William Blake

William Blake wrote and illustrated his own books, printed them himself, coloured them by hand, and sold almost none in his lifetime. He was called mad by many who met him and was entirely serious about the visions he described having since childhood.

The method he used, relief etching, put text and image on the same plate, allowing the design to wrap around the poetry rather than illustrate it. Songs of Innocence and of Experience works only when seen that way.

The figure drawing comes from Michelangelo by way of engravings, all muscular contour with no interest in observed light. He designed sets for Dante, Job and Milton, worked as a commercial engraver to survive, and died in 1827 largely unknown outside a small circle. The Pre-Raphaelites and later the Romantics recovered him.