Lawson Wood

When tidying along the shelves in the Annuals section at Rose's books I find that the shelf below the 'Girl' annuals and above the 'Greyfriars Holiday' annuals always seems to take a little longer. The reason? This is the shelf where the Gran'Pop Annuals live and I can't resist a peep at the illustrations within. I have to smile every time I see an illustration of the charming ape family; I love the detail, from the expressions on the apes' faces to the human characteristics shown in the subject matter. As I enjoy these illustrations so much I decided, via the internet, to find out a little more about their creator - Lawson Wood.

Lawson Wood or to give him his full name Clarence Lawson Wood was an Author, Illustrator and Designer. He was born in Highgate, London, on the 23rd August, 1878, into a family of artists and painters, his father, Pinhorn Wood was a landscape painter and his grandfather L.J. Wood was an architectural artist. He studied art at the Slade School of Fine Art, Heatherley's School of Fine Art and at Frank Calderon's School of Animal Painting all before he was 18.

For 6 years, from 1896, Lawson Wood worked for C. Arthur Pearson Ltd., a periodical publisher and this is where he met his wife Charlotte Forge. In the same year as he married, 1902, he decided to turn freelance and was enormously successful. He had work published in well known magazines such as The Strand Magazine, Punch, The Illustrated London News andBoys Own Paper as well as illustrating a number of books. He was an enthusiastic member of the London Sketch Club and was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours and exhibited his work in many galleries and at the Royal Academy .

During active service Lawson Wood continued to draw and had various patriotic designs published. As a member of the Kite Balloon Wing of the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War his duties included plane spotting from a balloon - which sounds incredibly dangerous to me. He was decorated by the French for his action over Vimy Ridge.

Animals featured greatly in Lawson Wood's work, and as I mentioned earlier the ones that caught my eye first were his ape family pictures but he is also well-known for his pictures of policemen, dinosaurs and Stone Age characters, mostly in humorous situations. He was a regular visitor to London Zoo and I'm sure his observation of the animals contributed to the accuracy and detail in his illustrations. His love of animals was recognised by the Royal Zoological Society who awarded him a fellowship in 1934 for his work with animals and their welfare.

His attention to detail is reflected in a lot of his work and this is why it appeals to me so much. The illustration (above) from Mrs Nibble shows her twins Tony and Tiny on a see-saw made by balancing a spoon on a potted meat jar. Just look at the expression on their faces, sheer pleasure! I love the knot in Tony's tail, the corresponding shadow, the toy left on the floor - forgotten in their enjoyment, all beautifully done.

Interestingly Lawson Wood's signature changed over the years, at the start of his career he just used LW but later he began to use the distinctive lengthened L at the start of Lawson and the angled parallel lines between the 'N' of Lawson and the 'W' of Wood as shown opposite. The dot in front of the L was said to symbolise his Christian name Clarence which he didn't use (and was said to loathe).

Lawson Wood lived as something of a recluse in his later years before he died in 1957 at the age of 79.

Contributed by Lorna Evans

(Published 10th Oct 2013)