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An fantastic signed 11 X 11 3/4 inch OIL PAINTING ON BOARD by famed fantasy and cartoon artist Greg Hildebrandt entitled Eyes In The Hedgefor the Harry Potter Seriese of Cards . Greg Hildebrandt has handsigned the work.I’m sure many of you like myself grew up on the iconic illustration work of twin brothers, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. The Hildebrandt Brothers are the illustration duo behind the legendary artwork for the extremely popular Tolkien calendars of the 1970’s as well as their famous movie poster artwork for one of the most beloved films in history, the original Star Wars. In the years after doing the poster for the George Lucas classic, Greg continued to create amazing artwork with his brother Tim, like the poster they did together for the Ray Harryhausen favorite, Clash of the Titans, or on his own like his striking album cover artwork for groups like Black Sabbath and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Sadly, Tim Hildebrandt passed away in 2006 leaving behind an amazing legacy of art that he created with his brother and on his own. In the following years Greg has continued to be a major force in the world of illustration with his incredible work on everything from Captain America and Guardians of the Galaxy, to his beautiful series of pin up art. Greg and his manager/wife Jean Scrocco were kind enough to invite me to their beautiful lake house to conduct this interview. Their home is an illustration fans dream, featuring original iconic artwork of the Hildebrandt Brothers and Greg’s striking new works up on the walls and they even have a Lord of the Rings’ pinball machine to boot! Greg and I had a long and engaging conversation that was far too good for just one story. So in part one of my interview we discuss how Greg and his brother Tim started drawing at a very young age, what their early influences were, how they landed the job as the official Lord of the Rings artists which would bring them to fame and success, and how they ended up doing their poster artwork for that groundbreaking sci-fi classic that took place in a Galaxy far, far away. Hildebrandt BrosWhen did you and your brother start drawing?My brother Tim and I had the obsession to draw at a very early age. I remember my mom telling me that Tim and I used to stay in the lines of the coloring books. That was kind of a significant thing you know. That we just didn’t scribble all over the thing. That we were very precise. We were keeping the colors precise and stayed in the regions as indicated. And that we had the ability to stick with stuff for long periods of time, which is a crucial thing in the art we ended up doing. To stay with it and not get bored and go off and do something else.Were you and your brother influenced by comic books in your youth?Yeah, totally. The first illustrations I recall were in the daily newspaper. Because that’s what was coming in the front door. And I’m seeing the Sunday strips which back in the day were beautifully drawn. They had fantastic things like Superman which was being drawn by Joe Shuster back then. And they had Prince Valiant, Terry and the Pirates, and Flash Gordon. So we were obsessed with that. Tim and I started drawing our own comic books when we were six years old. We had our own stories we would write. Thankfully our mother from an early age used to hammer into our heads that your imagination is the most valuable thing you have. She totally supported us using it. Which is kind of unusual in the1940’s in a blue collar world. As I got older I realized how fortunate we were to have these parents that totally supported what we did.Greg Hildebrandt - Copyright MarvelIt seems that you always wanted to be an illustrator over pursuing fine art?Oh yeah, but that term “Fine Art” what the f*ck are they talking about with that. Why is one thing considered fine art and the other considered crude art. What is that bullsh*t? You know what I’m saying. It’s bullsh*t. It’s about elitism. It’s about people saying I’m better than you and I know more than you. That’s how they sold that sh*t. This only appeals to the few brilliant intellectual people and that stuff over there is for the masses, like Norman Rockwell. The abstract expressionists of the 1950’s felt the ultimate painting was a black square devoid of all content. Because content and storytelling is for the ignorant and people bought it. All the idiots that paid millions of dollars for that sh*t bought it.As a lover of Illustration I totally agree. I’ve always been curious how you and your brother Tim were able to collaborate and work on paintings together?To take a project like when we illustrated the Lord of the Rings in the 70’s, we read the books. He’s reading them and I’m reading them and we were marking off scenes that should be illustrated separately from each other. So you end up with a lot of scenes to possibly illustrate. Then when it came time to doing the layouts, Tim would do some thumbnails and I would do some thumbnails or we would do them together and talk over each other’s shoulders. Then we would end up with a final drawing set up and composition. We would then do a photo shoot with models and costumes. Then we did the final sketching. Tim would probably start one and I would start another final sketch. Then when it came to the painting phase we literally both sat together on two sides, he would sit on one side and I would sit on the other and we would paint at the same time on the same painting Hildebrandt Bros - Spiderweb ArtHildebrandt Bros - Spiderweb ArtYou were able to paint together on the same painting at the same time?Yeah, sometimes we would work on two separate paintings at the same time. He would be working on one and I would be working on another and we would switch them back and forth. He would take one home or I would take one home. There was no specific way. It was like one person working. Because we were twins and we had done it together since we were infants. We were in the womb together, we were always together. We never thought it was unusual. Other people would say “Whoa that’s unusual”, but that’s all I know so I never thought is was unusual. We were like Huey, Duey and Louie and could finish each other sentences. We were on the same wavelength of thought. That always blew people away.Artist Tim Bros - Spiderweb ArtHow did you and your brother Tim get the job doing the artwork for the Lord of the Rings