EXTRACTS: The Art of Ron Embleton (illustrators special) © 2018 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

4 cards for the Captain Scarlet series. During the 1970s his work began to manifest itself beyond the confines of the juvenile market, when his beautifully rendered paintings began to chronicle the adventures of Wicked Wanda in the pages of Penthouse. The latter part of his career heralded a return to his love of history with an ongoing series of books on the Roman Army in Britain for the publisher Frank Graham and series of prints on Victorian street urchins and characters from the works of Charles Dickens. In short, Ron Embleton was an illustration super-star to generations of young people growing up in the 1950s through to the 1980s. His premature demise at the relatively early age of 57 was, at least in part, as a result of his meteoric success and the demands that this made upon him, not just in terms of the long hours spent accommodating a never-ending succession of client deadlines but his own thirst for developing self-generated projects. Ever the consummate artist, Ron Embleton’s ceaseless quest for perfection drove him to a level of artistic commitment that distinguished him as being an exceptional talent, even amongst his peers. But to fully appreciate Ron’s achievements, it is necessary to go back through the mists of time to Ron’s birthplace in Limehouse in London’s East End Maternity Hospital, Commercial Road, where he was born on the ABOVE: A beautiful rendering of characters from Charles Dickens 'Little Dorrit'. RIGHT: Punting on the river, one of a series of illustrations created for a calendar reflecting pastimes in Edwardian Britain. FACING PAGE: 'Conkers', From a series of prints under the title of 'Victorian Children's Street Games'.