EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 11 © 2015 The Book Palace (96 pages PAGES in Full edition)

76 Courtesy of Look and Learn and the Illustration Art Gallery many of the covers he produced for this magazine. McConnell finally retired at the age of 73, living with his wife and their Corgi dog in Great Bookham, Surrey, painting landscapes and animal portraits for friends. He lived for very nearly another twenty years, dying in 1995, shortly before his 92nd birthday. McConnell's legacy of artwork was huge: covers for book jackets, paperbacks, magazines and annuals as well as countless frontispieces and colour plates, all signed with his strikingly stylish signature. There are very few illustrators who can begin to equal the sheer variety and quantity of his work and few who can equal the mastery of his painting technique and the dynamism and force of the best of his output. ● ● I would like to thank my friend, Jim Kealy, who has helped me so much with this project and given me complete access to his impressive collection of McConnell’s illustrated books. Without Jim’s help this article could not have been written. illustrationartgallery.com has a large selection of original James E McConnell art for sale. ABOVE: A superb example of McConnell's later work, which shows no diminution of his enthusiasm for rugged landscapes, magnificent horses and he-man adventure. This cover to the children's weekly Look and Learn, which hosted so much of his work, appeared in October 1963.