Stressful morning? In need of some light relief?  The House of Illustration could be just the tonic. Quirky, fun and enlightening, this newest addition to London’s art scene provides a welcome break from the taxing task of contemplating highbrow artworks. In need of some light relief, I slipped away from my desk to find out more.

Office Breaks House of Illustration

Opening its doors in trendy King’s Cross in July 2014, the House of Illustration showcases a range of emerging and established illustrators working in mediums ranging from adverts to animation, picture books to political cartoons and scientific drawings to fashion design.

Office Breaks House of Illustration

The first landmark exhibition is dedicated to household favourite, Quentin Blake, who was involved in the project from the start. With a staggering 4000-piece archive, the exhibition provides a snap-shot of his most famous works spanning the last forty years.

House of Illustration House of Illustration hoardings

Entering the exhibition, I encounter a wall-to-wall freeze covered in what looks like the frenzied work of five year-olds high on a jelly tot fix.  Have I taken a wrong turn into the crèche I wonder?  On closer inspection the messy scribbles reveal the painstaking sketches of a craftsman continually refining his work.  Initially presented to the gallery on a “scrappy piece of paper” the scribbles metamorphose into colourful, swooping birds filling the room with an energy akin to Matisse’s Cut-Outs.

From tortuous labours bearing sellotape and tippex blotches, to his penchant for  scratchy pens, the exhibition highlights the messiness which drives Blake’s creative genius.

Office Breaks Quentin Blake Inside Stories

Through a haphazard process of experimentation, scraggly beards suddenly emerge from stubby ink-soaked brushes while the palest washed-out blue provides the perfect tonal tension for twilight poaching in Danny the Champion of the World. From the exuberance of rampaging washerwomen to the feral clusters of jostling schoolboys in David Walliam’s The boy in the Dress, Blake’s 3-D characters leap off the page with an energy born of chaos.

House of Illustration House of Illustration hoardings

But it is perhaps Blake’s most recent work which is the most startling. Chronicling the tragic loss of Michael Rosen’s son, the Sad Book veers from the intense joy of memories past to the bleak landscape of present-day loss as stooped figures trudge across darkened bridges and grinning faces mask the dark clouds of grief.  Far more than simply a children’s illustrator, the final room reveals a completely different side to Blake’s work.

Scurrying back to the office moments later, I’m struck by the energy and emotional depth conveyed through a few simple brush strokes. As the owner of a messy desk swimming in scrappy post-it notes, I have a deep appreciation for Blake’s creative process which surely proves that there’s an argument against a clear desk policy after all.

The Quentin Blake exhibition runs until the 2nd November 2014.
The tour was provided free of charge courtesy of the House of Illustration.

Where do you escape to when work gets too much?  Share your views.