Sir Quentin is in his 80s now, and
still going strong. He’s indelibly associated with the works of Roald Dahl – I
picked an illustration from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, the first Dahl
novel I ever read. For me it’s difficult to think of Roald Dahl’s books without
thinking of Quentin Blake’s illustrations – as writer and illustrator they were
an absolutely perfect match. However, Sir Quentin’s portfolio is much wider and
more varied than that. Sir Quentin was the first ever Children’s laureate in
the UK, and a good choice for that honour too.
Like Ronald Searle and Peggy Fortnum,
his style looks deceptively simple. Yet when you try to make a copy of one of
his illustrations you start to realise just how clever and precise it actually
is. No single pen stroke is wasted, and as a result all of his pictures crackle
and sparkle with life and personality.
