100 Portraits - Quentin Blake

09.01.2026 - 12.04.2026 | Drawing Room

100 Portraits is not a gallery of famous faces — it’s a room full of encounters.

Created exclusively for The Sherborne, these works offer a rare chance to meet Quentin Blake’s imagination now: vivid, warm, and unmistakably his. Made in the artist’s ninety-third year, the portraits are not “likenesses” of specific people, but characters that arrive through the act of drawing — a face discovered one line at a time.

Blake has described beginning each portrait with only “a vague idea of the sort of person it is,” then finding the character as he works: “I get to know them as I draw it… I meet them in the drawing.” That sense of meeting is what makes these works so compelling. A tilt of the head, the angle of a shoulder, the quick confidence of a jawline — and suddenly someone is there.

You’ll notice lines that feel continuous and alive, alongside moments of careful control — especially in the eyes, where expression is found and held. In the shifting reds, greens, and blacks, and in the beautiful ambiguity of age, mood, and gender, each portrait becomes a small drama of personality, caught mid-emergence.

 

What you’ll see

  • 100 new portraits created exclusively for The Sherborne

  • Characters discovered through line — expressive, funny, tender, surprising

  • A rich play of colour and mood across the series

Look closer

These portraits reward time. Start with the outline, then return to the details: the eyes placed with care; the smallest change in mouth or brow; the way a single mark can suggest a whole history.

About Sir Quentin Blake

Sir Quentin Blake is one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators, known for a line that feels quick, witty, and deeply human. Across a career spanning decades, he has illustrated more than 300 books — including many unforgettable collaborations with Roald Dahl — and was the first UK Children’s Laureate (1999–2001).

A note on drawing

Quentin Blake is a joyful champion of drawing — not as something you have to be “good” at, but as something you do. The best way to start is simply to begin: wander, look, and let the artworks spark your imagination.

Try this in the gallery: choose an airborne figure you love and sketch it quickly — one lively line to begin, then pause to add the eyes (that’s where expression lives). Give your character a name. Where are they going?

Plan your visit

Opening times: Open daily 10:30am to 4pm (3pm on Sundays)