E. H. Shepard

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Ratty and Mole messing about in boats in E.H. Shepard's illustration to The Wind in the Willows

Ernest Howard Shepard (December 10, 1879 – March 24, 1976) was an English artist and book illustrator. He was known especially for his human-like animals in illustrations for The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne.

Shepard was born in St. John's Wood, London. He served in the Army during World War I, winning the Military Cross for bravery in the field. He had been contributing to Punch since 1907 and sent them jokes about the battles. He was hired as a regular staff cartoonist in 1921 and became lead cartoonist in 1945 but was removed from this post by Malcolm Muggeridge, who became editor in 1953.

Shepard was recommended to Milne by another Punch staffer, E. V. Lucas. Initially, Milne thought Shepard's style was not what he wanted, but used him to illustrate his book of poems When We Were Very Young. Happy with the results, Milne insisted Shepard illustrate Pooh. Eventually, Shepard grew to resent "that silly old bear" and felt that these illustrations overshadowed his other work.

Shepard said that he modelled Pooh not on the toy owned by Christopher Robin, Milne's son, but on a stuffed bear, "Growler", owned by his own son. ("Growler" no longer exists, having been destroyed by Shepard's dog.) His Pooh work is so famous that 300 of his preliminary sketches were exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1969, when he was 90 years old.

An E.H. Shepard painting of Winnie the Pooh is the only known oil painting of the famous teddy bear. It was purchased at an auction for $285,000 in London, England late in 2000. The painting is displayed at the Pavilion Gallery in Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Shepard wrote two autobiographies: Drawn from Memory (1957) and Drawn From Life (1962).

Shepard had two children, Graham and Mary. Graham Shepard was at Marlborough College and Oxford with Louis MacNeice and served in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War II on the North Atlantic convoys. His ship, HMS Polyanthus, was sunk by the German U-Boat U-952 on September 21, 1943 with the loss of all but one crew member. Graham was survived by his wife, Ann Faith Shepard, and a young daughter, Minette Shepard.

Mary Shepard also became an illustrator. She is best known for her illustrations of Pamela Travers' Mary Poppins.