A Centaur

A centaur, a monoprint by John Vernon Lord, 1964

Back of an alarm clock

Back of an alarm clock, a coloured mono print by John Vernon Lord, 1964.

'Man leaves his home and heritage'

'Man leaves his home and heritage', a pen and ink drawing by JVL May 1963.

A Galleon

A galleon, a mono print by JVL, 1964. 

'The Great Rain is Over'

'The Great Rain is Over' an illustration by John Vernon Lord to a poem by Mary Coleridge in
The Song That Sings the Bird; Poems for Young Children, chosen by Ruth Craft, Collins 1989.

The Old Person of China

The Old Person of China, an illustration by John Vernon Lord in 

The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

The Young Lady of Corsica

The Young Lady of Corsica, an illustration by John Vernon Lord in 

The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued 2012.

There was a Young Lady of Corsica,

Who purchased a little brown saucy-cur;

Which she fed upon ham, and hot raspberry jam,

That expensive Young Lady of Corsica.

Spiders on pebbles

Spiders on pebbles, an illustration by JVL in The Pink House, Inky Parrot Press, 2002.

'Len's or Fred's Orientated Studies'

'Len's or Fred's Orientated Studies', a notebook drawing by JVL, May 1978.

'The Man in the Wilderness'

'The Man in the Wilderness', an illustration by JVL in The Song that Sings the Bird; 

Poems for Young Children, chosen by Ruth Craft, Collins, 1989

The text of the second verse:

The Man in the Wilderness asked me why

His hen could swim, and his pig could fly.

I answered him briskly as I thought best,

'Because they were born in a cuckoo's nest'.

Anon

The Hatter and the March Hare

The Hatter and the March Hare, an etching by JVL, which was eventually coloured and included in the 'specials' edition of  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Artists' Choice Editions, 2009.

 The Text:

  `Take some more tea,' the March Hare said to Alice, very

earnestly.

  `I've had nothing yet,' Alice replied in an offended tone, `so

I can't take more.'

  `You mean you can't take LESS,' said the Hatter:  `it's very

easy to take MORE than nothing.'

  `Nobody asked YOUR opinion,' said Alice.

  `Who's making personal remarks now?' the Hatter asked

triumphantly.

  Alice did not quite know what to say to this:  so she helped

herself to some tea and bread-and-butter...

The Old Man with a Book

 The Old Man with a Book, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

There was an Old Man with a Book, 

Who said, 'Only look! Only look! -

Osquation, Obsgration - at Waterloo Station -

Enquire if there ain't such a book!'

The Old Man in a tree

 The Old Man in a tree, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

There was an Old Man in a tree,

Who was horribly bored by a bee;

When they said, 'Does it buzz?' he replied, 'Yes it does!

It's a regular brute of a Bee!'

The Young Person of Crete

The Young Person of Crete, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

There was a Young Person of Crete,

Whose toilette was far from complete;

She dressed in a sack, spickle-speckled with black,

That ombliferous person of Crete.

The Old Person of Bangor

The Old Person of Bangor,  an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

There was an Old Person of Bangor,

Whose face was distorted with anger,

He tore off his boots, and subsisted on roots, 

That borascible person of Bangor.

The Old Man of Dunrose

The Old Man of Dunrose, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

  There was an Old Man of Dunrose;

A parrot seized hold of his nose.

When he grew melancholy, they said, 'His name is Polly,'

Which soothed that Old Man of Dunrose.

The Old Man of Dunluce

 The Old Man of Dunluce, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued 2012.

There was an Old Man of Dunluce,

Who went to sea on a goose;

When he'd gone out a mile, he observ'd with a smile,

'It is time to return to Dunluce.'

The Old Man of the South

The Old Man of the South, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued 2012.

There was an Old Man of the South,

Who had an immoderate mouth;

But in swallowing a dish, that was quite full of fish,

He was choked, that Old Man of the South.

The Old Sailor of Compton

The Old Sailor of Compton, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

There was an Old Sailor of Compton,

Whose vessel a rock it once bump'd on,

The shock was so great, that it damaged the pate,

Of that singular sailor of Compton

The Old Person of Skye

The Old Person of Skye, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

There was an Old Peson of Skye

Who waltz'd with a Bluebottle fly:

They buzzz'd a sweet tune, to the light of the moon,

And entranced all the people of Skye.

A student colour exercise

A student colour exercise, a gouache painting by JVL executed around 1960.

This exercise involved using just 4 'colour' paints. On this occasion - blue, orange, black and white. The aim was to mix them together in different measures to see how many colours and tones we could get from the four pots of paint.

Kitchen and Bathroom

Kitchen and Bathroom, illustrations by JVL for  the magazine House Beautiful, 1967 

I drew many such illustrations during the 1960s to earn my bread and butter. They were always required in a hurry and were sometimes quite complicated to execute and everything required in the illustrations were specified. They were often drawn from architectural plans. I never thought, when I was a student, that I would be drawing lavatories (or toilets, water closets, loos, latrines, bathrooms, rest rooms, privies etc, if you prefer!)

The Old Person of Spain

The Old Person of Spain, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued in 2012.

The Old Man of the West

The Old Man of the West, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued 2012.

The Old Man who screamed out

The Old Man who screamed out - an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued 2012.

The Old Man, who when little...

The Old Man, who when little..., an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reissued 2012.

The Old Man of Wrekin

The Old Man of Wrekin, an illustration by JVL in The Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear, 

Jonathan Cape, 1984 and reprinted in 2012.