Dear Quentin Blake’s drawings: I love you.

Quentin Blake is one of my favourite illustrators of all time and I recently checked out his book, Alphabeasts, from the library. I couldn’t help but try my hand at some of his drawings. They’re always so energetic. When I was little I would sometimes get frustrated that Quentin Blake didn’t connect his lines. An oval for a face would be left unconnected and would drive me wild. I don’t think I ever “finished” lines for him in my own books, but I sure wanted to!

I love how he draws hands and noses. I love his proportions and colors. His characters always seem to have such a history, as if they’ve been walking around different sketchbooks and coming out of pens for decades.