Ninety-one-year-old Will Davies was so prolific, many Canadians have probably seen his work without even realizing it.
He has done so many illustrations, he doesn’t even remember them all. But his enthusiasm is clear.
“That is a lovely one, wow,” he exclaimed when shown one of his original paintings of an aboriginal chief.
Davies’ images have marked Canadian history, reflected pop culture and shaped how advertisers reached people.
The girl on the front cover of the 1956 Eaton’s Christmas catalog was a drawing of Davies’ daughter Pam Davies.
His children often ended up modelling for him.
“I was always in awe of my father. He was my idol for sure,” said Pam Davies.
It isn’t just family who see him that way.
Artist Leif Peng remembers when a friend offered to introduce him to Davies.
“It sounded to me a little bit to me like ‘Would you like to meet god?’ because he really was you know, the giant man of illustration in Canada,” said Peng.
The two became close friends and Peng has now authored a book “The Art of Will Davies” highlighting some of Davies’ best work.
There was a lot to choose from — Davies was prolific. From the 1950’s to the early 2000’s his work was everywhere: stamps, posters, advertisements, packaging, newspapers, magazines and even book covers, including Harlequin romance.
Among his favourites? A black-and-white sketch of a young couple.
“What makes this good? The action, the coat flung out to the side,” said Davies.
More than anything, he loved women, and it showed — he always painted them with a certain elegance.
“More beautiful, yeah,” was Davies’ response when asked if he made them look even better than they did in real life.
“There was always a likeness but somehow every woman looked beautiful and luscious, always a Davies look for sure,” said Pam Davies.
Collecting some of Davies’ illustrations for a book took the help of collectors across North America.
“It’s really just kind of a testament to the level of appreciation people have for Will’s impact,” said Simon Peng who designed “The Art of Will Davies”.
To this day, Davies remains ever humble.
“It’s hard to talk about work you’ve done,” he said, leaving it to others to sing his praises.
“Basically I grew up in the shadow of a giant, really. I remember walking up those old creaky steps to his studio and you could smell the tobacco smoke, you could smell the paints, and it was just like some sort of heaven,” his daughter Pam said.
She said her dad not only taught her about art but instilled in her his belief that success comes not from talent but hard work.
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