When it comes to children's literature, it is not strange to encounter illustrators who are more famous than the authors, or at least as famous as the authors.
Illustrator Quentin Blake, identified with world-famous author Roald Dahl with his books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and The Witches, is one of them.
It would be unfair not to mention Blake separately from Roald Dahl. Aside from the books he wrote and illustrated himself, Blake is also a name that has illustrated the books of many world-famous authors such as Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, and Michael Rosen. He is also the owner of many national and international awards, especially the "Hans Christian Andersen Award".
Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator he won the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. From 1999 to 2001, he was the inaugural British Children's Laureate. He is a patron of the Association of Illustrators.
Born in London in 1932, Quentin Blake says he has been drawing ever since he can remember. His first drawing was published in Punch magazine when he was only sixteen years old. The first children's book he illustrated was John Yeoman's A Drink of Water, published in 1960. He added writing to his career as an illustrator with the publication of his own illustrated book, Patrick, in 1968. He met Roald Dahl in 1978. The book titled The Enormous Crocodile, written by Dahl is the first Dahl book illustrated by Blake. The duo, who worked together until Dahl's death in 1990, became two figures that complement each other.
Even when you look at an illustration from meters away, you can tell whether it belongs to Quentin Blake or not. So much so that in recent years, Blake's handwriting, which is as characteristic as his drawings, has been turned into a font to be used on Blake's website, on mugs with his pictures, and in some books. So what makes Quentin Blake's drawings so characteristic? This style, which takes its origin from cartoons, has exaggerated details just like them. Hedgehog-haired children, spider-headed adults, beak-nosed old women, and claw-handed adults with long nails are indispensable parts of Blake's drawings. When you look at the whole picture, which looks full of flaws, as if you just scratched it, you get lost in the details and begin to experience the moment and the character. The reason why Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake are so compatible is that the children's world created by Dahl, which is far from perfection, magnificence, and trouble-free, complements each other with the heroes that Blake portrays with flaws and exaggeration.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Blake's paintings look like he painted them in a flash. Each drawing requires serious planning and preparation. Especially if it is not a single drawing but a series of drawings, factors such as the suitability of the technique and tool used to the atmosphere of the text, the harmony of the drawing with the text on the page, and the continuity of the action and character come into play. It is also necessary to make all this seem natural as if it happened spontaneously. Apparently, the success of Blake, who illustrated all his books with the same meticulousness, is not a coincidence.
Roald Dahl also devotes several chapters to Quentin Blake in his book, Speckle Powder and Other Amazing Secrets, which contains many secrets about him and his most famous book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “Quentin's drawings brought characters such as the Big Friendly Giant, Miss Trunchbull, Mr. Bristle, and the Witches to life rather than my depictions,” says Dahl, explaining how he was fascinated by watching Blake draw expertly in each book they worked on together. Even just reading these lines, you can notice the wonderful harmony that results from the duo's years of working together.
Quentin Blake, who has turned 90 years old, continues to do what he knows best, drawing, instead of retiring and sipping his coffee in a corner.