Quentin Blake | Self portrait

Birth Place: Sidcup, London 1932

Quentin Blake is the major illustrator for Roald Dahl books, including The BFG, The Witches, Matilda and Esio Trot, all of which have won major prizes.

Manifesto
You don’t have to be frightened to make art. You never know what you are going to read or think.
A picture book has an effect on the reader not so very different from a good lesson

Quentin Blake developed his figure drawing skills through weekly life classes at The Chelsea Art school. He then met Brian Robb who had a big influence on his life, and introduced him to teaching at the Royal College of art.

How Q.B put drawing into practice:
He tries to imagine how the characters would move for the book and what kind of expression they make, then getting it down right away on the particular book, the drawings are placed together in an order later so they can help each other make a sequence. (His interest in books and organising books made his practice take high level of planning)

Tips from Q.B
A light box is very handy, especially for watercolours, as paper can now be seen underneath the thick watercolour paper, and you can draw on clean and feeling the gestures and expressions with the pen.

"I didn’t really get any art training until after I had stopped being a student"

Where's Julius? | John Burningham

Birth Place: Farnham, Surrey
1936-2019

John Burningham being one of the Uk's most distinguished picture book writer-illustrators, has published over 40 books in his lifetime, loved by children over three generations.

Some of his famous books:
Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers (Jonathan Cape, 1963)
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car by Ian Fleming (Jonathan Cape, 1964)
Granpa (Cape, 1984)
The Extraordinary Tug-of-war retold by Letta Schatz (Follett, 1968)
Seasons (Cape, 1969)
Mr Gumpy's Outing (Cape, 1970)
and more...

John first worked as a designer of posters for London Transport, then as a magazine cartoonist and creator of Christmas cards, then illustrator; His first book was published in 1963.

The practice:
Once I work on an idea, I feel my audience is not just children, it's much broader; Thought working through simplification, I'm trying to steer away from childish things. I draw little as possible, keep it down to a bare minimum. Just necessary things. But I do masses of preparatory drawing.

Drawing is like playing the piano, its not a mechanical skill like brick layering and you have to practise constantly to keep It fluent.
Line is important, a lively line is what I look for, it's difficult to define it but a bald outline would not be very interesting. A dipping pen is good, you can create a variety of lines with different pressure you put on it.

For materials I use a bit of everything, Ink, crayon, gouache, acrylic, photographs, cut paper, anything. I don’t have rulers. I use a computer to create cover designs and backgrounds. But sometimes I take photographs myself, waiting for ages to capture the moment, it's just not something you can do with computers.

"I never set my self boundaries, I don’t have rules. I question a lot, and terrible moments happens, but then it all gets back on the course eventually, but even after forty years it doesn’t get any easier"

Lauren (Margot Peachy) Child CBE is an English children's author and illustrator. As a former Children's Laureate, she has published many well known books series including: Charlie and Lola picture books, the Clarice Bean series and the Ruby Redfort novels…

Lauren Child's has always loved to draw, she is known for her distinctive style of mixed media and collage work has made her work unique and quirky. Her father being her art teacher had a great influence on her, in sixth form. "He ran an amazing art department , he made you want to draw make you understand things" - Lauren Child

Lauren Child left art school after a year, "art school was a disappointment" as she says, there were no sense of discovery or excitement for her. She eventually found her notion back to her original intention of children's book illustrator after going to independent art school.

Lauren Child often draws on threads from her life and is the character that is closest to her and her family. Charlie and Lola series was actually based on a real girl called Lola who Child met on a train through Denmark.


Lauren Child's tips on writing:
Every word counts when you write, be snappy about it but also careful with the word choice, getting feed backs from others is also important. Writing is very personal to you," whatever you are writing about, you've got to really really enjoy it"

Lola from Charlie and Lola
Lauren Child

Birth Place: Marlborough, Wiltshire
1967

“I am reliant on young people to shape my world”

British painter and illustrator, Ernest Howard Shepard OBE was well known for his ink and watercolour illustrations for the Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A Miline.

Being into a family of artists, Ernest developed an interest in art at an early age, he began drawing as soon as he could even hold a pencil.  He enjoyed drawing many topics, but battle scenes were a particular favourite, during the WW1 war outbreak he served as an officer for the Royal Artillery where he continued to draw and recorded scenes of combat.

Winnie-the-Pooh, is a fictional character created by A.A Miline, and originally illustrated by E.H Shepard. Ernest used his son's teddy bear "Growler" for the design of Pooh, had quickly gained popularity globally, it eventually acquired by the Walt Disney company.

Ernest dedicated his life to his career, he continued to draw in his nineties, his last work being the colour illustrations for Winnie the Pooh. At the age of 93, with extraordinary perseverance, he painted total of 240 drawings for the publication of the books-In less than four months. Ernest Howard Shepard died three years later on March 24, 1976, the same year as Winnie the Pooh’s 50th Anniversary.

