The Twits’ house and garden

Preliminary drawing for ‘The Twits’ by Roald Dahl


‘The Twits’ was first published in 1980, with illustrations Quentin had drawn using a very hard nib - perfect for capturing the spiky quality of Mr Twit’s beard. Quentin also experimented with the grim spikiness of the Twits’ house and garden in this drawing, though it was not included in the final set for the book. The original drawing formed part of the inaugural exhibition at House of Illustration in 2014 - ‘Quentin Blake: Inside Stories’.