"Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card; the little-thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow; there were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees." If you haven't heard about Hogsmeade, you better catch up, right now! The Hogsmeade Travel Poster project was initially for a local magazine called Obrigado in an article about fantasy getaways. Out of a bunch of fantastic themes Nicolas Rix ended up with Hogsmeade. Enjoy Nicolas Rix's brief process of the piece.

I was approached by Obrigado Magazine, a local South African magazine. The article was about fantasy getaways, such as Mordor, Hogsmeade and a few others. I chose Hogsmeade because I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter world. The locations and characters described in the books are rich with detail and all that whimsical fantasy that I really love.
-Nicolas Rix

I wanted to capture the beautiful snowy atmosphere, the warmth of the interiors and the fun architecture of Hogsmeade. I would personally classify it as a 2D animation style. What inspired me to go in this direction was seeing all the work that comes out of Gobelins School of Animation in France, it just blows me away and I've always wanted my work to be on that level.
-Nicolas Rix

I'm influenced by a lot of animation production artists such as Scott Wills, Maxime Mary, Shyoon Kim, Taylor Krahenbuhl, Nikolas Ilic, Hayao Miyazaki, Mike Mignola, Brad Bird movies, Headless Productions Animation, Disney and Pixar. I could literally go on and on.
-Nicolas Rix

Create what you love. Embrace the subjects that you naturally gravitate to. It's important to experiment with other styles and lend from a broad range of influences. Keep learning! We're lucky enough to be alive in an age where art education is a click away. Absorb and use it.
-Nicolas Rix

About Nicolas Rix

Nicolas is a freelance illustrator and character designer from Cape Town, South Africa. He has been pursuing his love of art, illustration and visual story telling since he first picked up a crayon. His biggest inspirations come from fantasy books and movies as well as comic books and video games. With a great love for the worlds and characters of Harry Potter and Middle Earth, many of his personal projects include wizards, witches, dwarves, knights, elves and magical creatures and fantasy worlds. Nicolas has worked with animation studios, advertising agencies, comic book publishers, as well as private clients and collectors. He is currently pursuing more personal comic book projects and video games. See more of his project on Behance or his website.