National Illustration Day 2025 was on Friday 28 November, and you celebrated the art of illustration in droves!

We wanted to look back at some of the fantastic pieces shared on the day.

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Trustee Oliver Jeffers started the day off with a wonderful piece in the Guardian on the role illustration plays in our culture, and why it matters now more than ever. Oliver discussed how brilliantly effective illustration is at making you feel, the impact of AI and how a place to champion illustration is long overdue:

“I am excited about the beginning of a national institution dedicated to visual literacy – especially in an age of misinformation – and about a permanent home where every facet of illustration can be explored, celebrated and understood. Sir Quentin Blake, the godfather of modern British illustration, envisioned the Centre for Illustration to recognise the artform as a vital part of British heritage and education. It couldn’t be more timely.”

Many other illustrators joined it. Among them was MURUGIAH whose exhibition Ever Feel Like... will be one of first at the new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration when it opens in May 2026. He shared a series of posters from a vintage market, reflecting his love of making and collecting illustrated posters.

Quentin Blake Centre Trustee Marion Deuchars shared illuminated medieval manuscripts from the Bodleian dating back to the thirteenth century, depicting the Book of Revelation. Ambassador Lauren Child celebrated David Mackintosh’s Marshall Armstrong Is New To Our School, a picture book depicting difference and friendship and Joy Yamusangie shared a timelapse of her preparatory warm-up sketch for the day.

Many museums, libraries and archives shared fascinating illustrations from their collections. Among them was Sheffield Archives who posted a fascinating story about a series of cartoons from The Leadswinger, an illustrated ‘trench magazine’ published by First World War servicemen using pennames. The chief cartoonist was ‘Pipsqueak’ – an alias for Private Alf Jackson (1893–1971), a violinist who became a freelance artist after the war, creating cartoons for Punch magazine. His wife Eva taught Latin at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School in the 1940s while a young Quentin Blake was a pupil.

Discovering Quentin’s cartoons in his school exercise book, she showed Alf who was so impressed that he met with the young Quentin to offer advice and encouragement. This led to Quentin securing his first artistic commission and having his own illustrations published in Punch, aged just 16.

Queer Britain reminded us of the ways that illustration has been used to protest, to document and to imagine better futures. They shared this 1987 illustration by Kate Charlesworth from The Pink Paper which challenged the fear-mongering of Section 28.

The Brunel Museum shared two depictions of a very similar tunnel by Robert Cruikshank, one of a family of illustrators, alongside his father Isaac and brother George. One, from a satirical work about contemporary London, shows a flooded Thames Tunnel, with people running to escape from the water. The other, courtesy of an official publication by the Thames Tunnel Company, shows a far more serene scene of people conversing in a tunnel.
 

We always enjoy seeing how illustration students are marking the day. Manchester School of Art provided a glimpse of a day in their studios, whilst Cambridge School of Art shared a selection of recent MA Children’s Book Illustration work. MA Illustration students at Nottingham Trent took inspiration from archives and rare books in the Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham.

The Literacy Trust showed that comics and graphic novels remain popular – demonstrating the power of illustration to support literacy skills and reading. Illustration helps decode text, develop critical thinking and bring stories to life, inspiring readers of all ages. Illustration has also played a role in veterinary history, with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Knowledge opening up their archive to share sketches drawn by John Roalfe Cox: veterinary surgeon, pioneer and exceptional animal artist. John documented the history and treatment of his most interesting horse patients through his beautifully observed illustrations.

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Quentin Blake Centre is founded on the belief that illustration is fundamental to human communication. It’s how we share stories, explain ideas, persuade one another, every day all over the world. It makes things more comprehensible, more inclusive and more fun.

We open this May, we’ll be showcasing a broad range of work – like these examples – helping everyone to understand the joy, benefits and power of illustration. It will be a place where anyone can come, draw, learn and be inspired by the wonderful world of illustration.

Thank you to everyone who took part and helped spread the word. Sign up to our mailing list to receive more information on the next National Illustration Day in November.