The Gentle Soul Behind Beloved Characters Ernest Howard Shepard (1879–1976) remains one of the most cherished names in the history of English illustration, a master of capturing the whimsical and the profound through the eyes of anthropomorphic creatures. Born in St John’s Wood, London, to an architect father and a lineage connected to watercolor painting, Shepard possessed an innate sensitivity to line and light from his earliest years. His formal training at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and the Royal Academy Schools—where he earned the prestigious Landseer Scholarship—provided him wit…