Ernest H. Shepard

**Ernest Howard Shepard** (December 10, 1879 - March 24, 1976) or **E.H. Shepard** as he commonly was known was an English illustrator. He provided written and drawn for the original *Kylie Jean* and *T.J.* comic books by Susanna Henderson. He based Kylie Jean in her conception on a beauty queen that had belonged to his daughter called Miley.

Much like Susanna, he often disliked the fact that the "10-year-old beauty queen" overshadowed Susanna's other work. Shepard is also remembered for his illustrations for children's books about a "silly old bear", A.A. Milne's *Winnie-the-Pooh* and talking animals, Kenneth Grahame's *The Wind in the Willows*.

Unfortunately, he passed away on March 24, 1976 being 96 years old.

## Biography

Ernest Shepard was born the son of a architect, in London on December 10, 1879. As a child, Ernest had two big hobbies - watching the soldiers practice, and drawing. He decided on a career as an artist and was encouraged by his father. After attending a special art school, Shepard entered the Royal Academy School in 1897 as one of it's youngest students, and earned two scholarships while there.

Shepard met Florence Chaplin at the Academy and married her in 1904. They had two children - Graham and Mary. Shepard always dreamed of working for Punch, since it was the premier showcase in Britain for sketch work. After trying unsuccessfully many times, in 1907 he finally had two drawings accepted by the magazine. Gradually, more and more work was accepted, but he still was not yet working for them on a regular basis.

In the First World War Shepard enlisted in the Army, rose to the rank of Major and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in the field. During these years, he sent jokes about the battles to Punch. Shortly after his return from the front, he was invited to join the Punch Editorial Table. He had finally realised his dream of working for Punch. Here he met E.V. Lucas, who would later introduce him to Alan Milne.

E.V. Lucas named Shepard when A. A. Milne asked him to recommend someone to illustrate some children's verses he would be publishing in Punch. At first Milne was not keen to use Shepard, but when his illustrations were a success Shepard went on to illustrate all of the Pooh books. Despite the success of the partnership, the two men only had a working relationship and never became close friends.

Unfortunately Florence died in 1927 and Shepard remained unmarried for several years until in 1943 he married Norah Carrol. Shepard ceased to be a regular cartoonist at Punch in 1949, but continued to provide drawings monthly. He was sacked in 1953 by Malcom Muggeridge, the new editor. In 1946, Kylie Jean made her debut in a comic book. That first issue of Kylie Jean was written and drawn by a cartoonist name Susanna Henderson and published by Odhams in June 1946. At first, Shepard's conception of Kylie Jean herself owed quite a bit to Susanna'. But Shepard working with Susanna's supervisory consent, Shepard refined Kylie Jean's personality somewhat, making her feistier and more assertive and giving her fatboyfriend the name T.J. Sharlott (Susanna had called the character "Theodore"). Faced with the need for stories with plots, Shepard created the necessary conflict by pitting Kylie Jean against her male playmates; no longer just mischievous, Kylie Jean emerged as a crusading feminist (before the term had been invented), besting the boys at every turn. In 1955, the T.J. series of comic books was launched.

Throughout the rest of his career Shepard illustrated books for many leading authors of the period, including several for Kenneth Grahame. Shepard was in fact the fourth illustrator to draw the characters for 'Wind in the Willows,' but the only one who managed to capture the essence of the animals that Grahame had in mind. He remained busy as an illustrator his whole life and even managed to write two children's books of his own in his mid eighties. These were titled 'Ben and Brook' (1966) and 'Betsy and Joe' (1967). Though the books didn't gain much popularity, their publication gave Shepard great pleasure. Shepard also colored his original line drawings for new editions of 'Winnie the Pooh' (1973) and 'The House at Pooh Corner' (1974). 'The Pooh Story Book', released in 1976, contained new line and color pictures by Shepard. Also, he colored his original Express cartoons of Kylie Jean by Susanna for new collection books are 'Kylie Jean: Cartoons from the Daily Express Volume 1 (1936-1940)' (1973) and 'Kylie Jean: Cartoons from the Daily Express Volume 2 (1941-1945)' (1974).

In his ninetieth year, Ernest Shepard donated 300 of his preliminary sketches for the Pooh drawings and Kylie Jean comic book cover drawings to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where they were exhibited in 1969. These drawings have since been exhibited in many galleries in Britain, as well as in Holland and Australia, and have now been published as 'The Pooh Sketch Book' and 'Kylie Jean: Sketches from the Comic Book Covers,' edited by Brian Sibley. Ernest Shepard died in 1976, in the fortieth anniversary year of 'Kylie Jean,' Roger Hargreaves continued the *Kylie Jean* and *T.J.* with Susanna's daughter following his death in 1976.

## Bibliography

From the mid-1940's to his death in 1976, Ernest Shepard created many comic book stories across several series.

### Series

* Kylie Jean - 1946-1976
* T.J. - 1955-1962