Pictures from an Old Book

The beautiful work of British born author and illustrator Pat Hutchins (b.1942). Better known, of course, for the classic "Rosie's Walk" (1968), "The Wind Blew"(1974), "Don't Forget The Bacon!"(1976), she produced dozens of children's books in her long career. A brief biography here: http://www.harpercollins.com/cr-107122/pat-hutchins

Sue Macartney-Snape probably needs no introduction - to the British public anyway. According to the biographical note on her website, she was born in Tanzania, grew up in Australia and arrived in London in 1980... http://www.sms-editions.co.uk/biography.php

Her work is widely known from the Saturday Telegraph Magazine's Social Stereotypes column (between 1994 and 2011). Collections from this series have been published in nine books so far and there is a huge selection of limited edition prints available to buy on the above website.

According to the author's introductory note, the pictures came first! Quite an unconventional process for a writer having to imagine stories, situations and relationships between characters of an artist's set of drawings. But these are not just any ordinary illustrations. The characters are so well observed and vivid, their clothes and the settings are so detailed that they create their own farcical narratives. Sue Macartney-Snape's pictures are exquisite, each character complete in every aspect - the dresses, the pets, the expressions on their faces, even the furniture and hundreds of artifacts.

Couldn't resist two more stunning illustrations from Sue Macartney-Snape's book. The mastery in the drawing and the balance of colours and details is unbelievable. Many more to see - and buy - from the artist's website: http://www.sms-editions.co.uk/

Zany illustrations from this 1988 book by Ronald Searle (1920-2011). A good biography on the artist here: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/03/ronald-searle The best source of information on the artist is actually the Ronald Searle Tribute blog with many extended articles on his life and work: http://ronaldsearle.blogspot.co.uk/

This book seems to quite popular with the readers of this blog so I thought of adding some more pictures from it! The truth is that I've been so busy this month I've had no time to scan any new books!

This was the first book by American author and illustrator Aliki Brandenberg (born 1929). Aliki, whose parents were Greek, had decided to travel to Greece and Europe in the mid-1950's in order to find out more about her cultural heritage. She met her Swiss husband, Franz Brandenberg, during that trip and got the inspiration to write a children's book based on the legendary 14th century Swiss folk hero William Tell. The book was eventually published in 1960 by Faber and Faber marking the beginning of her long and successful career as a children's author and illustrator. She has been living and working in London since 1977. Here's her Wikipedia page for further references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliki_Brandenberg

I just love the back cover of this book. Only slightly different from the front, but so funny! Bare in mind that there were no fire arms at the time of the story, just bows and arrows, and there would be no need for the boy to block his ears for the sound!

A small selection of my recent work in a group show starting tonight at the Coldstream Gallery! www.coldstreamgallery.co.uk We are only an hour's drive south of Edinburgh or an hour and a half north of Newcastle Upon Tyne so, please drop in if you are in the neighbourhood! Comments and constructive criticism are welcome.

Images from this book can also be found in hundreds of other websites or blogs but I still felt it would be good to upload some from my own copy - even though it's in tatters and very difficult to scan!

Illustrations and text was produced by the famous American husband and wife team, Alice Provensen (born 1917) and Martin Provensen (1916-1987) in 1952. My copy must be from some years later but I'll never know exactly when, because some annoying kid ripped off the title page - probably decades ago! Hugely influential work on subsequent generations of designers and illustrators. Here's a short biography on the couple from Wikipedia and references on other books by them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_and_Martin_Provensen

So sick of hearing these guys telling us how great their ideas are, for months now - well, that part of the show is over now! Personally, I don't think they can do anything other than parroting what their PR teams and other "advisers" dictate. In any case, I wouldn't trust any of them to cut my front lawn let alone do anything that requires a bit more initiative and common sense, like running a country. It's depressing to think that out of a country of 65 million people and of such rich diversity and talent, we only get to choose a leader out of this bunch of unimaginative, uninspiring and nondescript men! Could we not just say no, we don't like any of them, none of the above? Or would that be too extreme for our sophisticated and gentile democracy? So, a dedication to all the clever men that CAN bring prosperity and joy for all - a dance of CANCAN...

