Thursday 10 December 2009

THE MAN WHO DREW POOH (and MOLE)

Today is the 130th birthday of Ernest Howard Shepard, the artist and illustrator who captured in line those now immortal creations of A A Milne and Kenneth Grahame who resided, respectively, in the 100 Acre Wood...


...and along the willow-shaded banks of the Thames...


Shepard died in 1976 in his 96th year and lies at rest in the graveyard of St Peter's Church, West Sussex...

Click on image to enlarge

His simple stone is engraved with a painters palette hanging on a willow tree flanked by Mole and Toady.


Images: Illustrations by E H Shepard; Shepard's grave photographed by Charles for Wikipedia



3 comments:

. said...

Such wonderful illustrations, some of the very finest. Very different to Shepard, but a great illustrator of children books, are you aware of the work of the late Errol le Cain? He was my best friend at school's father.

Tom

Matt said...

Pooh and Toad were my favorite stories read to me by my mother as a small child, and I have lots of fond memories of looking at those illustrations.

Elliot Cowan said...

I think that later in life, Shepard came to have a low opinion of these wonderful illustrations.