I’ll be honest, life since leaving Harry Potter has been extremely difficult. I’m in the very privileged position of never having to work again, but I didn’t realise just how bad my health was until I pulled out of the series. I tend to work to avoid problems, and for 10 years I worked insanely hard, pretty much seven days a week to the neglect of everything around me. Since then I’ve hardly drawn in three years (the exception being work for Kate Bush). I really want to get going again, and so started looking at my own children’s stories that I’ve been mulling over for years. Ultimately I just want to produce something I’m actually happy with, even if nobody ever sees it! The story I really want to execute is set half in the east, half in the west. I wanted to travel to somewhere east that was completely alien to what I’m used to, and so for inspiration and research I went on my own to Hong Kong.

I’ve never been to a city that has felt so ‘alive’, just an incredible vibrancy to it, and the colour there is phenomenal. I took thousands of photographs for reference material.

The temples are truly beautiful, the sense of timeless tranquility a stark contrast to the chaotic modern traffic outside.

I walked for around 7 hours a day photographing everything I could. The ‘wet markets’ are both gorgeous and tragic at the same time. I saw so many species of fish and crustaceans, the majority still alive, some suffering terribly. I found some of the scenes a bit upsetting, I saw several threatened species for sale, some food being prepared while still alive. I realise however there’s hypocrisy in my thinking, as the greatest threat to any species is climate change, to which I added by flying to Hong Kong. I agonise over this a lot, I so rarely fly (I did my tour of Germany by train), but I’m guilty of exacerbating the problem. You do get the sense of life and death in this city, an ever shifting balancing act.

The colour in Hong Kong is exceptional. The light is perfect, and everything from the advertising and produce to the buildings and the people sings with beautiful tones. It’s without a doubt the most colourful and busy city I have visited, and the people are exceptionally friendly. I can recommend it to any lone traveller, it is both welcoming and safe. I think it was the best money I’ve ever spent as I am itching to get drawing again now. I’m always going to have to battle with depression while working, but for one blissful week in Hong Kong I seemed to escape my own thoughts. I will post images of my progress when I have things to show.