Ernest H. Shepard

(British, 1879–1976)

Ernest H. Shepard was a successful British illustrator and painter best known for his illustrations for the The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. His work, often created through a combination of watercolor and pen-and-ink, is characterized by light washes of color and graphic, black outlines. Born on December 10, 1879 in London, England to an artistic family, Shepard’s father was an architect and his grandfather was renowned English watercolorist William Lee-Hankey. The artist developed an interest in drawing from a young age and went on to receive formal training from the Royal Academy Schools in London. After serving in the Royal Garrison Artillery during World War I, Shepard worked for the popular satirical magazine Punch, where he was later recommended to author A.A. Milne, who was searching for an illustrator for Winnie-the-Pooh. Shepard received national attention for his work on the popular book series and continued in literary illustration for 50 years, designing the covers of popular Victorian novels, including David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and Tom Brown’s Schooldays by Thomas Hughes. Shepard died on March 24, 1976 in Midhurst, United Kingdom.