This is a book that everyone should read! It was written with children and young adults in mind but it offers such a perceptive and rounded description of events and beliefs through thousands of years of human history that it will enrich anybody's knowledge and understanding of the past. In fact, it goes beyond a mere account of facts - it gives an insight into the human psyche, the eternal battle for power, control and domination among mankind and the tragedy of war. Despite its huge popularity both in Germany and internationally, the book was soon banned by the Nazi regime for being too "pacifist", forcing the writer Ernst Gombrich (1909-2001) to flee Germany for Great Britain in 1939.

E.H. Gombrich became one of the best known art historians of the 20th century with his multi-million selling book "The Story Of Art"(1950) which is still in print today. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Gombrich It's huge success over-shadowed Gombrich's earlier work until the author decided to revise "A Little History Of The World" towards the end of his life and it was published in English for the first time in 2005. The exquisite illustrations by Clifford Harper were the perfect choice for it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Harper

Here's a link for an article on Clifford Harper (b.1949), his career and technique from the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/clifford-harper Also a concise biography on the British Cartoon Archive: http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/artists/cliffharper/biography

I bought this book purely for its cover as I can't read German! I wish I could find out who the illustrator was - just love all the characters as well as the whole design of the cover! The book is a collection of 5 short stories and, according to wikipedia, is one of the author's best known works, Gottfried Keller (1819-1890, Switzerland) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Keller

"Good-Night, Owl" By Pat Hutchins (published by Julia MacRae, Random House, London 1993 - originally published by Bodley Head in 1972) Part 2

"Araminta's Wedding" By Jilly Cooper And Pictures By Sue Macartney-Snape (published by BCA by arrangment with Methuen, London 1993)

"Araminta's Wedding" By Jilly Cooper And Pictures By Sue Macartney-Snape (published by BCA by arrangment with Methuen, London 1993) - Part 2

"Araminta's Wedding" By Jilly Cooper And Pictures By Sue Macartney-Snape (published by BCA by arrangement with Methuen, London 1993) - Part 3

"Araminta's Wedding" By Jilly Cooper And Pictures By Sue Macartney-Snape (published by BCA by arrangement with Methuen, London 1993) - Part 4

"Ronald Searle's Non-Sexist Dictionary" By Ronald Searle (Published by Souvenir Press Ltd, London 1988) Part 1

"Ronald Searle's Non-Sexist Dictionary" By Ronald Searle (Published by Souvenir Press Ltd, London 1988) Part 2

"Ronald Searle's Non-Sexist Dictionary" By Ronald Searle (Published by Souvenir Press Ltd, London 1988) Part 3

"The Story Of William Tell" By Aliki (First published by Faber and Faber Limited 1960, London WC1, this copy is from the third impression, 1969)

"The Story Of William Tell" By Aliki (First published by Faber and Faber Limited 1960, London WC1, this copy is from the third impression, 1969) Part 2

"The Story Of William Tell" By Aliki (First published by Faber and Faber Limited 1960, London WC1, this copy is from the third impression, 1969) Part 3

"DRAWN" - Exhibition Of Drawings By Harris Sofokleous, Rich Johnson, Derek Jones, Hannah Longmuir and Gill Walton at The Coldstream Gallery, Scottish Borders, 15 April - 23 May 2015

"Animal Fair" By Alice and Martin Provensen (Published By Golden Books Publishing Company, Inc, New York 1952)

"Animal Fair" By Alice and Martin Provensen (Published By Golden Books Publishing Company, Inc, New York 1952) - Part 2

"UK General Election 2015 " Comment By Harris...

"A Little History Of The World" By E.H. Gombrich, Illustrations By Clifford Harper (YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS New Haven And London 2008, originally published in German by Steyrermühl-Verlag, Vienna 1936)

"A Little History Of The World" By E.H. Gombrich, Illustrations By Clifford Harper (YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS New Haven And London 2008, originally published in German by Steyrermühl-Verlag, Vienna 1936) - Part 2

"A Little History Of The World" By E.H. Gombrich, Illustrations By Clifford Harper (YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS New Haven And London 2008, originally published in German by Steyrermühl-Verlag, Vienna 1936) - Part 3

"A Little History Of The World" By E.H. Gombrich, Illustrations By Clifford Harper (YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS New Haven And London 2008, originally published in German by Steyrermühl-Verlag, Vienna 1936) - Part 4

"Die Leute von Seldwyla" By Gottfried Keller (Published by Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Germany 1957 - first published in 1874)