LONDON.- Legendary illustrator Sir Quentin Blake has created a series of brand new, totally free rainbow e-cards for people to send to loved ones they cannot currently see due to the coronavirus lockdown, to show they are thinking of them at this difficult time.

The ten, individual 'Send your own Rainbow' e-cards are available to download from today (Monday 20 April 2020) from the website of House of Illustration, the art gallery founded by Sir Quentin in 2014.

The 86-year old artist explains why he decided to do this: “It seems like a time when a few straightforward jokes might not come amiss; so that as I know that people have been putting rainbows into their windows to express solidarity, I took the liberty of borrowing them. You will see that I have supposed that they are real and portable, and I hope they are optimistic too.”

He added: “I can imagine myself submitting them to Punch magazine 60 years ago in the hope that I might get onto the colour pages. Perhaps I don’t need to add that they have much more meaning for me now than they would have had then.”

House of Illustration curator Olivia Ahmad says: “Our display of Quentin’s most recent studio projects is closed for the time being, but we are delighted to be able to share his latest work online. It has all the wit and warmth that he so reliably musters, and at just the right time.”

Sir Quentin Blake was born in 1932. He read English at Downing College, Cambridge; Education at the London Institute of Education and attended life classes at Chelsea School of Art. He taught illustration for over twenty years at the Royal College of Art. His first illustrated book, A Drink of Water by John Yeoman, appeared in 1960, and since then he has worked on over 300, collaborating with many other writers including Russell Hoban, Michael Rosen and Roald Dahl. He is also known for his own picture books such as Clown and Zagazoo, and his illustrations for the Folio Society to classics such as Don Quixote, Candide and The Golden Ass. In the past fifteen years he has also worked on many projects for museums, hospitals and other public spaces in England and France. In 1999 he was appointed first Children’s Laureate. He was knighted in 2013 for services to illustration, and he is also a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur. He has written three books about his own work, Words and Pictures, Beyond the Page and Pens Ink and Places. He lives in London and Hastings.