the back of a dragon that had been chained underneath the bank for who knows how long.

Escape on the Dragon