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Quentin Saxby Blake CBE (born December 16, 1932 in Sidcup) is a British cartoonist, illustrator and children's book author, most notable for his illustrations in books written by Roald Dahl.

Contents 1 Education 2 Career 3 Artistic Style 4 Awards and Honours 5 Other activities 6 Bibliography 7 Notes 8 External links

Blake was educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. His first published drawing was for Punch magazine, at the age of 16. He read English Literature at Downing College, Cambridge (1953-6) and then undertook a postgraduate teaching diploma at the Institute of Education before working at the Royal College of Art.

Blake gained a reputation as a fantastic and humorous illustrator of over 300 children's books books. In particular, his illustrations of Roald Dahl's stories brought him international fame. In addition to his collaborations with Dahl, Blake has also written numerous books of his own.

His artistic style is very distinct, composed of fast and scribbly ink lines, but with a precise stroke. His idiosyncratic use of line adds great depth to his drawings, conveying movement and creating a sense of excitement within the image. First, he creates pen-and-ink drawings, and then adds colour by watercolour painting. The spontaneity of his style is achieved by allowing himself a free hand at first, and then tracing elements from the first draft onto subsequent drafts.

Together with Russell Hoban, he was awarded the Whitbread Award for Children's Book for How Tom Beat Captain Najork & His Hired Sportsmen.

He was appointed an OBE in 1988, and subsequently was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2005 New Year's Honours List for services to Children's Literature.

Since 1989, he has been visiting professor at the Royal College of Art. In 1999 he was made the first Children's Laureate in the UK.

In 2002 he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for his contributions to children's book illustration.

Blake is patron of the Blake Society, Downing College's arts and humanities society.

Blake is also a patron of "The Big Draw" [1] which aims to get people drawing throughout the UK.

In 2006 he was a 'castaway' on the BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs.

In late 2007 he was awarded a commission by British real estate developer Argent for a proposed large-scale mural to hide a ramshackle block called Stanley Building South, near London's King's Cross railway station. The rendering of an "imaginary welcoming committee" would greet passengers arriving on the Eurostar high-speed railway from Paris.^[1]

(a list only of books both written and illustrated by Blake)

• Angel Pavement
• Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered with John Cassidy
• Mrs Armitage Queen Of The Road
• Laureate's Progress
• Loveykins
• Quentin Blake's Abc
• A Sailing Boat In The Sky
• Fantastic Daisy Artichoke
• Words And Pictures
• Zagazoo
• The Laureate's Party
• The Green Ship
• Mister Magnolia
• Mrs Armitage And The Big Wave
• Mrs Armitage On Wheels
• All Join In
• Clown
• The Story Of The Dancing Frog
• Simpkin
• Quentin Blake's Nursery Rhymes
• Cockatoos
• The Adventures of Lester
• Patrick
• Angelo

Other

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

• Quentin Blake official site
• Interview with Quentin Blake - In free streaming video (Real), on the Northwestern University Library website
• Report on community dialogue in 2007
• Quentin Blake at www.contemporarywriters.com
• Quentin Blake video at the Peoples Archive
• Interview, with The Guardian, September 28, 2007