Collaborators Quentin Blake and Emma Chichester Clark interviewed in iNewspaper

Thursday 3rd November 2016


In an interview with Etan Smallman for the iNewspaper, Quentin Blake and Emma Chichester Clark discussed their new collaboration, 'Three Little Monkeys' (published by HarperCollins Childen's Books on 6 October) and the development of their working relationship.

Emma recounts how they first met 40 years ago, when Quentin was assessing her work as an external examiner at the Chelsea School of Art.  Emma then studied illustration with Quentin on the post-graduate course at the Royal College of Art, where he taught for over 20 years, eventually heading the Illustration Department.  Emma was not only inspired by Quentin as a student, but continued to consult her ex-tutor when she herself became an established illustrator (becoming known for her much-loved 'Blue Kangaroo' and 'Wagtail Town' books).  Quentin too, is grateful to the positive influence that Emma and his other students had on his own work. 

“It’s a kind of metaphor" he says, " – they lifted my braces, you know, and helped me fly through the air.”
Quentin and Emma also commented on the diminishing levels of art eductation in schools, following the recent announcement Art History at A-Level is to be axed.  Quentin criticised politicians for only encouraging students “to do the things which, in a narrow-minded way, you think are useful... Art makes people’s minds work and have ideas about things. The politicians can’t see that.”

Read the full interview on the iNews briefing: https://inews.co.uk/