quentin blake 1932
Name: Sir Quentin Saxon Blake CBE,
Born: 16 December 1932
Home Town: Sidcup, Kent
Style: Cartoonist / Illustrator / Children’s Writer
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Exhibited: Hastings Gallery
Why I like him: He illustrated my favourite childhood Roald Dhal and David Walliams books. He has a very distinctive style and manages to make even the nastiest of characters funny.
I love the way he doesn’t stop drawing and has used his talent in public spaces to help people and bring joy.
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History:
•Evacuated to the West Country during WWII
•First submission to Punch at the age of 16 and still at school
•1970’s occasional story teller on Jackanory, where he illustrated the story on a canvas as he was telling them
•1978 he started teaching at the Royal College of Art where he continued for 20 years
•1993 he designed 5 British issue postage stamps featuring episodes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
•2005 awarded a CBE
•2007 he designed a mural on fabric which was suspended over a building immediately opposite an entrance to St Pancras Station. The "imaginary welcoming committee" greets passengers arriving on the Eurostar.
•Illustrator to Roald Dhal and Michael Rosen (among others)
•In recent years, he has made large scale work for hospitals and healthcare settings in the UK and France
•Opening the Quentin Blake Illustration Centre in London in 2022
the illustrator
Like most, I first became aware of Blakes work as a child reading the many stories he illustrated for Michael Rosen, Dr Seuss and David Walliams. My favourite has to be the BFG that was loosely modelled on Roald Dhal, even the shoes are modelled on Norwegian ones that Roald had!
we live in worrying times 2021
I saw this illustration in Hastings Contemporary Gallery as part of his 'We Live in Worrying Times' exhibition. Its called The Taxi Driver and he was inspired by Picasso's Guernica. The exhibition explores isolation which ironically opened late due to COVID.
murals
I love the way his work is instantly recognisable and his passion to share his joy (and mischievousness) in the world and lift spirits can be seen in an ever growing number of public spaces. I particularly love that he put lots of murals in hospitals - maternity and children's units. The one below was to welcome people at St Pancras Station.
