Quentin Blake at the Hay Festival

Today we got to meet the great Sir Quentin Blake at the Hay Festival :-)

Sir Quentin Blake shares memories of Roald Dahl at Hay Festival

.......and we get a mention on the official Hay Festival Blog:

.....after his hour long signing, which included fans Lauren Child and band members from Noah and the Whale, he met a very lucky group of students from Hereford Art College in the Green Room – they’ve been tweeting ‘OMG, I can’t believe we’ve been talking to Quentin Blake’.  http://displayhca.blogspot.co.uk/  And Quentin, literary hero that he is, was the loveliest, warmest man you could ever meet and left the site saying ‘I’ve had a lovely day’.

The following review was written by L5 students Becky, Tan and Lauren for the Hay Festival Blog:

As Illustration students of Hereford College of Arts, when we heard about Sir Quentin Blake attending Hay Festival we were first in line to get tickets. After preparing ourselves with lots of tea and cake, we jostled our way through the sea of children waiting for Lauren Childs to ensure we were amongst the first in line.

            Once we were seated, we saw the characteristic figure of Sir Quentin come to the stage, welcoming us with a gentle smile and a humble hello; first asking us to applaud the librarians in the room. Through the entirety of the talk, he engaged and enthralled us with beautiful imagery and riveting narrative, guiding us through the imaginary worlds of his eccentric characters. He spoke of the visual world with such devout fondness, highlighting the international language of illustration, telling us that ‘it is our imagination that nourishes our dreams’.

            When Quentin finished his dialogue, he welcomed questions from the audience; giving each person an in-depth and often witty response. A particularly charming answer came from the question of a child, who asked ‘Which character would you most like to meet?’, his simple response: ‘Well, I’ve met them all!’ It was this charm which engaged the audience of all ages, and as he left the stage he was sent off with a roaring applause.

            I’m sure it’s every Illustrator’s dream to see an Artist such as Sir Quentin, but we were fortunate enough to meet him. As soon as we sat down with him, his warmth and humble nature made our nervous jitters disappear. Seemingly surprised by our compliments and multiple questions that we posed, he told us tales of his creative world, exposing the traits that are so loved by the nation. It’s difficult to describe what it was like to spend an hour in his world, but he certainly made us feel like we belonged. He spoke of his occasional lack of confidence and his struggle for inspiration, letting us see the ordinary man beyond this iconic figure. I think it’s safe to say we will always remember sitting on the sofa, chatting to Quentin over some welsh cakes, but the advice we will carry with us is just ‘to keep drawing, drawing something will always be better than drawing nothing.’