His style is instantly recognisable, because of his messy watercolour and ink medium and scrawly linework, and because of the life and energy he puts into his characters throughout each and every drawing he creates.
This illustration from James and the Giant Peach shows the diversity of each character through the way Quentin has drawn their individual qualities. The grasshopper is clearly the charismatic leader with his prominent position and confident expression, while the rest of the characters are drawn surrounding him, including James and the Centipede.
Although Quentin's characters aren't totally perfect, their messy aesthetics add a quaint charm to the overall image and suit his medium perfectly. After all, how could you be perfectly neat when using ink and watercolour?
This is an illustration from Matilda. Again, Blake has used inks and watercolours to illustrate the image. He must use waterproof ink when drawing because the watercolours do not smudge the line-art.
This was one of my sketches for the animals unit in module 1. It was one of my first tries using watercolour as an actual drawing medium rather than just using it to colour and shade, and resulted in a loose, messy drawing which I actually really like. I think it helps me to identify with Blake because of the messy lines and quick strokes, and because I think it definitely has a cute, charming quality.
Another thing to note is that on his website, in the Q&A section, he is asked wether or not he identifies with his characters while drawing them. His response was interesting to note:
"What you really do when you start to draw is you imagine that you are that person and you go into the reactions you think you would be having. I find myself doing the faces as I'm drawing them."
This is definitely something to try myself, especially considering I really like to draw expressions and there's so much emotion and atmosphere that can be put forward in an image just by facial expression.
Contact with Quentin
On Quentin's website there is a link to message him via email. I took this opportunity to send forth a query about his references and reference material, as it could be useful to see where he gets the references for his great dynamic poses in a lot of his images.
I also sent him a message through his Facebook page. Hopefully I will get a reply and will be able to update this blog with it!
What
you really do when you start to draw is you imagine that you are that
person and you go into the reactions you think you would be having. I
find myself doing the faces as I'm drawing them. - See more at:
http://www.quentinblake.com/about-drawing/hints-tips#sthash.PLFjvnCk.dpuf
What
you really do when you start to draw is you imagine that you are that
person and you go into the reactions you think you would be having. I
find myself doing the faces as I'm drawing them. - See more at:
http://www.quentinblake.com/about-drawing/hints-tips#sthash.PLFjvnCk.dpuf
What
you really do when you start to draw is you imagine that you are that
person and you go into the reactions you think you would be having. I
find myself doing the faces as I'm drawing them. - See more at:
http://www.quentinblake.com/about-drawing/hints-tips#sthash.PLFjvnCk.dpuf
What
you really do when you start to draw is you imagine that you are that
person and you go into the reactions you think you would be having. I
find myself doing the faces as I'm drawing them. - See more at:
http://www.quentinblake.com/about-drawing/hints-tips#sthash.PLFjvnCk.dpuf
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