The Enid Blyton Society

I enjoyed this comparison of not just Betty and Eileen,but lots more of the artists who have illustrated the Famous Five;

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It's interesting to see the various artists who have provided the illustrations for the Famous Five books, Pete, but for me Eileen Soper is the definitive artist who stands head and shoulders above all the others.

I agree that Eileen Soper's illustrations are the best, although it's interesting to see the others. Jean Sidobre's pictures are lovely too, being full of detail, while Alain Voss's are terrible in my opinion, with the children looking like dumpy cartoon characters. His chimpanzee is much better than his children!

I'm not keen on the illustrations by Wolfgang Henneke (ungainly characters) or Anne Bozellec (peppered with black smudges) or the ones labelled "Dessins" (rough-looking).

José Correas' drawings are quite attractive. Like Betty Maxey's, they're simple and sketchy but evocative.

There is perhaps another aspect to this, which isn't being taken into consideration. We don't know how much each illustrator was being paid or how long they were given to complete the task. It is the job of the book production manager at the publishers to ensure that the illustrations are ready on time and within budget. It's easy to be critical, but one has to take all the factors into consideration to be certain that like is being compared with like.
Having said that, it is inevitable that some illustrators are more gifted than others.

Dave

Nice to see the different illustrations, but for me there can be only one, Eileen Soper.

Domino wrote:There is perhaps another aspect to this, which isn't being taken into consideration. We don't know how much each illustrator was being paid or how long they were given to complete the task. It is the job of the book production manager at the publishers to ensure that the illustrations are ready on time and within budget. It's easy to be critical, but one has to take all the factors into consideration to be certain that like is being compared with like.

An additional point is that we don't know whether the publishers had specific requirements - e.g. they might have asked Betty Maxey to make the children look bang up-to-date, or told Alain Voss that they wanted him to aim for a comic-book style.

For me Eileen Soper's illustrations are the only 'true' FF, and it's hard for me to judge any other illustrations fairly. I think perhaps one of the reasons I really can't take to Betty Maxey's drawings is that they reflect the 1970s, and I just don't like that period in time anyway. They just conjure up all that I didn't like about the decade - mini skirts, flared trousers, long scruffy hair on men, tank tops etc. Even as a child of the 1970s, I preferred the original drawings, despite the paperbacks showing the fashions that I was wearing at the time!

Domino wrote:There is perhaps another aspect to this, which isn't being taken into consideration. We don't know how much each illustrator was being paid or how long they were given to complete the task. It is the job of the book production manager at the publishers to ensure that the illustrations are ready on time and within budget. It's easy to be critical, but one has to take all the factors into consideration to be certain that like is being compared with like.
Having said that, it is inevitable that some illustrators are more gifted than others.

In the case of Wolfgang Hennek it seems being able to draw humans wasn't taken into consideration! Such a shame because I think his backgrounds are as strong as any other offering.

As many of the books in different countries used different illustrators; yes, some dreadful (!!), I wonder how folk from those countries view the illustrations... When they owned/read the books were they even aware that these drawings were unique to their editions, and do they view these as the 'definitive' ones; that *this* is how the Five look?! How do they view the 'original' Soper illustrations?

Eileen Soper's drawings are my favourites too, they were the only ones when I first read the series.
But I do like the illustrations by Jean Sidobre, I wouldn't mind having books with her drawings in. As for Betty Maxey, I just don't like her style at all.

I loved Keith's comment on Facebook: "Maxey's awful."

John Pickup wrote:I do like the illustrations by Jean Sidobre, I wouldn't mind having books with her drawings in.

Jean Sidobre was French, so he was most likely male.

He was - I just googled him, but the results weren't really right for this site.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:

John Pickup wrote:I do like the illustrations by Jean Sidobre, I wouldn't mind having books with her drawings in.

Jean Sidobre was French, so he was most likely male.

Memo - must get my facts right. Thanks Anita for pointing that out. I still like HIS drawings, though.

I still keep having to remind myself that Claude Voilier (French writer of Famous Five continuation books) was female. For years I assumed she was male. Claude Voilier was actually a pseudonym, her real name being Andrée Labedan.