EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 26 © 2019 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

64 Philip Mendoza The cartoonist who brought some of the most cherished anthropomorphic animals to the British children’s magazines of the past century. His wild sense of humour further added to his adorable characters. However, he did more than funny animals, as David Ashford has us re-discover this long-forgotten artist’s life and work. THE 14 YEAR OLD BOYWAS PLEASED with the coloured chalk drawing he had created there on the pavement in front of him. He was now hoping that the punters would show their appreciation with some much-needed cash. As he sat, shivering on the cold pavement, he thought to himself that Manchester was not the best of places to create an alfresco fresco. The weather was against it. Then he noticed a little old lady walking with deliberation towards him. An Art lover he thought. She came over to him, gave him threepence and walked away. The boy was mortified. It was not the small amount of money she had given him but the fact that she hadn’t even glanced at his work. He didn’t want to receive money out of pity. He made a moral decision. He picked up his equipment and went home. Young Phil Mendoza’s career as a pavement artist had proved to be somewhat short-lived. FACING PAGE: Gulliver Guinea-Pig , watercolour on paper, 1960s. ‘The Travels of Gulliver Guinea-Pig’ followed the adventures of this charming white guinea- pig as he travelled all over the world. His adventures appeared in the magazine Playhour . ABOVE: Water Babies , ink and watercolour on paper, ca. 1970s. For the children’s magazine Treasure , Mendoza did illustrations of various classic children’s books that were serialized in the magazine, this being from Charles Kingsley’s famous novel.