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With most pieces of artwork or illustrations comes a story, and I am going to share with you my brief story and my own views about this particular illustration I have sketched.

I had been chatting with a half-blood friend of mine on how I had been sorted into Ravenclaw. (I am not able categorize myself just yet, because I haven't used any magic yet. Let's hope classes will give me an answer!) So, we began to discuss Ravenclaw-related things. Our conversation quickly turned to the Ravenclaw common room. Chatting about what J. K. Rowling had described, I tried to envision in my mind what the common room would look like — as if I would be walking right into the space itself.

I sat down with my quill and began to carefully create a sketch. Hogwarts makes me think of a very gothic-styled castle or cathedral in nature, and since in my opinion the common rooms would be no exception, the domed ceiling in my illustration has support beams throughout to give it this look. I chose not to spiffy it up too much for the same reason. The dorm area is not included in the image but you do see the writing as to what section it may be in, as with the fireplace (except it is not noted). As well, rather than placing the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw in the middle, I put it to the side to make the carpet one of the focal points of attention along with the window.

But really, when you think about it, the common rooms can be anything your mind can imagine. That's the beauty of a book. The author can give you a guideline, but your imagination does the rest: just like magic!