Ronald Searle March 3, 1920 - December 30, 2011
I was thinking about my grandfather the other day, and the stories he used to tell me when I was a little snot-nosed brat. My favorites were always the ones he told me, when he was a kid growing up in Holland and all the crazy shit he would do...inspiring me to do the same, or at least try. But every once in a while he tell me the story of this guy called Baron Munchausen, whose tales were some of the most amazing things I had ever heard of! I LOVED those stories, and always begged for him to tell me more, I could never get enough of them. My imagination would be off and running while I tried to visualize all the details in the stories he would tell me. For the longest time I actually thought these stories were true, because my grandfather was so damn convincing -an I was 5 or 6 at the time... so cut me a little slack.
Time goes by and I grow up a little bit and forget all about Baron Munchausen, until I was in High School. I was at the town library doing research for some stupid report that was due THAT week, and had no desire in starting. Thoroughly bored with the task at hand, I decided to take a break and wander aimlessly through the library, looking through the stacks for an interesting art book or children's book (don't tell my friends-I'll never live it down) all in the effort of trying to convince myself that I was hard at work, doing research for my report.
Well, imagine my shock when I stumbled upon THIS book!! A flood of memories instantly came rushing back. Sitting at the dining room table with my grandfather telling me AND illustrating the stories of the world's greatest 'liar' and all his amazing adventures.
I immediately put it under my arm and went back to my table and began to read the actual stories my grandfather had summarized and told to me when I was 6. It was a REVELATION, I can't even begin to tell you how I felt, how exciting it was to read the stories...and how utterly disappointed I was with what I thought were the shittiest illustrations I had EVER seen for a children's book! Who the hell was this Ronald Searle guy? Where the fuck did he learn to draw?...And, who gave him the job to actually draw this crap?!! Well, what can I say...I was a 16 year old 'know-it-all', who had his list of REAL illustrators, whose work looked NOTHING like the shit I saw in this book! My list consisted of Howard Ryle, N.C. Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, Frank Frazetta and Bernie Wrightson...artists whose styles, contrasted greatly with Ronald Searle's.
I had a lot to learn, and that didn't happen until I moved to the big city of Philadelphia to attend Art School, where I was finally exposed to the world of illustration art and the giants in the field...one of them being, Ronald Searle. AS I mentioned before, (and will continue to do so, I'm sure). The late 1980's were the PRE-internet days, so all information was gathered via, magazines, books, gallery openings, lectures or personal interactions with people who knew someone who knew someone etc. Not like today, where you can sit in your underwear in front of a computer at 2a.m., OR stare into your mobile device while in line to get your fucking latte, and search for ANYTHING you can think of to learn more about your latest obsessions. So, if you want to learn more about the man and his work, do a Google search, there's a wealth of information about him written by people more competent than me AND who have spent more than 20 minutes on their presentation.
This is a great Ronald Searle book, that I picked up while still in college, and I highly recommend it. It's not complete by any means....but that's what the internet is good for, right?
AND as luck would have it, years later I was able to find a reprint of the original book that started it all at San Diego Comic Con, bringing everything full circle.
... AND, to prove the internet is good for SOME things, I was able to track down a few images of the original illustrations he did for this book. I wish they were Higher Rez, but they're still pretty good, highlighting the ink washes that contrast nicely with the bold black ink work.
Truth be told, he's become one of my favorite illustrators. I absolutely love his ink and wash illustrations and wish my hand was as light and delicate as his...but it's not. I'm too uptight and controlling and can't seem to allow myself that calligraphic freedom.
But I keep trying.
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