Quentin Blake Scratchy Line

Quentin Blake: Scratchy Line

Quentin Blake (born 1932) is the most celebrated British children's book illustrator and one of the most recognisable graphic styles in English-language publishing. His work is the visual incarnation of anarchic wit: lines that wobble and spray, characters that lean and flail, watercolour washes applied with deliberate looseness, the whole system conveying motion and delight even in a still image.

The Roald Dahl Collaboration

Blake's defining professional partnership was with Roald Dahl, beginning with Danny the Champion of the World (1975) and extending through the most beloved works of children's literature. The BFG (1982) -- the Big Friendly Giant with his enormous ears and lopsided swagger -- is perhaps Blake's single most recognisable character design. Matilda (1988) put his expressive line to work on Dahl's most psychologically complex child protagonist. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964 text, Blake's illustrations replaced the original Schindelman illustrations in the UK 1995 Puffin edition), James and the Giant Peach (1961/Blake 1995), The Twits (1980), Fantastic Mr Fox (1970/Blake 1974), and George's Marvellous Medicine (1981) all bear his mark.

Technical Method

Blake works in pen-and-ink with a dip pen, producing his characteristic broken, energetic line. The pen lifts and re-lands mid-stroke, leaving characteristic gaps and directional changes that give figures their sense of barely-contained motion. He then applies loose watercolour washes over the ink -- often staying within the outlines but frequently overflowing them. The colour is always secondary to the line: Blake paints after drawing, and the two layers maintain their independence.

Beyond Dahl

Blake's non-Dahl work includes John Yeoman collaborations, his own wordless picture books (Clown, 1995), and extensive illustration for adult literary fiction including work for The Spectator, Penguin, and Folio Society editions of Voltaire and Cervantes.