Betty Maxey illustrations (Famous Five)

[pete9012S]

On the left,the 18th adventure.On the right the 1st Treasure Island.

I wonder if the chaise longue was a prop in Betty's studio?
It seems (along with the rug) the same one to me,albeit without as much detail in the pic on the right,but Betty often left lots of detail out when it suited her.





Here's the two granddads from Finniston Farm.I prefer Betty Maxey's depiction.Mainly because Eileen Soper's granddad is much more portly than I imagined him and his beard is not very appealing.
Also,note Tim's dark ears.Betty seemed to make Tim's ears dark throughout this book.I wonder if she was asked to do that?

[Carlotta King]

Hmm, I'm not sure which Grandad I prefer actually. Betty's looks a bit too posh-gentleman-ish for me - Grandad is an old farmer but this man looks much more Great Uncle Robert-ish (Barney), so I think, on that point, I am leaning towards Eileen's Grandad, but even he isn't as I picture him myself.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I wonder if the chaise longue was a prop in Betty's studio?
It seems (along with the rug) the same one to me...

That does seem likely, Pete.

...note Tim's dark ears.Betty seemed to make Tim's ears dark throughout this book.I wonder if she was asked to do that?

An interesting observation. I wonder if Betty Maxey used several different dogs as models.

From the above illustrations I prefer Betty Maxey's Grandad (his posture and facial expression make him look more "alive") but I like Eileen Soper's vase of roses better than Betty Maxey's pot plant (the shading gives the vase depth, and the wooden window ledge really seems to shine). Both Timmys are lovely.

[John Pickup]

I prefer Maxey's depiction of Grandad as I don't like the beard on Soper's. Soper is still the better artist for me, though.

[Poppy]

In the 70's FF TV series, the grandad is exactly as I imagine him. To be honest, neither Eileen's nor Betty's interpretation is how I picture him. I am always confused with the illustrations of Timmy - Eileen Soper's fits, of course - I'm sure Tim's described as a golden mongrel, but Betty Maxey goes for a completely different look! Black ears, and muzzle and a strange shape. I am reading the Dragon 1985 edition of Five Go Down to Sea and there seems to be a third interpretation of poor old Tim! (Two in one book!) Here is the edition I'm reading:

Here Timmy seems to be a sheepdog?

And in the book here is the illustrations of Tim inside the book -

http://s772.photobucket.com/user/hutchy ... sort=3&o=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like a great Dane!

* * * * * * *

I definitely prefer Eileen Soper's work without doubt, but there is the odd Maxey picture which strikes me as a better interpretation. What I can't stand is when the authors work is brought into a completely new era and illustrated with pictures such as this one Pete posted (right) Absolutely hideous.



The character (who is presumably Uncle Quentin ) is portrayed in a shocking way! He looks like something from a western film.

[Courtenay]

Hi Poppy,

I'd say the portrayal of Timmy as a Border Collie was influenced by the late 1970s TV show, as that's the type of dog they used in the series. Completely out of keeping with the books - we're told in the very first one that he's a mongrel (and "far from perfect" according to any dog show standards!). I think Maxey's illustrations of Timmy are almost always very expressive, but they too are really not much like how we're led to imagine him from Blyton's descriptions. I can't remember if we're ever told his exact colour, but he most certainly wasn't a Border Collie or any other recognisable breed!

As I recall, though, early in Five Run Away Together, Timmy is described as having brown eyes, and then on two later occasions in the same book, his eyes are referred to as "green" and even "gleaming green"! Maybe that was just in the edition I had (the TV series tie-in from 1978), but it's always struck me as very strange. How many green-eyed (let alone gleaming-green-eyed) dogs do you ever see?? (The wizard's cat from The Wishing-Chair Again, yes, but a dog?!)

[Poppy]

Thanks for your reply, Courtenay. Yes, the 70's TV series did come into mind - but it still seems strange how (if reading from a knight version - say of Five On A Treasure Island when Timmy is introduced) Enid describes Timmy as one dog, yet a completely different illustration of a dog is next to this. It must have confused a few readers (first five FF readers, reading from a Knight book).

Yes, I've noticed the eye-colour change as I've been re-reading the Famous Five series, recently. Strange, isn't it?! I wonder if Timmy had contact lenses in? I've never seen a dog with green eyes before, neither blue. Nevertheless, here is a quote I found on this website:

Dog breeds that are likely to have blue eyes because they are extremely white spotted are Dalmatians, Collies, Shetland Sheepdogs, harlequin Great Danes, dapple coloured Dachshunds and Australian Cattle Dogs ("Blue Heelers").

Even weirder

[Courtenay]

I've seen blue-eyed dogs (such as huskies), but even that website with all the eye colours has nothing even approaching green!

