What is it about Quentin Blake that makes his work quite so special? He is without a doubt one of the most famous children’s illustrators to date. His highly recognisable wire-like stylised drawings have graced the pages of over 300 books and have been enjoyed by generations of children worldwide.
They have also earned him a place on the 2013 New Year’s Honours List. Blake will receive his knighthood in recognition of a lifetime’s work as an illustrator and his contribution to the development of The House of Illustration. The gallery, situated in North London, is due to open in 2014 and will be exhibiting Blake’s complete archive of work. As a recipient of a CBE and an MBE as well as The Eleanor Farjeon Award – an award recognising outstanding contribution to children’s books – Blake is no stranger to accolades. In an interview with the BBC about his knighthood, Blake expressed his pleasure at receiving this award and deemed it “quite a nice 80th birthday present”.
Unlike most other children’s illustrators, Blake’s works are not confined to the pages of books. His drawings have been reproduced on greeting cards and stationery, displayed in museums and even have even adorned a range of bepoke wallpaper for Osborne and Little. He has also recently completed a series of murals in the children’s ward of several different hospitals.
Quentin Blake’s success is mostly due to his close and effective collaboration with children’s authors such as Michael Rose, Michael Mupurgo and of course, Roald Dahl. His illustrations brought the myriad of eccentric characters from Dahl’s books to life and they are as memorable as the stories themselves. Although his style of work is quite simplistic, all the different characters have a very strong sense of personality, whilst still leaving plenty of scope for childish imagination to run wild. The gentle nature of The BFG, the fear evoked by The Witches or Miss Trunchbull or the magic of Mr Wonka’s Chocolate Factory; all of these are conveyed in these stylised line drawings dotted throughout the pages.
When discussing his own style of drawing, Blake refers to his illustrations as “free fall”. Whilst working at the magazine Punch the arts editor suggested that his rough drawings were better than the finished work. Blake cites this as a turning point in the development of his style of working and consequently his drawings loosened up a lot. In his own book on drawing, he states that people spend to much time trying to make a dog look like a dog to the extent that it ceases to look like a dog and encourages the use of loose expressive lines and staunchly discourages the use of an eraser and the perfectionism it can entail.
Blake’s drawings have an unforgettable childlike quality, which is perhaps why they are quite so loved by children. The lines are wobbly, they are painted in blocks of bold colour and the sense of scale is sometimes questionable, but this exaggerated features and simplicity is perhaps what makes them quite so engaging for child readers.