Quentin Blake

Quentin Blake
Born	16 December 1932 (1932-12-16) Sidcup, Kent, England, UK
Nationality	British
Field	Illustration
Training	Chelsea School of Art

Quentin Saxby Blake, CBE, FCSD, RDI, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's author, well-known for his collaborations with writer Roald Dahl.

Education

Blake was born in 1932 in Sidcup, Kent and was evacuated to the West Country during the war. He went to Chislehurst Secondary School and Sidcup Grammar School before studying English at Downing College, Cambridge. His English teacher, JH Walsh, influenced his ambition to become involved in literature. His first published drawing was for the satirical magazine Punch, at the age of 16. He read English Literature at Downing College, Cambridge (1953-6), received his postgraduate teaching diploma from the University of London, and later studied at the Chelsea School of Art. He gained another teaching diploma at the Institute of Education before working at the Royal College of Art.

Career

Blake gained a reputation as a reliable and humorous illustrator of over 300 children's books. As well as illustrating the books of others, including Roald Dahl, Elizabeth Bowen and Dr. Seuss, Blake has written numerous books of his own. As of 2006, he has participated in the writing and/or illustrating of 323 books (of which he wrote 35 himself, and 18 were by Dahl). He taught at the Royal College of Art for over twenty years, and was head of the Illustration department from 1978 to 1986. He recently illustrated David Walliams's debut book, The Boy in the Dress and his more recent book Mr Stink.

Other activities

In the 1970s Blake was an occasional presenter of the BBC children's story-telling programme Jackanory, in which he would illustrate the stories on a canvas as he was telling them.

In 1993 he designed the five British Christmas issue postage stamps featuring episodes from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Blake is patron of the Blake Society, Downing College's arts and humanities society. He is also a patron of "The Big Draw" which aims to get people drawing throughout the UK, and of The Nightingale Project, a charity that puts art into hospitals. Since 2006 he has produced work for several hospitals and health centres in the London area and one in Paris.

In 2007 he designed a huge mural on fabric, suspended over and thus disguising a ramshackle building immediately opposite an entrance to St Pancras railway station. The rendering of an "imaginary welcoming committee" greets passengers arriving on the Eurostar high-speed railway.

Blake is also the designer of 'Ben', the 'logo' of the shop chain, Ben's Cookies.

Blake is a supporter and Ambassador for the indigenous rights NGO, Survival International. In 2009, he said, "For me, Survival is important for two reasons; one is that I think it’s right that we should give help and support to people who are threatened by the rapacious industrial society we have created; and the other that, more generally, it gives an important signal about how we all ought to be looking after the world. Its message is the most fundamental of any charity I’m connected with."

Bibliography (partial)

This is a list only of books both written and illustrated by Blake.

• Patrick, 1968, Jonathan Cape
• Jack and Nancy, 1969, Jonathan Cape
• Angelo, 1970, Jonathan Cape
• Snuff, 1973, Jonathan Cape
• Lester at the Seaside, 1975, Collins
• Lester and the Unusual Pet, 1975, Collins
• The Adventures of Lester, 1977, BBC
• Mister Magnolia, 1980, Jonathan Cape
• Quentin Blake's Nursery Rhyme Book, 1983, Jonathan Cape
• The Story of the Dancing Frog, 1984, Jonathan Cape
• Mrs Armitage On Wheels, 1987, Jonathan Cape
• Quentin Blake's ABC, 1989, Jonathan Cape
• All Join In, 1990, Jonathan Cape
• Cockatoos, 1992, Jonathan Cape
• Simpkin, 1993, Jonathan Cape
• The Quentin Blake Book of Nonsense Verse, 1994, Viking
• Clown, 1995, Jonathan Cape
• La Vie de la Page, 1995, Gallimard
• Mrs Armitage and the Big Wave, 1997, Jonathan Cape
• Dix Grenouilles (Ten Frogs), 1997, Gallimard
• The Green Ship, 1998, Jonathan Cape
• Zagazoo, 1998, Jonathan Cape
• Zap! The Quentin Blake Guide to Electrical Safety, 1998, Eastern Electricity
• Fantastic Daisy Artichoke, 1999, Jonathan Cape
• The Laureate's Party, 2000, Random House
• Un Bateau Dans le Ciel, 2000, Rue du Monde
• Words and Pictures, 2000, Jonathan Cape
• Tell Me a Picture, 2001, National Gallery Co Ltd
• Loveykins, 2002, Jonathan Cape
• Laureate's Progress, 2002, Jonathan Cape
• Mrs Armitage, Queen of the Road, 2003, Jonathan Cape
• A Sailing Boat In The Sky, 2003, Red Fox
• Angel Pavement, 2004, Jonathan Cape
• You're Only Young Twice, 2008, Andersen Press
• Daddy Lost his Head, 2009, Andre Bouchard

Other

• The Learning Journey (Illustrated versions, for parents, of key stages 1 and 2 of the National Curriculum for England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

Further reading

• D. Martin, 'Quentin Blake', in D. Martin, The Telling Line (1989), p.243-263

External links

• Quentin Blake official site
• Quentin Blake at Contemporary Writers
• Biography of Blake from British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent
• Quentin Blake at Andersen Press

Interviews and articles

• Interview, with The Guardian, 28 September 2007
• Quentin Blake tells his life story at Web of Stories (video)
• Interview with Quentin Blake - In free streaming video (Real), on the Northwestern University Library website
• Report on community dialogue in 2007
• Quentin Blake feature from Random House
• "What is illustration?" Blake speaking at a teacher conference in July 2008

Cultural offices
Preceded by New post	Children's Laureate of the United Kingdom 1999 – 2001	Succeeded by Anne Fine