Quentin Blake is 90 today!

Today is the 90th Birthday of Sir Quentin Blake, the ! To celebrate this, there have been some new initiatives

• He's been telling the story of his life in illustration through a new BBC programme  called Quentin Blake: The Drawing of My Life - which you can watch on iPlayer. 

• 90 illustrators have celebrated his life by creating illustrations of candles for a virtual exhibition by the UK’s national centre for illustration

• Bonhams held a Quentin Blake at 90 Fundraising Auction this week 

Thank you for all the birthday messages! pic.twitter.com/MMSkcfs5xb

— Sir Quentin Blake HQ (@QuentinBlakeHQ) December 16, 2022

Quentin Blake: The Drawing of My Life

Blake is presented with an enormous white wall of paper and invited to draw his life. 

Quentin Blake confronted by the giant blank wall of paper on which to draw his life

You can access the programme now on iPlayer - but, although I started watching it, I've decided to save it for Christmas Day when it's also being broadcast on BBC2 at 4.10pm in the afternoon. There's a lot of much younger illustrators who will wish they can draw with the fluidity of Quentin at 90!

You can read all about Quentin Blake and his achievements on his website - in Meet Quentin Blake

90 Candles by 90 Illustrators

With a career in illustration spanning eight decades, Blake’s books have inspired generations of readers and illustrators.

To celebrate Blake’s 90th milestone birthday, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration  invited 90 of the UK’s leading illustrators - working in editorial, literature, fashion, animation and design - to create an image of a candle that references the original meaning of the word ‘illustration’ as “to light up, make light or illuminate”. 

some of the 90 candles illustrations

Together, the candles celebrate Blake, celebrate illustration and look forward to the opening of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration in 2024. 

• The Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration is the new name for House of Illustration.
• This is now halfway through a £12 million fundraising campaign to create the permanent national centre for illustration at the fascinating industrial heritage site New River Head in Clerkenwell, London. 
• Opening in 2024, the Centre for will offer a dynamic programme of exhibitions and will provide a home for Blake’s 40,000-work archive.

The 90 candles will be exhibited at www.qbcentre.org.uk

The 90 illustrators Contributors include 

• Axel Scheffler (best known for his collaborations with Julia Donaldson including The Gruffalo), 
• Lauren Child (former Children’s Laureate and creator of Charlie and Lola), 
• Chris Riddell (political cartoonist for The Observer), 
• Margaret Calvert (best known as a designer of the UK road sign system), 
• plus Oliver Jeffers, Posy Simmonds, Joey Yu, Hannah Berry and many, many more.

The collection of illustrations are being bound into a special book and presented to Quentin Blake as a birthday gift.

Also, from 16 December, the 90 candles will be exhibited at www.qbcentre.org.uk and available for sale as limited edition prints from www.90candles.org.uk, priced at £50 each with all proceeds going to Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration.

Full list of contributors

Adam Higton, Aleesha Nandhra, Alexis Deacon, Alice Lickens, An Chen, Andrzej Klimowski, Anne Howeson, Ashton Attz, Axel Scheffler, Bruce Ingman, Carolyn Gowdy, Catherine Anyango Grünewald, Charlotte Ager, Chris Haughton, Chris Riddell, Christopher Brown, Claire Alexander, Cressida Cowell, Dan Fern, Emily Rand, Emma Chichester Clark, Erin Aniker, Grace Holliday, Graham Rawle, Hannah Berry, Harry Woodgate, Hollie Fuller, Huntley Muir, Isabel Greenberg, James Mayhew, Jason Chuang, Jay Cover, Jean Jullien, Jemima Muir, Jhinuk Sarkar, Joanna Layla, Joey Yu, John Lawrence, John Vernon Lord, Jonny Hannah, Joy Yamusangie, Julie Vermeille, Karrie Fransman, Kingsley Nebechi, Laura Carlin, Lauren Child, Lena Yokoyama, Lily Ash Sakula, Lily Kong, Lucinda Rogers, Luke Best, Luke Pearson, Maisie Paradise Shearring, Margaret Calvert, Margaret Sturton, Marion Deuchars, Mark Oliver, Matthew Richardson, Mick Inkpen, Montana Forbes, Natsko Seki, Nick Butterworth, Noma Bar, Oliver Jeffers, Owen Gildersleeve, Paul Cox, Peony Gent, Peter Nencini, Posy Simmonds, Rachael Ball, Rob Biddulph, Rob Ryan, Roderick Mills, Rubyetc, Russell Mills, Sabba Khan, Sara Fanelli, Sharon King-Chai, Sharpay Chenyuè Yuán, Shonagh Rae, Simone Lia, Siôn Ap Tomos, Skye Baker, Steven Appleby, Thomas Hedger, Tom Abbiss Smith, Tom Gauld, Toya Walker, YiMiao Shih, Zoom Rockman.