"Before Winnie-the-Pooh, he was a war artist" - Runcie: 2015, The telegraph

Nobody knew E.H Shepard was a war artist until "we found in our own private archive a large box which appeared not to have been opened in almost 100 years.”- Ernest's grand-daughter, The telegraph

E.H Shepard | Self portrait

Birth Place: St John's Wood, London
1879-1976

"You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." - Winnie-the-Pooh

Pauline Baynes spent her childhood living in India with her parents, even after 80 years she could still recall the memories of summer at hill station of Mussoorie in the northern, Indian state of Uttarakhand. Later Pauline returned back to school in England living with her mother and sisters, the homesick followed by terrible experiences in schooldays has caused her life long distress. She was only comforted when she in seeks for resonance in similar experiences through Rudyard Kipling, whose work she greatly admired.

Pauline discovered art being her favourite subject at a boarding school. Her influences were, she said, "firstly, a brilliant elder sister" followed by a catalogue of artists whose work she studied and admired one of them being E.H. Shepard (who later become Pauline Baynes's friend and mentor).

Pauline's map-maker skills acquired from previous profession and her illustrations caught the attention of J.R.R Tolkien. Pauline's collaborations with Tolkien was a bridge to C.S.Lewis and further publications. Pauline's work consists of painstaking research into the detailing of period costume and architecture, her passion put in work was rewarded with Kate Greenaway Medal and respected being one of the most influential illustrators of the twentieth century.

"Met C.S. Lewis. Came home. Made rock cakes." That's how Baynes's diary recorded one of only two meetings she ever had with the author whose work she so memorably pictured and with whom she is now inextricably linked.

Pauline's desk would consist of half-empty gouache tubes and rows of well-worn pens and brushes; Handel's music would be playing in the background; and Pauline Baynes's dogs, including her 3rd rottweiler (all were named Bertha!) would be lying at her feet.

The Magician's Nephew | Pauline Baynes

Birth Place: Hove, East Sussex
1922-2008

The Snowman | Raymond Briggs

Birth Place: Wimbledon, London 1934

Raymond Briggs CBE is an English author, illustrator, cartoonist and graphic novelist. He is first person to be inducted into the British Comic Awards hall of fame.

Amongst many of Raymond's award winning books, the Snowman (1978) received most recognition and a global success, it has been translated into many languages and adapted into films, plays and Tv cartoons.

However one of the great ironies of modern publishing is that Raymond Briggs hates Christmas, has become inextricably linked with the juggernaut of the festive season.  In his book father Christmas he gives a blatant fragments of real life of a grumpy Santa Claus toiling through bad weather on his sleigh in oilskins, complaining all the way- “Bloody awful job,” Briggs says. “He’s going to be a bit grumpy.”.

"I remember that winter because it had brought the heaviest snows I had ever seen. Snow had fallen steadily all night long and in the morning I woke in a room filled with light and silence, the whole world seemed to be held in a dream-like stillness. It was a magical day... and it was on that day I made the Snowman" - Raymond Briggs

Raymond Briggs consistently create emotional impact on readers, in wishing to expand the boundaries of children's picture books, whether it's sentimental topics of history and politics, or family life and child hood with sharp elements of humour, his books are tuned in the taste of all ages,

As well as children's book illustrations, Raymond Briggs also wrote books for adults , this includes When the Wind Blows (1982),The Tin Pot Foreign General and The Old Iron Woman(1984) on the consequences of nuclear war.

Antoine ( Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de )Saint-Exupéry was a French writer, aviator poet and author. He was the laureate of several of France's highest literary awards and also won the United States National Book Award.

Antoine was an avid reader, Jules Verne and Hans Christian Anderson were his favourite, which inspired him in his literary endeavours. Being raised in aristocratic family, Antoine had strong interest in aircrafts ever since his first plane ride at the age of 12. He later became a commercial pilot and recored all his adventures in literary writings, that serves a great source of inspiration for the creation of The Little Prince, published in 1943.

The Little Prince is an adventurous and mysterious tale with poetic undertone. The story is about pilot stranded in the desert, and his conversation with a young prince from another planet. The work was later translated into total of 6245 editions with over 500 languages and dialects, today and considered to be one of the greatest books in the 20th century and remains of the bestselling books of all time, with numerous adaptations.

The story plot of The little prince has drawn its materials from the author's own experience.
Antoine with his head of golden curls were know for his unruly behaviours amongst all the Saint-Exupery children that were considered spoilt by relatives, which made up the contempt of the narrator in the Little Prince for the grownup world.

In 1935, Antoine crashed in the Libyan desert, his mechanic were lost in the sand dunes for several days, and almost died of dehydration before being found by local Bedouins. Many of the characters within the book were also modelled after the dogs in his life, refrain from accurate anatomical drawings, his friend’s poodle turned into the sheep, and his own pet boxer provided the basis for the tiger.

Charles Roger Hargreaves
With the intention of being a cartoonist, he found himself working as a creative director at London firm, whilst working there he wrote his first book Mr. Tickle in 1971.