calendars?We read that Ballantine was looking for artists to interpret the Lord of the Rings. We were the only professionals that showed up. Can you imagine that happening today? This was 1975. We called the art director, back then you could literally call a publishing house and they would answer the phone and say yeah bring your portfolio and come on over. It was really human back then. So we brought our portfolio and Ian Summers the art director really liked what he saw. He showed us all the other work that was coming in and it all looked like fan art. High school kids and college kids and stuff like that. So we were the only professionals. When they gave us the first calendar to do we had six months to do 14 paintings. When we were done they had this big release party for the calendar at the society of illustrators. They had a big show and made a big party out of it and everything. The press were there and this was new for me. Tim and I had never been through this before. As much as we had done up to that point we had never gotten the star treatment before. The calendars went out and holy crap we started to get all this fan mail. Tons of fan mail from everywhere, people were going nuts for it. It seemed to hit their view of the way the books should look to them.That calendar sold extremely well so they gave us the next calendar to do and we had ten months for that one. So we had a little more time. That one sold even more so by the third one they were stacking the calendars up four feet high at the cash register of the bookstores. Hildebrandt Bros - Spiderweb ArtGreg and Myself at his home in NJ - Photo Credit Cindi to The Morning Email.Wake up to the day's most important news.How did you guys end up doing the movie poster for the original Star Wars?Tim and I decided we wanted to go after doing movie posters. Back then you could literally open up the yellow pages and look up a movie poster producer. We called up and said we were illustrators and we’ve done this and this and he said bring your portfolio over. You could do that back then. So the next day we brought our portfolio to this small agency in Manhattan. We walk into this office and there’s all these paintings sitting on chairs all around the office. They all say “Young Frankenstein” This is 1973. They told us Mel Brooks is doing Young Frankenstein. I said “What! I’m a big Mel Brooks fan!” He told me the movie was in black in white and the guys who worked on the Universal monster movie did the props. I said holy sh*t we gotta do the poster. He said I’m sorry were all done and everything is going to get shipped tomorrow morning and we have no budget left. Tim and I said we don’t care! We gotta do one. He said you only have until tomorrow and he gave us 8x10 glossies from the movie and Tim and I on the train back to my home in New Jersey, started figuring out the composition. So we figured out the whole composition by the time we got home and grabbed some people to pose and we knocked out a painting overnight. We got on the train the next morning with a painting and brought it to their office. It didn’t get used, but the fact we did it overnight stuck in their memory. Then a couple years go by and now we’ve done the Lord of the Rings and we have this reputation for fantasy and we’re famous now. In 1977 we get a call and the guy from the agency says you gotta help us out. We have a movie here and the director doesn’t like the poster he’s got. I said what’s the movie and he said it’s some kind of science fiction movie. They hadn’t seen the film and didn’t know what it was. So we got on the train and went in and it was the Star Wars poster. We went home and did it in 36 hours. The film was coming out in less than a week so they needed it right away for advertising. They needed it fast and they knew we could do a painting overnight. That’s how we got the job. Because we came though on the Young Frankenstein painting overnight. So I’m thankful to Mel Brooks and Young Frankenstein Hildebrandt Bros - Copyright LucasfilmSo it was George Lucas who wanted it to have a comic book like style?Yes, but the thing is when we gave them the poster, and at this point we are well known for our Tolkien art. When we gave them our painting Tim and I just signed our last name Hildebrandt. We had signed it tiny at the bottom of the picture. When they sent the picture to Lucas, that’s when he found out that Tim and I had did it. Then we were told that the director wants to make your name bigger. Which never happens on a poster. So we made our name bigger where it is now. He wanted it bigger, and we assumed it was because of our work on Lord of the Rings. George never owned the original painting though, Alan Ladd Jr, who at that time was the President of 20th Century Fox, owned the painting.Were you surprised by how popular that film and poster would become?To me it’s mind boggling because it’s so accidental. If we didn’t do the Young Frankenstein painting for this agency we wouldn’t have been a part of this whole Star Wars thing. We suddenly got swept up into this mania. We literally got swept up in the Star Wars mania Hildebrandt Bros - Copyright Bros - Copyright LucasfilmYour poster is very similar in composition to the Tom Jung Star Wars poster. His poster doesn’t have a lot of color though, while the poster you did with Tim is exploding with color.That was the idea. To me comic booky meant intense color. That’s what I took it as. When we got to the agency to do the Star Wars job, they showed us Tom Jung’s poster. They said, basically, keep the same setup but do your thing with it as far as color. We kept the composition, but altered the poses and added the droids. They even told us to tear Princess Leia’s dress, and we said the reference didn’t show anything like that. We were told to do it anyway, so we did. Then, the movie came out and it was a huge success Hildebrandt Bros - Copyright LucasfilmStay tuned for part two of my interview with legendary artist, Greg Hildebrandt. We discuss the early filmmaking years of the Hildebrandt Brothers, the making of their Clash of the Titans movie poster, how Greg ended up doing album cover art for Black Sabbath and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Greg’s current series of pin up art. Harry Potter is the most miserable, lonely boy you can imagine. He’s shunned by his relatives, the Dursley’s, that have raised him since he was an infant. He’s forced to live in the cupboard under the stairs, forced to wear his cousin