A self-portrait of Quentin Blake in his studio, 2007.

“A Ridiculous Optimist”

In a rare interview, Quentin Blake, the inimitable children’s-book illustrator behind Roald Dahl’s Matilda, explains why he’s still drawing at 92

By Lucy Bannerman

Ask ChatGPT to create a portrait of Quentin Blake in the style of Quentin Blake and the results are so preposterously bad, it’s tempting to think that artificial intelligence might not be the death of everything that is pure and good after all. Not yet, anyway.

I show its attempt to the real life Blake, who is sitting in a wicker chair in the bay window of his studio. Sunshine floods in. Parakeets screech from the elegant London garden square below.