The inspiration of this book was an innocent question asked by his son Adam Hargreaves that was ‘What does a tickle look like?’ He then drew a figure in orange colour with floppy arms and round body to represent a tickle.

Those bright coloured characters, drawn with bold lines has been sold more than 100 million copies across 20 different countries.

 Initially Hargreaves struggled to find a publisher, but once a deal was secured, his work was hugely popular and followed with many more Mr. Men books, which were adapted into a BBC television series. Later he quit his day job and worked on more series including Little Miss series, also adapted by the BBC. In total, he wrote and illustrated 46 Mr. Men books and 33 Little Miss books. His instantly recognisable, bold and bright comical drawings have been very popular amongst children over many generations.

Mr. Men and Little Miss collection
Roger Hargreaves

Birth Place: Cleckheaton, Yorkshire
1935-1988

Dick Bruna | Self Portrait

Birth Place: Utrecht, Netherlands
1953-2017

Dick Bruna lived and worked in Nethelands for most of his life. As a creator of Miffy and her friends, he was coincidently born in the year of rabbit (1927) according to the Chinese zodiac signs.

"Because there is so little, that which is there needs to be perfect"
“Hello Kitty is a copy of Miffy. I don’t like that at all.” - Dick Bruna

Bruna had created total of 124 picture books that have been translated into 50 languages, his legacy has been favoured by millions of children across the world, but we knew little about the artist him self, until the recent publication of Dick Bruna (Thames & Hudson), that provided us an introduction to Bruna, and his journey of creating Miffy.

The practice:
Bruna could spend days to decide on color combinations, though he only ever worked in five colours Bruna would cuts out shapes from previously printed sheets of coloured paper, to build a collage, then transferring his ink drawing on top of the collage, "the scene of a miffy page appears. Always perfect in it's simplicity"- Lucy Bourton: 2020

Miffy was inspired by a rabbit scampering over sand dunes spotted by Bruna and his family at the seaside. This sighting became impromptu bedtime story for his son.

Despite the drawing being simple but he was able to convey so much so much from the slightest change in the two dots and cross for her eyes and mouth. Without this technique to show emotions, Miffy could not have communicated so successfully to her audience, It's a kind of magic" - Bruce Ingman

The Nursery Alice | Sir John Tenniel

Birth Place: Bays water, London
1820-1914

Sir John Tenniel-Mostly self taught, he exhibited his first oil painting at the Society of British Artists at the age of 16. He
was knighted for artistic achievements in the 1893 Queen's Birthday Honours List, today he remains one of the most recognisable Victorian illustrators. Hisdetailed style and creativity in caricature has became hugely influential for many illustrators later on including E.H Shepard and Arthur Rackham.


Tenniel has achieved notable success in his illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. However the relationship between the author and the artist has been strained throughout the entire process, both being perfectionists unwilling to compromise: the specific instructions given by Carroll made Tenniel frustrated, from not having enough freedom to execute his creative vision.The difficult relationship between Tenniel and Carroll did not improve, even till the later sequel of Through the looking glass (1871).

Tenniel had lost partial eyesight in one eye from fencing accident as a child, but it did not sway him from his art passion, he continued to pursue his career as a cartoonist at Punch Magazine. During his career he had produced 2,000 cartoons, many books illustrations and some of the most iconic satirical commentary of the 19th century. He retired from Punch in his 80s, and continued to paint watercolours until he went completely blind.

Tenniel was gifted with depicting movements and photographic memory, that allowed him to never draws from life, he distanced him self away from academic training, as he worked best when he referred to the techniques and images in his visual memory. Drawing without observation, he hold his stance that the creatures in A.A.W should not look like real animas but fanciful creations.

Eric Carle| Self Portrait

Birth Place: Syracuse, New York
1929-2021

Eric Carle Was an American writer and illustrator, he brought out more than 70 books for children in his lifetime. He's best known for his book The very hungry caterpillar (1969) that had been translated into more than 65 languages and sold 55 million copies worldwide by 2021.

Carle first worked as a graphic designer for The New York Times, then art director for advertising agency. In 1967, he met Bill Martin Jr, it was him who introduced him to illustration, together they collaborated 4 books in total.

In 1968 he published his first book, 1, 2, 3, to the Zoo, which was followed by the award-winning book that made him famous the next year, The Very Hungry Caterpillar at the age of 40.

Carle's books are innovative and playful, intended for younger children, as he says: “With many of my books I attempt to bridge the gap between the home and school. To me home represents, or should represent; warmth, security, toys, holding hands, being held. School is a strange and new place for a child. Will it be a happy place?"

"The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun.” - Eric Carle

Carle was the recipient of numerous awards and honours, In 2002 Carle and his wife opened the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, which collects and features the work of children’s book illustrators from around the world. In 2018 it was announced that Penguin Young Readers was launching World of Eric Carle , an imprint that would release books only by the author-illustrator.