Frank Patterson (12 October 1871 – 17 July 1952) was an English

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

best remembered for his pen and ink drawings of

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

in the first half of the 20th century.

Personal life

Frank Patterson was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

into a family of seafarers.Moore, Gerry (1985) ''Frank Patterson A Biography''. Forest Publishing. After completing his studies at Portsmouth School of Art he walked to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

seeking fame and fortune. Producing pen and ink illustrations for books and magazines was the only way he could make a living. Most of his drawing was done with a Gillott 303 pen with a goose quill - "slapping in the pork", to use his own expression. Early in 1898 Frank and his wife Emily leased a derelict Elizabethan property near

Billingshurst Billingshurst is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village lies on the A29 road (the Roman Stane Street) at its crossroads with the A272, south-west of Horsham and north-east of Pulboro ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

for an annual rent of nine-pence (3½p); it remained their home for the next 54 years. The house had no name so they called it Pear Tree Farm, a reference to the only recognisable tree. Frank Patterson Cycling Cover Art 1920

His connection with ''

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is the world's oldest cycling publication. It is both a weekly cycling magazine and a news, features and buying advice website. It is published by Future plc, Future. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club c ...

'' magazine began in 1893 and continued until his death eventually serving under six editors. For this magazine and from 1925 for ''The Gazette'', the

Cyclists' Touring Club Cycling UK is a trading name of the Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC), which is a charitable membership organisation supporting cyclists and promoting bicycle use. Cycling UK is registered at Companies House as "Cyclists’ Touring Club", and is c ...

magazine, he produced over 26,000 drawings and boasted that he never missed a deadline. He worked for other Temple Press magazines, drew Boer War pictures for ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'', and illustrations for ''The Book of the Home'' and ''The House''. Patterson cycled until the age of 38 when he switched to walking after a leg injury. From then on he often worked from photographs and postcards provided by friends. In 1944, he was awarded the Bidlake Memorial Prize for "his joyous delineation of the pastime of cycling for 51 years, and the pleasure his work has given in particular to cyclists serving their country the world over during 1944". In 1950 his health began to deteriorate and on 17 July 1952 he died. At his own request his ashes were scattered at Pear Tree Farm.Northern News
''Simon's Place''

Publications

*Patterson, Frank (1948) ''The Patterson Book''. Temple Press *Patterson, Frank (1952) ''The Second Patterson Book''. Temple Press *Patterson, Frank (1978) ''The Frank Patterson Picture Book''. Cyclists' Touring Club *Patterson, Frank (1979) ''The Art of Frank Patterson''. Cyclists' Touring Club *Patterson, Frank (1982) ''Frank Patterson The Cycling Artist''. Forest Publishing *Patterson, Frank (1990) ''Memories of Frank Patterson''. Jim Willis *Patterson, Frank (1992-9) ''Britain's Counties (10 vols)''. GM Designs/RGB Sport and Leisure *Patterson, Frank (1993) ''Britain Off Pat''. Flying Scot Publications. *Patterson, Frank (1996) ''Frank Patterson The Early Years''. Janet Willis

References

External links

Frank Patterson SocietyHeadSetPress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Frank 1871 births 1952 deaths English male cyclists British male cyclists English illustrators Artists from Portsmouth People from Billingshurst