Dudley’s hand-me-down clothes, and forced to go to his neighbour’s house when the rest of the family is doing something fun. Yes, he’s just about as miserable as you can get.Harry’s world gets turned upside down on his 11th birthday, however. A giant, Hagrid, informs Harry that he’s really a wizard, and will soon be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry also learns that, in the wizarding world, he’s a hero. When he was an infant, the evil Lord Voldemort killed his parents and then tried to kill Harry too. What’s so amazing to everyone is that Harry survived, and allegedly destroyed Voldemort in the process.When Harry hears all this, he doesn’t know what to think. However, everything Hagrid tells him turns out to be true, and with a joyful heart Harry starts wizarding school in September. He quickly becomes best friends with a boy named Ron Weasley, and before they even make it to Christmas, they break tons of school rules when they attack a troll and prevent it from killing fellow student Hermione Granger. After the troll incident, the three become inseparable, and Harry is amazed to have found such great friends. He is constantly busy trying to stay on top of the mounds of homework, as well as participating in weekly Quidditch practices. Quidditch is a popular sport among wizards and Harry is the youngest Quidditch player in over a century. It's also a game Harry loves more than anything else at school.As the year progresses, the three friends set out to solve the mystery of the gigantic three-headed dog that is guarding something in a deserted corridor in the school. They figure out that a very valuable object, the Sorcerer’s Stone, is being hidden in the school, although they don’t know why. When one of the professors starts acting as if he’s trying to steal it, they quickly take action to circumvent the theft.Things come to a head when they sneak past the vicious, three-headed dog and go down into the bowels of the school, determined to save the stone. Ron and Hermione help Harry get through the challenges set forth to stop the thief, but Harry must go on alone to battle the professor. When he finally gets to the last room, however, he’s astonished to find someone else entirely.Harry is forced to do battle with the wizard that tried to kill him so many years before, Lord Voldemort. He’s able to save the Sorcerer’s Stone, although he’s almost killed in process. The school headmaster, Dumbledore, arrives just in time to save Harry.The school year ends spectacularly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are honored for their service to the school, and Harry leaves to go back to the Dursley’s for the summer feeling as if he’s finally found a place where he really belongs.Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets jpgAuthor J. K. RowlingCountry United KingdomLanguage EnglishSeries Harry PotterGenre(s) July 2, 1998 (UK), June 2, 1999 (US)Preceded by 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'Followed by 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'blog comments powered by DisqusIt’s been another long summer at the Dursley’s for Harry Potter. He can’t wait to get back to Hogwarts and is counting down the days until he can return. He’s surprised when, on his birthday, a strange elfish creature named Dobby shows up with dire warnings for Harry: He must not return to Hogwarts!When Harry refuses to stay home from school, Dobby lands him in heaps of trouble with the Dursley’s, who lock Harry up in his room and refuse to let him out. Before Harry can sink too far into despair, however, Ron Weasley and his two brothers, twins Fred and George, come to his rescue in a flying car and spirit him back to their house, where Harry is thrilled to spend the remainder of the summer.Thus starts an eventful second year for Harry Potter. Between having to cope with more homework than ever, a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who is vain and convinced Harry is too, and a mysterious voice he keeps hearing in the walls, Harry’s days are nothing if not interesting.As the school year progresses, however, the mysterious voice Harry keeps hearing is getting more and more menacing, and soon vicious attacks start happening to the students of Hogwarts. When Harry discovers, quite by accident, that he is a Parslemouth and can speak to snakes, he’s quickly singled out as Slytherin’s heir, the person who, according to legend, will open the mysterious “Chamber of Secrets” and release the monster within.Of course Harry has no idea who is attacking the students, but he quickly resolves to find out who is responsible. He, Ron, and Hermione come up with an elaborate plan to disguise themselves as Slytherin students so they can question Draco Malfoy, whom they believe is the one setting the monster loose in the school. The plan goes perfectly, but they’re disappointed when they find out from Draco that he is not the one they’re looking for.The quest gets personal when Hermione is attacked and petrified by the monster. Ron and Harry are devastated, and are left on their own to uncover the true identity of the person responsible. Events come to a head when Ron’s sister, Ginny, is kidnapped and taken down into the Chamber of Secrets, and Ron and Harry discover an important clue that Hermione left for them. They quickly head down into the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ginny.Harry and Ron get separated once they’re down there and Harry is left to pursue the monster on his own. He quickly finds Ginny, and thanks to some mysterious help from Dumbledore and his pet phoenix, Fawkes, Harry is able to destroy Slytherin’s heir, who turns out to be a younger version of Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had possessed Ginny through an enchanted diary and was using her to set the monster loose on the students.Harry and Ron are both hailed as heroes when they make it back out with Ginny, and Harry can’t imagine a finer end to such an eventful year when Hermione and the rest of the victims are healed and they win Gryffindor loads of House points.Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban jpgAuthor J. K. RowlingCountry United KingdomLanguage EnglishSeries Harry PotterGenre(s) July 8, 1999 (UK), September 8, 1999 (US)Preceded by 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Followed by 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'blog comments powered by DisqusHarry starts off his third year at Hogwarts rather eventfully when he inadvertently blows up his Aunt Marge, goes on the run, and is then personally absolved by the Minister of Magic himself. He then learns that mass murderer, Sirius Black, is intent on killing him, and Mr. Weasley makes him promise a strange thing, that no matter what he hears he won’t go looking for Black. Confused, Harry agrees.As he heads back to school armed with this knowledge, he learns that dementors, evil, soul-sucking creatures, have been stationed around Hogwarts to protect the students from Black. The dementors affect Harry much more than the other students because of his terrible past, and he quickly resolves to learn to defend himself when he begins collapsing every time they come near. He finds a willing teacher in Professor Lupin, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, who begins teaching Harry the Patronus Charm, which is the only spell that will work against the foul creatures.As the school year progresses, the third year students are buried under piles of homework. Hermione is already stressed out due to her enormous course load, and none of them can figure out how she’s getting to all her classes. It doesn’t help that Hermione’s cat, Crookshanks, repeatedly tries to eat Ron’s rat, Scabbers, causing the two friends to argue ceaselessly about the animals. They stop speaking entirely when it’s discovered that Crookshanks seems to have eaten Scabbers and Ron is devastated Harry has a few close calls with Black when he breaks into the castle, but Black is not apprehended. Things come to a climax as the school year ends when a number of events occur. First, Ron’s rat, Scabbers, turns out to still be alive and is really a wizard in disguise. This wizard, Peter Pettigrew, has chosen to hide himself in this way so that he can spy on Harry and his friends on behalf of Lord Voldemort. Harry learns that it was Peter, and not Sirius Black, that betrayed his parents to Voldemort. Just when Harry is sure Peter is finally going to be punished for his crimes, he escapes into the night.Sirius, long thought to be a mass murderer and Voldemort supporter, turns out to be innocent. Harry also learns that Sirius is his godfather. He’s overjoyed when, for a moment, he thinks he might be finally free of the Dursleys and able to live with Sirius, but Sirius has to go on the run from the Ministry to avoid being apprehended Professor Lupin, Harry’s favorite teacher, ends up resigning his post when it’s discovered that he’s a werewolf. He narrowly avoids attacking the kids, and it’s Sirius that saves their lives when he turns into a huge shaggy dog to protect them.It’s an action-packed year to be sure, but Harry is very happy that Sirius makes it out safely and is finally free from Azkaban. He’s comforted by the fact that he finally has a family-member, so to speak, out there watching over him.Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.jpgAuthor J. K. RowlingCountry United KingdomLanguage EnglishSeries Harry PotterGenre(s) July 8, 2000Preceded by 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Followed by 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'blog comments powered by DisqusHarry can’t believe it. The Weasley’s have invited him to the Quidditch World Cup, which means he’ll get to leave the Dursley’s house early and go see a game that anyone would kill to see.The game is intense, but not just because of the stellar players and non-stop action. Voldemort’s servants, the Death Eaters, make an appearance and the wizarding world is shocked when Voldemort’s sign appears in the sky after the game.When Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally make it back to Hogwarts a few weeks later, they’re shocked to find that the school is the host of the Triwizard Tournament this year. That's a competition between the three wizarding schools of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons. The goblet of fire choses one champion for each school. There, they also learn, that there is an new teacher for the subject Defence Against the Dark Arts. It´s Mad-Eye-Moody, an ex-auror. When the students from the other schools arrive in October, the students begin putting their name in the Goblet of Fire in order to be chosen at Halloween as their school's champion. The champion of Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory, the champion of Durmstrang is Victor Krum, a famous Quidditch player and the champion of Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour. Harry is shocked beyond belief when, in spite of his inability to compete because of his age, he’s chosen as the fourth school champion What’s even worse is that Ron doesn’t believe that Harry didn’t put his name in the goblet. They get into a huge fight, and Ron stops talking to Harry. The rest of Hogwarts is also incensed that Harry is "looking for more fame", and the only person who stands by Harry’s side is Hermione.In the tournament, the champions must steal a golden eye from a dragon. Harry accomplish this task and the hazard of the fight against the dragon convinces Ron, that Harry had always told the truth and he reconcile with him.As the school year progresses Harry is beset with troubles. Snooping journalist, Rita Skeeter, continues to publish gossipy articles about Harry that alienate him from the rest of the school, he’s turned down by his crush, Cho Chang, when he asks her to the Yule Ball, and in the days leading up to the second task of the tournament, which involves retrieving something important from the bottom of a lake filled with mer-people, he almost doesn’t find a way to accomplish what he’s got to do. Saved at the last minute, however, Harry again gets almost full marks and is tied for first place.Sirius returns to keep an eye on Harry, as well as the mysterious happenings that keep taking place at Hogwarts. There is someone at the school who wants Harry dead, but no one knows who it is.In the final task of the tournament, the champions are in a knot garden, they need to look for the Winner´s Cup. The plants which build the maze caught Cedric,the other champion of Hogwarts, but Harry helps him. Harry and Cedric decide to be jointly the winner, so they put their hands on the winner´s cup, but in this moment they are transported to a graveyard where Cedric is killed by Wormtrail. Harry witnessed Voldemort’s return to power, and barely makes it back to Hogwarts alive, clutching Cedric’s body.Back at Hogwarts, Professor Moody comforts him, but then Harry discovers, that he is a traitor, who infiltrated Hogwarts in order of Voldemort. He’s a Death Eater who transmuted his body with Polyjuice Potion. Harry warns Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge about the occurrence wit Voldemort, but only Dumbledore believes him. He starts to arrange the defense for the return of the dark lord.Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix jpgAuthor J.K. RowlingCover Artist Jason Cockcroft (UK),Mary GrandPré (US)Language Bloomsbury (UK),Scholastic Press (US)Released June 21, 2003Media Type by Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireFollowed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Princeblog comments powered by DisqusIt's been another long, hot summer at the Dursleys' for Harry Potter. Having spent most of it in an adolescent "funk" of depression and bitterness over the lack of informative letters from his friends about Voldemort's return, he's suddenly jolted out of his bad mood when two Dementors show up in the town of Little Whinging and attack Harry and his cousin, Dudley. When Harry uses magic to drive them off, however, he quickly receives a succession of owls from the Ministry, requiring him to attend a disciplinary hearing. His heart sinks when he reads that the question of whether to expel him from Hogwarts will be decided at the hearing.Harry is exonerated at the hearing but when Harry finally manages to make it back to school, he finds things are different than when he left. Hagrid's missing, there are skeletal horses pulling the school carriages that only he can see, and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is none other than toadlike, repulsive Dolores Umbridge, a Ministry representative whom Harry is all too familiar with.Even worse is the constant mutterings of the other students. Having spent all summer discrediting both Harry and Dumbledore, the Ministry has succeeded in convincing everyone they're both crazy and that Voldemort's return is nothing but a figment of their imagination With only Ron and Hermione standing by his side, Harry is hard-pressed to stay in a good mood and often lashes out at the ones he is closest to. His defiant behavior lands him in detention for weeks at a time with Professor Umbridge, who soon rises to the status of Hogwarts High Inquistor and revels in sacking teachers and keeping the entire school under the control of her stubby, ugly-ringed fingers.As the school year progresses Harry and Umbridge frequently lock horns, and she retaliates by taking away everything he cares about: Quidditch, letters from Sirius, and visits with Hagrid. So Harry fights back the only way he can, by forming a secret defense group, known as Dumbledore's Army, and teaching his friends how to fight properly.In spite of the frantic workload in preparing for their OWLs (tests that determine the student's future career choices), the tyranny of Umbridge, and Harry's unbearable crush on Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang, Harry keeps having tantalizing dreams of dark corridors and locked doors that are distracting at best. His scar prickles constantly and he soon finds he's turned into a tiny antenna for Voldemort's mood swings, which certainly doesn't help his own temper.Things take a disastrous turn when Dolores Umbridge finds out about Harry's secret defense group. Harry is filled with guilt when Dumbledore, claims credit for the group in order to protect Harry, and has to flee the school to escape arrest.This installment ends with an epic battle of good and evil, resulting in a devastating loss to Harry when his godfather Sirius Black is killed, and the full revelation that his destiny lies intertwined with none other than Voldemort himself. In the end, Dumbledore reveals the lost prophecy to Harry: either Harry will kill Lord Voldemort or Voldemort will kill Harry.Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince jpgAuthor J. K. RowlingCountry United KingdomLanguage EnglishSeries Harry PotterGenre(s) 16 July, 2005ISBN ISBN 0747581088Preceded by Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixFollowed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallowsblog comments powered by DisqusHarry's sixth year at Hogwarts opens to find him more mellow and grown up than ever. The death of Sirius Black has left an indelible mark on him, and he's more determined than ever to put an end to Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He's happy to escape the tyranny of the Dursley's early in the summer when Dumbledore picks him up to attend to a mysterious errand, which ends up in Harry's persuading ex-professor, Horace Slughorn, to come out of retirement to teach at Hogwarts again.When the day finally arrives, Harry is as usual overjoyed to be back at school. He's been made Quidditch Team Captain. However, Harry and his friends are dismayed to find out that Professor Severus Snape has finally achieved his burning desire to become Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Harry is excited to be taking private lessons with Dumbledore this year, who is showing him all about Voldemort's past. Dumbledore hopes that knowing as much as he can about Voldemort will help Harry in his final battle with the Dark Lord.A mysterious book previously owned by the Half-Blood Prince comes into Harry's hands early on during his Potions class and changes the course of his school year by giving him a reputation for Potions brilliance that baffles everyone. Harry quickly grows to depend on the information he gets from the Half-Blood Prince's book and uses some of his spells outside of class, much to Hermione's displeasure Harry also keeps an increasingly close eye on Draco Malfoy. Convinced that Malfoy has replaced his father as the head of the Death Eaters, Harry believes Malfoy is constructing a dark plot inside the school but can't for the life of him figure out what it is. Between Ron and Hermione's skepticism, and Malfoy's disappearances from the school grounds, Harry has his hands full trying to uncover what Malfoy's up to.As the year speeds by, Harry and Ron are both amazed at their blossoming love lives. Harry especially falls hard for someone he knows he shouldn't, his best friend Ron's sister, Ginny. His lessons with Dumbledore continue sporadically, and he's excited to hear that he might be able to go with Dumbledore on a dangerous mission to help destroy a horcrux that contains a part of Voldemort's soul.Things reach a frantic pace when several things happen all at once. Harry and Dumbledore leave on their mission, Malfoy's dark plot finally works and he is able to sneak in Death Eaters to attack the school, and a fierce battle takes place between the students, members of the Order of the Phoenix, and the Death Eaters. Having succeeded in their mission to recover the horcrux, Harry and Dumbledore return only to get trapped on the Astronomy Tower where, to Harry's dismay, Professor Snape kills Dumbledore Dumbledore s death is a terrible blow to Harry, but it enables him to see clearly what his true mission is. He resolves that he will not return to Hogwarts, but instead sets off to destroy the remaining fragments of Voldemort's soul. He is bolstered by Ron and Hermione's insistence on going with him, and as soon as Dumbledore's funeral is over, they agree to start their journey together.Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows jpgAuthor J. K. RowlingCountry United KingdomLanguage EnglishSeries Harry PotterGenre(s) 21 July, 2007ISBN ISBN by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Princeblog comments powered by DisqusHarry has finally come of age, and finally started on his final journey to defeat Voldemort for good. The Dursely’s are forced to go into hiding so that Voldemort’s Death Eaters will not torture them for information, and Harry sets off with Ron and Hermione on a difficult quest to find and destroy the last of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Only once those have been destroyed, Harry knows, can Voldemort truly be killed.It’s not easy. Harry is plagued with rumors of Dumbledore’s past, and begins to wonder if the Headmaster he so long revered might have had a much darker past than he ever let on. The three are frequently without food, and with winter coming their journey is no day at the beach. Because of their lack of plan, lack of food, and lack of progress, their spirits are often low, and Ron especially becomes argumentative. One night he and Harry get into an epic fight and Ron leaves to go back home.Harry and Hermione are devastated that he’d abandoned them. They finally decide to revisit Godric’s Hollow in search of clues, and once again they’re almost caught by Voldemort. Every step they make, it seems, he is there anticipating them. They’ve almost died too many times to count, and their spirits sink even lower when Harry discovers his wand was broken in the battle.Ron redeems himself a few weeks later by coming back and saving Harry’s life in the nick of time. They manage to destroy another Horcrux with Gryffindor’s sword, and they become excited again as they begin to learn about a mysterious trio of magical objects called the Deathly Hallows. Whomever possesses the three objects will be a master of death, and to Harry, it’s his one chance to beat Voldemort and live to tell the tale.As his adventures and the danger he’s in increases, Harry begins to truly understand what Dumbledore intended him to do. He realizes, almost at the last minute, that his own life will have to be sacrificed in order for Voldemort to truly be vanquished. Filled with love for his friends, he willingly gives his life so that they may live.His last act of heroism, however, saves his life. He meets Dumbledore again in death, and Dumbledore answers many of his questions. He is given a choice to stay or to go back, and he chooses to go back and fight.It’s all over between Harry and Voldemort with just one spell. Harry is left alive, the true master of the Hallows, and Voldemort is killed for good. He now understands more than he ever has about love (which he loves Ginny), and life, and sacrifice, and in spite of the loss of many of his friends during the last battle, is grateful for the second chance he’s been given at life, and love.GREG HILDEBRANDT BIOGRAPHY The year was 1939. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in the White House. Hitler was waging war on Britain and France. The country's 131 million people were lining up to see The Wizard of Oz, the Yankees won the World Series Championship, a loaf of bread cost 8 cents, and, on January 23, the Brothers Hildebrandt were born Throughout their careers, Greg and Tim, identical twins, would work together and separately, winning awards, fame, and challenges as illustrators. They would create everything from the world famous poster for Star Wars, to the best-selling calendars illustrating J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, to their own fantasy novel, Urshurak. They also worked on advertising art, hundreds of classic children's books, and the covers of numerous fantasy and science fiction novels Together they won the coveted Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators in New York. In 1973, the Child Study Association chose their Giant Panda Book as a Children's Books of the Year...... At the ripe old age of two, Greg and Tim had already demonstrated the genesis of their artistic talents. Their mother recalls George, their father, teaching the boys to color with crayons. He noted that before long the twins had taken the crayons away from him, and were even coloring within the lines...... Greg and Tim were strongly influenced by many of the great comic books and strips of the era, especially Green Lantern, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon, Prince Valiant, Green Hornet, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. At the age of eight, they emulated the artwork in these comics, getting their first, and often frustrating, lessons in anatomy and perspective Greg and Tim were also captivated by other forms of fantasy: marionettes and puppets, especially Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy; science fiction novels and films, including Frankenstein, and George Pal's classics When Worlds Collide and The War of the Worlds; and illustrators, especially N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish...... Perhaps the biggest artistic influence on the twins was the work of Walt Disney, specifically the animated features, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio and Fantasia. Greg and Tim have both been asked to speak to the animation department of Disney on their use of light and color...... The twins dreamed of becoming Disney animators. This dream led them to their enrollment in Meinzinger's Art School in Detroit, when they learned that all hopeful Disney animators must have some formal art training. While they did not ultimately work for Disney, they would