Ionicus

{{short description|English illustrator and cartoonist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox comics creator | image = | imagesize = 150 | caption = | birth_name = Joshua Charles Armitage | birth_date = {{birth date|1913|09|26 |df=yes}} | birth_place = Hoylake, Cheshire, England | death_date = {{death date and age |1998|01|29 |1913|09|26 |df=yes}} | death_place = Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside  | nationality = British | area = Illustrator, cartoonist | alias = | signature = | notable works = | awards = | website = }}

'''Joshua Charles Armitage''' (26 September 1913 – 29 January 1998) was an English illustrator under the pen name '''Ionicus'''.<ref name=telegraph/><ref name=independent/>

Ionicus may be known best for illustrating the covers of Penguin paperback editions of books by P. G. Wodehouse, though he contributed cartoons and drawings to ''Punch'' for more than 40 years, and provided cover designs and text illustrations for nearly 400 books in total.<ref name=national_archives/>

==Biography==

Armitage was born in 1913, in the town of Hoylake on the Irish Sea, county of Cheshire. When he died there in 1998, it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. In 1939 he married Catherine Buckle, who died in 1988. They had two daughters.<ref name=independent/>

Armitage studied at Liverpool School of Art, taught at Wallesey School of Art, and joined the Navy in 1940. He took the name Ionicus for his first cartoon that was published in ''Punch'', 29 March 1944, after two ionic columns in the drawing. Over 40 years he contributed 358 drawings to the magazine.<ref name=independent/>

==Book cover art==

Although best known for his depiction of Wodehouse's idyllic England, Ionicus also provided dustjacket illustrations for well-known writers in other genres, such as the following:

* With interior "illustrations (some color)", a volume of ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' published by Chanticleer Press Inc in The Heirloom Library, {{OCLC|11700391}} (1950s probably) * Children's fantasy novels by Diana Wynne Jones: ''Charmed Life'', ''The Magicians of Caprona'', and ''Witch Week'' (1977 to 1982)<ref name=DWJ>[http://www.maulu.demon.co.uk/books/DWJ/dw1.html "Diana Wynne Jones UK First Edition cover art: Dustwrappers 1970–1982" (maulu.demon.co.uk)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213171450/http://www.maulu.demon.co.uk/books/DWJ/dw1.html |date=13 February 2012 }} at the Internet Archive. Archived 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2017-11-30.</ref><ref name=isfdb/> * Horror novels by Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes: ''The King's Ghost'',<ref name=Kimber1> [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/r-chetwynd-hayes/kings-ghost.htm The King's Ghost]. Fantastic Fiction (fantasticfiction.co.uk). Retrieved 2008-07-02. Bibliographic data not including identification of cover or interior illustrator. 'Ionicus' fits a signature visible but illegible in the book cover image; not visible in the cover images for sequel books.</ref> ''Tales From The Hidden World'',<ref name=Kimber2> [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/r-chetwynd-hayes/tales-from-hidden-world.htm Tales From The Hidden World]. Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 2008-07-02.</ref> and ''The Haunted Grange''<ref name=Kimber3> [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/r-chetwynd-hayes/haunted-grange.htm The Haunted Grange]. Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 2008-07-02.</ref> (1985 to 1988)<ref>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1694 R. Chetwynd-Hayes] at ISFDB. Retrieved 2017-11-30.</ref>

==Wartime art==

During his wartime service in the British Navy, Ionicus contributed to the Admiralty-sponsored monthly magazine ''Ditty Box''.<ref name=national_archives> [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/artists/ionicus.htm "Artists: Ionicus"]. ''The Art of War''. The National Archives (nationalarchives.gov.uk). Retrieved 2008-07-02.</ref>

==References== {{reflist|25em |refs= <ref name=isfdb>{{isfdb name |81253 |Ionicus}} (ISFDB). Retrieved 2012-04-29.</ref> <ref name=telegraph> "Ionicus: Artist whose illustrations caught the spirit of P G Wodehouse's country house world" (obituary). ''The Daily Telegraph''. 7 February 1998. [http://wodehouse.ru/dt070298.htm Reprint] at the Russian Wodehouse Society (wodehouse.ru) retrieved 2008-07-02.</ref> <ref name=independent> [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-ionicus-1142664.html "Obituary: Ionicus"]. David Langdon. ''The Independent''. 3 February 1998. Retrieved 2015-08-05.</ref> }}

== External links == {{portal |Cartoon |Visual arts }} * {{LCAuth|n79081871|Ionicus, pseud.|6|ue}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ionicus}} Category:1913 births Category:1998 deaths Category:English children's book illustrators Category:English cartoonists Category:British fantasy artists Category:English speculative fiction artists Category:20th-century English painters Category:English male painters Category:Punch (magazine) people Category:20th-century English male artists