Shepard , Ernest Howard , 1879-1976 , artist and book illustrator

Ernest Howard Shepard was born on December 10, 1879, in London. His father was an architect, and his mother was the daughter of a watercolorist. He was educated at St.Paul's School, Heatherley's Art School, and the Royal Academy Schools. His first picture was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1901 and in 1907 Shepard had his first piece of work accepted by Punch. In 1915 he was commissioned by the Royal Artillery and served in France, Belgium, and Italy. During this time he continued to send regular contributions to Punch. On his return to civilian life in 1919, Shepard was elected to the Punch Editorial Table, where he met E.V. Lucas, who would later introduce him to A.A. Milne, author of the Winnie the Pooh books. The success of the Pooh books made Shepard famous and he contributed illustrations to more than fifty books, for both adults and children, among them Kenneth Grahame's classic The Wind in the Willows. He also contributed a weekly cartoon to Punch until 1949 and thereafter a monthly illustration. Although he closed his London studio in 1955 and retired to Lodsworth in Sussex, Shepard continued working into old age, completing some new Pooh drawings for a revised edition in 1968 and colouring his drawings for a special edition in 1973. He was twice married, in 1903 to Florence Chaplin (d.1927), a fellow student at the Academy, and in 1944 to Norah Carrol. He died in 1976.