become celebrated animators and documentary filmmakers, winning the Golden Eagle award for Project Hope. This film was a documentary chronicling the efforts of a medical relief ship, and innovatively combined live action with animation to tell its story...... In 1963 Greg & Tim moved from Detroit to New Jersey. They came to work for Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. The Bishop sent them around the world making documentary films on hunger and poverty. Greg & Tim also created art for the Bishop's TV show which aired weekly...... In 1969 they decided to take a new path and began illustrating children¹s books for all the major publishers. This would consume them for the next six years...... In 1975, the twins, then virtually unknown as artists, burst into the world of illustration, winning the opportunity to illustrate the 1976 Ballantine calendar based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classic The Lord of the Rings. They went on to illustrate the Tolkien calendars for the next two years, with the 1978 calendar selling more than one million copies ‹ a record...... This sudden fame and exposure allowed the twins, now known as the Brothers Hildebrandt, extraordinary opportunities. They illustrated the best-selling novel by Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shanarra. For the movies, they painted the poster for a 1979 re-release of Barbarella, the 1981 fantasy film The Clash of the Titans, and the world-famous poster for the history making film Star Wars...... The Hildebrandt's then went on to write and illustrate their epic fantasy novel, Urshurak, which featured 16 full-color paintings and over fifty black-and-white illustrations ‹ a publishing event which reached the New York Times Bestsellers List...... In 1981, the Brothers separated to pursue their own individual careers. Greg's art appeared on the covers of several magazines, including Omni and Heavy Metal. Verkeke, one of the largest international poster companies, created an entire series around his art. The Franklin Mint, Lenox, Danbury and Bradford have issued Greg's work on collector's plates, figurines, dolls, knives and swords. His art has been used in advertising and has been licensed for such products as puzzles, greeting cards, and French needlepoint canvases. His images have also been reproduced on eight sets of trading cards...... In l984, Greg illustrated a calendar based on Mary Stewart's widely acclaimed Merlin Trilogy; The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment. Greg has said, "Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy is a major fantasy work with a large following...I had an incredible feeling that my art had satisfied Lady Stewart when I received a letter from her and she said that her words and characters were now moving around in my world."..... Following in the tradition of many great illustrators, Greg went on to illustrate 15 heirloom classics and fairy tale collections. The series included: The Wizard of Oz, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, Robin Hood, Dracula, and Phantom of the Opera. There are over 3,500,000 copies in print of the combined titles. The New York Times has said, "Fortunate the child or adult who receives a gift of classics richly illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt Greg's artwork is collected by many famous people, some of whom include: Michael Jackson and Robin Williams. In February of 1993, Greg and Tim's centerfold painting of "The Unexpected Party," from the 1977 Tolkien Calendar, sold for $150,000...... In 1993 Greg painted a cover for the DC Comics' Spectre series. The comic was awarded DC¹s Cover of the Month. This painting marked Greg¹s first foray into the field which had so inspired him in his youth...... After 12 long but productive years, the Brothers Hildebrandt reunited in 1993. They have continued to pursue their individual careers as well as working together...... In 1994 Stan Lee contacted the Hildebrandts to paint the pre-production art for an animated feature film on Thor...... In 1994, the Brothers completed 158 paintings for Fleer's Marvel Masterpieces Card Set depicting the Marvel Universe. The card set was Fleer's best seller of the year. These fabulous paintings were exhibited at the Alexander Gallery in New York City, and many of them are hanging today in the Spiderwebart Art Gallery in Hopatcong, New Jersey. For this set, Non-Sports Update magazine awarded Greg and Tim their coveted "Gummy" award. Following the success of the Marvel Masterpieces, Fleer asked the Brothers to paint over two dozen cards for their X-Men and Spider-Man Card Sets...... In the brief time they managed to find between projects, the Hildebrandts connected with Michael Uslan, executive producer of the Batman films, to bring back the action adventure comic strip Terry and the Pirates. Beginning on March 26, 1995, the nationally syndicated strip ran continuously in newspapers for 53 weeks. They also created pre-production film art for Michael Uslan on The Spirit, The Eye, The Fly and Annie...... Greg and Tim were then commissioned by Marvel to create a bookshelf format comic book for its X-Men 2099 series, entitled "Oasis." The Brothers spent the better part of a year creating a fully painted graphic novel, which was published in 1996. Following closely on the heels of "Oasis," Greg and Tim spent most of the following year painting 100 pieces of art for Shadows of the Empire, George Lucas¹s new novel set in the ongoing Star Wars saga...... 1997 brought many new interesting projects to Greg and Tim. They painted a Superman graphic novel for DC comics and a pirate story of their own called The Emerald 7 for the Frazetta Fantasy Magazine. They also created eighteen new trading cards for Fleer/Skybox, a series of religious paintings for prints and pre-production art for a new animated feature length movie produced by the Kraft Benjamin Agency...... They were asked to paint, for the National Institute of Health and the American Diabetes Association, a piece that was used as the promotional poster for the Diabetes Prevention Program. The Theme of the program was Taming The Dragon Of Diabetes...... Their art book, Star Wars the Art of Greg and Tim Hildebrandt was released in stores on November 17, 1997. The book is 128 pages and spans 20 years of their Star Wars art. It was the first in a series of art books on Greg and Tim's career...... In 1998 Greg and Tim created 6 large paintings for