EXTRACTS: Illustrators Issue 5 © 2013 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

80 thoroughbreds than the stocky cow pony of reality. In the early 1930s, Eyles illustrated a number of large format children’s books, including Lamb’s ‘Tales from Shakespeare’ for Hutchinson, and two books about King Arthur: ‘Knights of the Round Table’ for Collins and ‘King Arthur and his Knights’ for The Children’s Press. These delightful books were profusely illustrated, including full colour plates as well as black and white drawings, and a wrap-around dust jacket. During that time he was kept very busy supplying covers for such publishers as Collins ‘Adventure Annual’, Warne ‘Adventure Book for Boys’, Oxford ‘Big Book for Boys’, and Dean ‘Monster Book for Boys’. On occasions, he supplied black and white line drawings as well, which helped to liven up what were fairly dull volumes. During this time, he was also illustrating for the magazines of the day, notably the Wide World Magazine, to which he was contributing as early as 1924. These illustrations were printed in half-tone, and it is interesting to see that this very early work, obviously influenced by his father, is almost Impressionistic with its loose brush strokes, very different to the work he was to produce later. Looking at one of Eyles’ early 1920s’ painting of cowboys having a fight in a corral, it can be seen that it was executed in oils, and is extremely free and very far removed from the work he was to do later. It is almost certain that this picture appeared as a colour plate in a Chums Annual . Looking carefully at other Chums plates by Eyles, it can be seen that they were all painted in oils and show that, like the Impressionists, he was thinking at this time in terms of tone rather than line. However, the reproductions in these Chums Annual s are not of great quality and it is easy to see why he may have decided to abandon this free, painterly style in favour of a much more linear technique that would reproduce more effectively. Only a decade later, this ABOVE TOP: Eyles had a particular affinity for the era of stage coaches and highwaymen. His researches into the subject infused his artwork with added authority as well as the innate sense of dynamics he brought to his art. ABOVE: Young gentlemen playing football, typical of the fare that Eyles was supplying to publishers throughout the 1930s. FACING PAGE: Scanned from the original art, Kit Carson in yet another contretemps with Native Americans. © IPC Media