Willy Schermelé was mainly an illustrator and writer of children's books. She became an illustrator for the daily De Telegraaf in 1928, where she made fashion drawings for the female pages and later illustration and tales for the children's pages. She lived in England for a while, and when she returned, she started the famous 'Winkie' series in 1957, of which eight books appeared. During the 1930s, she also did a couple of comics for Neerlandia Press. Her comics appeared in Geïllustreerd Stuiverblad. Some of the titles are 'Bartje en Zwartje' (1931), 'Kater Kwik' (1932), 'Jaap en zijn Aap' (1932), 'De Avonturen van Kees en Kikkie' (1934) and 'Met z'n Drieën' (1936).

Encouraged by her father in the art of printmaking from an early age, Eileen soon rivalled him in talent and surpassed him in popularity, while neatly complementing his subjects by depicting children at play. Her etchings, exhibited in England at the Royal Academy from 1921, when she was only sixteen, attracted great attention, among critics, fellow artists and the general public.

Eileen’s etchings concern themselves with the ordinary events that make up a child’s day, simple and perhaps monotonous to the adult but ever fresh to the child itself. The majority of her etchings deal with children at play – on the beach, in country lanes and on street corners – or with animals, as in The Linnets Freedom . Other plates show a sensitive approach to the solitary child as in the captivation of a child listening to The Childrens Hour on the wireless. One of the reasons why she was able to depict such honest images of children free from nostalgia was that she was scarcely more than a child herself, producing most of the etchings whilst she was in her teens or early 20s.

Eileen’s early plates are characterised by a their multiple states, small sizes and focusing on one, two sometimes three, children. Her later plates reflect her growing confidence in composition. This confidence enabled her to depict a greater number of children in detailed settings without overcrowding the image, produced with fewer re-workings and states.

In 1930 the etching market declined and Eileen turned her skills to other forms of artistic expression. But it was not just for financial reasons that she turned away from etching. Quite simply, the child Eileen had grown up and no longer possessed the child’s frank and naïve vision of the world which had enabled her to capture children without sentimentality.

As an illustrator and trained lithographic printer George Soper was initially more familiar with the new photo-mechanical methods of reproduction than with more traditional printmaking media. Nevertheless, he became an expert printmaker and gained most recognition during his lifetime as an etcher and later as a wood engraver, and over three decades produced more than five hundred prints.

As a printmaker, he continued to draw on his strengths as an illustrator and painter in order to convey the maximum amount of information especially regarding the activities of the rural environment. He had exhibited paintings since 1890 (at the Royal Academy), and in 1913 showed his first print (at the Royal Scottish Academy). He studied printmaking under Sir Frank Short at the Royal College of Art (1916-20) and worked extensively as a printmaker during the print boom of the twenties, influenced by such diverse printmakers as William Palmer Robins, Whistler and Sir George Clausen. He was elected ARE in 1918, and RE in 1920.

George was inspired to represent the rural world around him, focussing on the agricultural work itself, conveying both the particulars of each task and the degree of energy that it demanded. Considered one of the finest exponents in the representation of the horse he explored the extensive uses of both the horse and his master in different environments; from pulling the plough to hauling logs and retrieving lifeboats. However, George was not averse to learning from the success of Eileen’s preoccupation with children’s play and he reconsidered it in adult terms. In the 1920’s, he replaced the games of children with the country pursuits of the upper classes, producing a number of prints of salmon fishing, polo, fox hunting and steeple-chasing, he also produced several prints of dogs. Though he always remained faithful to observable fact, his particular sympathy and respect for countrymen enabled him to transform them into archetypes and his comprehensive oeuvre encompassed and recorded a way of life lost to the mechanisation of the agricultural industry

Ralph Steadman (born Wallasey, May 15, 1936) is a Britishcartoonistand caricaturist.

Born in Cheshire, and brought up in Towyn, N.Wales, Steadman attended Ysgol Emrys Ap Iwan (high school), Abergele, East Ham Technical College and the London College of Printing and Graphic Arts during the 1960s, doing freelance work for Punch, Private Eye, the Daily Telegraph, the New York Times and Rolling Stone during this time.

Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures and cartoons and also for illustrating a number of picture books. Awards that he has won for his work include the Francis Williams Book Illustration Award for Alice in Wonderland, the American Society of Illustrators' Certificate of Merit, the W H Smith Illustration Awardfor I Leonardo, the DutchSilver Paintbrush Award for Inspector Mouse, the Italian Critica in Erba Prize for That's My Dad, the BBC Design Award for postage stamps, the Black Humour Award in France, and several Designers and Art Directors Association Awards. He was voted Illustrator of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Artsin 1979.

Steadman had a long partnership with the American journalist Hunter S. Thompson, drawing pictures for several of his articles and books. He accompanied Thompson to the Kentucky Derbyfor an articlefor the magazine Scanlan's, to the Honolulu Marathonfor the magazine Running, and illustrated both Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. Much of Steadman's artwork revolves around caricatures of Thompson: bucket hats, cigarette holderand aviator sunglasses.

Steadman appears on the second disc of the Criterion CollectionFear and Loathing in Las Vegas DVD set, in a documentary of Thompson planning the tower and cannon that his ashes were later blasted out of. The cannon was atop a 153ft tower of Thompson's fist gripping a peyote button; Thompson demands that Steadman gives the fist two thumbs, "Right now."

As well as writing and illustrating his own books and Thompson's, Steadman has worked with writers including Ted Hughesand Brian Patten, and also illustrated editions of Alice In Wonderland, Treasure Island, Animal Farm and most recently, Farenheit 451.

Among the British public, Steadman is well known for his illustrations for the catalogues of the off-licencechain Oddbins. He also designed the labels for Flying Dogbeer and Cardinal 'Spiced' Zin', which was banned in Ohio for Steadman's "disturbing" interpretation of a Catholic cardinal on its label.

Steadman also illustrates Will Self's column in The Independentnewspaper. Johnny Depp's anthology of songs, "Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys" (2006) surprisingly contains two contributions from Steadman. He sings lead on "Little Boy Billee", and sings backing vocals on Eliza Carthy's song "Rolling Sea". Johnny Depp played Hunter S. Thompson in the film of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.