EXTRACTS: The Art of Ron Embleton (illustrators special) © 2018 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

1 RON EMBLETON SPECIAL ISSUE CONTENTS 2 The story of one of the last century's greatest illustrators is brought to life by Peter Richardson with the help of Ron's daughter Gill. Ron Embleton EDITORIAL This issue is dedicated and devoted to one of the greatest illustrators of the last century. Ron Embleton's work has been unfairly neglected for many years, collections purporting to be the definitive assessment of what is considered 'great illustration' conspicuously omit the work of Ron Embleton, whilst lesser talents, many of whom long ago eschewed the practice of deriving their income fromillustration in favour of amore reliablewage via the dusty halls of academe, are lauded for work which would struggle to find a meaningful audience.The reason for the continued omission, one suspects, is not somuch ignorance but the kind of snobbery that frowns uponwork that is considered "commercial". We are therefore very grateful for the opportunity to redress this oversight and, in conjunction with a long overdue exhibition of Ron's oil paintings and fine art hosted by Messum's Gallery, we are delighted to be able to present a retrospective of this great man's art and career. For putative illustrators there is inspiration in plentiful supply. But there are also lessons to be learned. Ron Embleton was one of a tiny elite of illustrators able to enjoy a very comfortable standardof living as a result of hismanifest talents.His skillswere worked at and refined. Illustration inRon's casewasn't a talent he could treat as an add-on skill set; hiswork achieved greatness by dint of his single-mindeddetermination tomaster all aspects of visual storytelling.There are very fewillustrators that have the ability to create illustration with the conviction that Ron brought to bear on his art. His mastery of figure drawing fromimagination, his dramatic use of lighting, his understanding and command of expressionandpoise as awayof conveying emotion, his love of costume, his knowledge of history and the sheer bravura energy that he brought to his art make him one of the truly great talents of 20th century illustration. We are proud to be able to present to you not only the story of Ron's life and career, but we are also thrilled to be able to share with you some of the most amazing original art that Ron produced throughout those years. Much of this would have been impossible without the help and assistance of Ron's daughter Gill, David Messum who is hosting the exhibition of Ron's art at Messum's Gallery in Cork Street, Laurence Heyworth and the Look and Learn online archive. Andrew Skilleter provided anecdotes and some wonderful samples of Ron's art, David Ashford who provided information and examples of Ron's earliest printed work and Dale Jackson and Jeff Haythorpe, both went the extra mile in providing scans of Ron's art, without which this publication would have seemed incomplete. To all of these good folkwe owe a huge debt of gratitude. The opinions expressed in illustrators are those of the writers, and are not necessarily those of the editor and publishers. The accuracy of the authentication of all images is the responsibility of the contributors. The Magician at Work Doctor Who illustrator, Andrew Skilleter, recalls his friend and near neighbour Ron Embleton. 140 Cover Image: Ron Embleton Illustrators The Book Palace Jubilee House Bedwardine Road Crystal Palace London SE19 3AP Email: IQ@bookpalace.com Web: www.bookpalace.com Contact GW: gw@bookpalace.com Tel: 020 8768 0022 (From overseas +44 20 8768 0022 ) Publisher: Geoff West Editor & Art Director: Peter Richardson Consultant Editors: David Ashford, Norman Boyd. Alan Richardson Featured Writers: Peter Richardson, David Ashford Website: Paul Tanner Subscriptions & Distribution: David Howarth Advertising: IQ@bookpalace.com illustrators ISBN 978-1-907081-58-3 ISSN 2052-6520 Issue Number Published January 2019 Copyright © 2019 by The Book Palace Ltd. All text and artwork copyright is vested with the respective creators and publishers. None of the material within these pages may be reproduced without the written consent of illustrators or the aforementioned copyright holders. The images reproduced within these pages are for research purposes and all efforts have been made to ensure their historical accuracy. Illustrators is published quarterly Back issues £20 each plus postage 4 issue subscriptions UK £55 POST FREE includes 4 free digital issues EU/USA £70 POST FREE includes 4 free digital issues ROW £75 POST FREE includes 4 free digital issues Available in the USA from budplant.com Trade Orders : IQ@bookpalace.com Printed in China by Prolong Press Ltd 130 'By Ron' - The Early Years 142 Ron Embleton Index David Ashford winds back the clock to Ron's earliest forays into the world of comic strip.