Universal's Island's of Adventure Theme Park in Florida and completed their paintings for the Random House book on the Star Wars Episode 1, film...... 1999 was the year for Magic The Gathering, book covers, comic covers and the beginning of a new Pin-up series by Greg..... Even though Greg and Tim have had highly successful careers in other venues it seems as if their fans from the 1970's Tolkien calendars cannot let them go. So, after 21 years in the making, in June of 2001 the circle of Tolkien finally became complete. Watson Guptill along with Spiderwebart released the most complete compilation of Hildebrandt Tolkien art in one book, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, The Tolkien Years. This event could have only been followed up by one thing, the reissue of the Tolkien Calendars from the 70's. The first one was released for 2002. There will be 4 calendars in the series...... In addition to the Spiderwebart Gallery, Greg and Tim's work is displayed in art galleries across the United States. SHOWS: 1. 1998 Franklin Mint Museum in Franklin, PA. 2. 1998 Every Picture Tells a Story in Los Angeles, CA 3. 1998 Elizabeth Stone Gallery in Birmingham, Michigan 4. 2000 Louis K. Meisel Gallery-Great American Pinup, NY 5. 2003 Every Picture Tells A Story, Santa Monica, CA 6. 2003 Mother Lode Gallery, Cave Creek, AZ 7. 2004 Louis Meisel Gallery, New York.....When the Meisel Gallery show opened in 2002 it revealed the first ever one-man show featuring the fabulous American Beauties Pinup Art by Greg Hildebrandt. The 22 pieces for the opening not only opened the eyes of the world, but they opened the eyes of Greg as well. At 62 while most Americans are planning on their future retirement Greg saw no end in sight. He continues to expand his horizons and as he adventures on this latest endeavor he truly feels that he has an entire lifetime ahead of him of American Beauties...... The art of the Brothers Hildebrandt has brought the fantasies and dreams of children of all ages to life. Their work is a pathway leading to the written word and a journey into the imagination. Their legacy will continue to ignite the desire for children and adults alike to embrace literature and art in all its visual glory. The year was 1939. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in the White House. Hitler was waging war on Britain and France. Over 131 million people lined up to see The Wizard of OZ, the Yankees won the World Series, a loaf of bread cost 8 cents, and, on January 23, the Brothers Hildebrandt were born. Greg and Tim would work together and separately, and together again, winning awards and world fame.They created everything from their fantasy novel, Urshurak, to the world renowned poster for Star Wars, to the best-selling calendars illustrating J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Together they also won the coveted Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators Greg and Tim were strongly influenced by many great comic books, like Green Lantern, Terry & the Pirates, Steve Canyon, Prince Valiant, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. They were captivated by other forms of fantasy as well including marionettes, especially Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy; science fiction novels and films, including Frankenstein, When Worlds Collide and War of the Worlds; and illustrators N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish. Perhaps their biggest influence was Walt Disney, especially his Snow White and Fantasia.For years the brothers dreamed of becoming Disney animators. While they did not work for Disney, they became animators and documentary filmmakers, winning the Golden Eagle award for Project Hope. They illustrated the Sword of Shannara, painted the posters for Barbarella, Clash of the Titans, and the world-famous Star Wars. They went on to write and illustrate their epic fantasy novel, Urshurak, which reached the New York Times Bestsellers List.In 1981 Greg and Tim separated to pursue separate careers. Greg's art has appeared on covers for Omni and Heavy Metal. The Franklin Mint and Lenox have issued his work on collector's plates, figurines, dolls, and swords. It has been on advertising for ABC and Dr. Pepper and has been licensed for many products. In l984, Greg illustrated Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy. Lady Stewart even wrote to him and said that her words and characters were moving around in Greg's world! He also illustrated 15 classics, including The Wizard of OZ, Aladdin, Robin Hood, Dracula, and Phantom of the Opera. There are over 3,500,000 copies in print of the combined titles. The New York Times has said, "Fortunate the child or adult who receives a gift of classics richly illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt Tim illustrated calendars for TSR, Dungeons & Dragons, Realms of Wonder and The Dragon Riders of Pern. He painted numerous SCI-fi/fantasy covers including Amazing Stories, The Time of Transference, and The Byworlder. He was commissioned to paint the cover for the Illusion of Life by Disney animators Ollie Johnson and Frank Thomas. Tim's art has been on advertising for AT&T and Levi’s and on packages for Return of the Jedi.After 12 years the Brothers reunited. Their works after their reunion appeared on horror steins, posters for Marvel, pre-production art for Stan Lee, a book on King Tut's Tomb, a pop-out book on dragons, a Marvel Masterpieces card set, X-Men and Spiderman card sets, Terry & The Pirates, an X-Men 2099 painted Bookshelf edition, and the Superman: Last God of Krypton graphic novel, which was fully painted by Greg and Tim. In the early 2000’s Greg and Tim were hired by Wizards of the Coast to paint over 100 different illustrations for Magic: The Gathering.Many celebrities have an appreciation for the art of the Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. Michael Jackson, Robin Williams, Paul O’Neill, and the owner of WordPerfect are amon Greg’s collectors. In February of 1993, the centerfold painting of The Unexpected Party, from the 1977 Tolkien calendar sold for $150,000! The Brothers Hildebrandt have created a vast collection of art that will remain treasured pieces for years to come!Note: On June 11th, 2006 Tim passed away from complications due to diabetes.Greg continues to paint and work every day. His love and passion for painting has only grown with his many years as a professional.

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