Anita Bensoussane wrote:I think Timmy is adorable in that picture - flopped down and gentle, with kind eyes. He looks a little ungainly as his head is slightly too big for his body, but then that's how Enid Blyton describes him!
I agree, a lovely illustration of a dog. Problem is, it ain't Timmy!
Maybe not in your eyes, but in my eyes it's Timmy to a tee! Funnily enough, I picture all the characters in my own way (i.e. not influenced by Eileen Soper or Betty Maxey) except for Timmy, whom I picture pretty much as Maxey drew him.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
I'm with you there Anita. The Timmy in my imagination looks pretty much how Maxey depicted him. As for the rest of the FIve I always see them as Maxey drew them in "Five Fall Into Adventure" where for some reason she has them in more fitting clothes than the usual flares and tank tops:
"Stuck in a state of permanent pre-pubescence like poor Julian in the Famous Five!"
Anita Bensoussane wrote: Funnily enough, I picture all the characters in my own way (i.e. not influenced by Eileen Soper or Betty Maxey) except for Timmy, whom I picture pretty much as Maxey drew him
Yes, my visions of the characters aren't influenced by any of the illustrators, either. I always prefer to picture characters from books from my own imagination.
"Beware of young men with long hair - that's what dad says, isn't it?"
Pat, Holiday House
Oh, mine are definitely influenced by Soper. Just look at the Treasure Island illustrations in the cave, and see how rubbish Maxey's are compared to Soper's.
My vision of the Famous Five is definitely more similar to Eileen Soper's illustrations than Maxey's.
I agree that Soper's illustration here (and in most other cases, in my opinion!) is world's apart from Maxey's very plain and boring interpretation of that scene. But in my opinion the picture of that was posted earlier of Timmy by Betty Maxey, was a more skilled illustration of a dog than any of Soper's dog illustrations. But it just didn't fit my vision of Timmy.
"Beware of young men with long hair - that's what dad says, isn't it?"
Pat, Holiday House
In the Betty Maxey illustration, I think it looks as if George is just about to go out on a catwalk - she's posed like a model! The others look as if they are waiting in the wings about to follow her.
Yeah, I was just thinking - in the Soper illustration, George looks like a sulky, assertive, hot-tempered (and yet deep down quite vulnerable) young girl, which is what she is. In Maxey's version, she just looks sort of moony and aimless. I think Katherine's catwalk description is quite apt!!
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
Julie2owlsdene wrote:
The children look so young in that Treasure Island edition, and they grew with each book Soper illustrated I think.
One of the very best things about Soper's illustrations of the Five is that they do indeed grow up as the series progresses. It's interesting to see. What I'm not quite so keen on is that Soper obviously began to worry she'd end up drawing a middle-aged Famous Five if the books went on and on, so from 'Five Get Into A Fix' (I think!) she started to make them look slightly younger again. I find the illustrations less effective after that, although I still like them.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
As I said earlier in the week on Facebook when Pete posted those two illustrations: Maxey's George looks like she's sleepwalking. Soper's George looks like she's haughtily marching off.
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
"Listen to its terrible groans and creaks!" yelled Julian, almost beside himself with impatience.
Also, in Maxey's illustration, it looks somehow as if George is waiting for the others to stop her and placate her, whereas in Soper's illustration she looks as if she's 'not for turning'!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
I think Eileen Soper was excellent at drawing younger children but I don't much like her depictions of the Five as they get older - she draws the children with squarish faces and boxy jackets, and Anne looks rather mannish. So I'm glad that she drew them looking younger again towards the end of the series!
Soper was inconsistent when it came to Timmy. He looks terrible here:
Her portrayal of Mischief also leaves a lot to be desired:
Perhaps it was because Soper and Maxey were both inconsistent that their drawings didn't really "stick" with me, whereas I imagine the Adventure and Barney characters exactly as Stuart Tresilian and Gilbert Dunlop drew them.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
