Words and Pictures

Quentin Blake has always been driven by the urge to draw: his career now spans 50 years and with the wit and vitality of his line and the uncluttered spontaneity of his approach, he makes it all seem so easy ... here though he takes us backstage to see how it is done. As an artist, an author and a teacher (he was for many years Head of Illustration at the Royal College of Art) Blake is a thoughtful, engaging communicator and, starting with his experience as a schoolboy cartoonist for Punch, this is an illuminating account of his career. He describes the process of making a picture book - providing relevant pictures at every stage (this book is BURSTING with illustrations, including lots of hitherto unpublished work). He talks in detail about his technique, his materials and of course the interplay between words and pictures - and in so doing offers not just a valuable understanding of the art of the illustrator but also a starting point - and a vocabulary for further discussion. Excellent. We need more books like this.