You're right about the different portrayals of Timmy being confusing. I first knew the Famous Five from the TV series when I was very little ("We are the Famous Five - Julian, Dick and Anne, George and Timmy the do-og!" ), so I naturally pictured Timmy as a black-and-white border collie. When I was old enough to start reading the books, I was surprised at Enid's description of him, which didn't match the TV show at all - and even more surprised at the Betty Maxey illustrations, which didn't match Enid's description OR the TV version!! Quite bewildering, especially for a 7- or 8-year-old... will the real Timmy please stand up??



Oh look, there he is.

[yarvelling]

Yes! There he is... Eileen's version of Timmy always fits the descriptions given in the text, and I always imagined him as a sort of golden-brown; never black and white, or a Collie: I'm sure that if that is how Enid had meant him to be, then she would have described him thus.
As for the glowing-green eyes, I imagine that that is how they looked in torchlight. I remember my dog from many years ago now, a black cocker spaniel also called Tim (I was never allowed to call him Loony for some reason!! ), and his eyes would glow with a greenish light if caught in the light from a torch, and he had lovely soft, melting brown eyes.... Also camera flash will produce the same effect, and the same holds true for cats too!

[Poppy]

I always picture Timmy as he is on this front cover.

[Courtenay]

Yes, I was thinking of posting that one as well, Poppy! He's certainly a light brown or golden-brown colour on all the Eileen Soper dust jackets.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Eileen Soper and Betty Maxey portray Timmy pretty much as Enid Blyton describes him in Five on a Treasure Island:

...a big brown mongrel dog with an absurdly long tail and a big wide mouth that really seemed to grin... As a dog, Timothy was far from perfect. He was the wrong shape, his head was too big, his ears were too pricked, his tail was too long, and it was quite impossible to say what kind of a dog he was supposed to be. But he was such a mad, friendly, clumsy, laughable creature that every one of the children adored him at once.

If he looks like a "golden mongrel" in some pictures, that's just because brown fur sometimes looks golden in the sunlight.

The main difference between the dogs drawn by Eileen Soper and Betty Maxey is that Eileen's is long/rough-haired and Betty's is short/smooth-haired.



Enid Blyton based Timmy on a real dog belonging to a girl she once knew, and she accepted that no artist could read her mind and portray Timmy exactly as the real dog had looked. In The Story of My Life Enid wrote:

...although he was like Timmy (the dog in the book) in character, the artist has not drawn him quite as he looked - but then, she had never seen him, so how could she?

So I'm sure Enid would be happy with different interpretations of Timmy as a big brown mongrel - though I think she'd have been surprised to see him as a black-and-white Border Collie!

[Courtenay]

Thanks, Anita! If only Enid could have drawn at least a rough sketch of the dog she had in mind for Eileen Soper's reference, hmmm?

I do think Betty Maxey portrays Timmy very competently when it comes to giving him character and feeling, but her version looks almost like a purebred dog, or at least a half-breed (maybe a Labrador cross):



He always looks very elegant in her drawings (and she is good at drawing dogs!), but that's just the point - Timmy, from Enid's description, clearly is NOT elegant, and doesn't resemble any breed at all:

He was the wrong shape, his head was too big, his ears were too pricked, his tail was too long, and it was quite impossible to say what kind of a dog he was supposed to be. But he was such a mad, friendly, clumsy, laughable creature...

That's a wonderfully evocative description, and Soper's Timmy fits it very well (if not absolutely perfectly, as Enid acknowledged). Maxey's Timmy, despite being well drawn artistically, just doesn't fit it at all.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I think Betty's dog looks quite big and ungainly-looking - though Eileen's certainly looks more madcap!

Which artist over the years (for British or foreign editions) has drawn the most unTimmy-like Timmy, I wonder?

[Carlotta King]

I'm wondering if it could be a bit of just drawing the kind of dog that would be almost right but would also look good on paper if that makes sense.

Timmy's description is wonderful and I can just imagine a lovely dog exactly like him in real life, but an annoying fact when it comes to drawing and painting is that sometimes, however well you draw something, sometimes it just doesn't look right on paper!
As an example, if you were to be sketching a person who was sat at a funny angle so one of their arms looked a bit crooked or half-visible, they would look perfectly alright to the human eye, but on paper they might look a bit odd, as if you hadn't drawn them properly.
The same with clouds - they look perfectly normal in the sky whatever colour and shape they are, but when you paint a sky scene, sometimes the clouds look ridiculous even if you have painted them exactly as they look, same shape and colour etc.
Quite often I think crikey if I painted that, it would look ridiculous.

So I'm wondering if Betty drew him to look like a more 'normal' dog because she thought that if she drew him to exactly fit Enid's description of a head that was too big, a very long tail, and him being the wrong shape, he might look very peculiar on paper. He would look fine bounding about in real life, but perhaps a bit odd in books?

I prefer Eileen's Timmy because he always looks more furry, which is how I imagine him, but even Eileen's Timmy doesn't have a head that is too big or an absurdly long tail; in that respect he too looks like a very normal dog.