Night flight to JFK, New York City, 2002 by Christopher Corr, courtesy of the artist. © the artist, 2005.

Prepare for an unorthodox voyage of discovery. The pleasures and pains of travel – by donkey, bicycle, car, train, riverboat and even elephant - are explored in the latest exhibition at Worcester City Art Gallery.

In All Directions is on show until October 16 2005, and offers a range of historical and contemporary work chosen by one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators, Quentin Blake.

Above: original drawing for Un Bateau dans le Ciel (A Sailing Boat in the Sky) 2000 (Rue de Monde, Voisins-le-Bretonneux) by Quentin Blake. Courtesy of the artist. © Quentin Blake. Photo: Mike Fear.

Born in 1932, Quentin Blake had his first drawing published when still a schoolboy in Sidcup, Kent. At the age of just 16, his work made an appearance in the popular satirical magazine, Punch.

He went on to earn his living as an illustrator but also taught at the Royal College of Art for more than 20 years, including a spell as head of the illustration department between 1978 and 1986.

Blake is, however, best known for his highly imaginative drawings that have provided visuals for countless children’s books. His work has adorned the pages of books by Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen and John Yeoman.

But perhaps his most famous collaboration was with Roald Dahl. Blake provided a near perfect pictorial complement to Dahl’s wild words for such classics as The Witches and The BFG.

Akbar hawking on an elephant, c.1600-05, anon, Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo: V&A Images.

In All Directions offers an insight into the art of illustration and features drawings, prints and illustrated books from the 18th century to the present day. More than 100 works by over 20 artists, including Edward Ardizzone, John Burningham, George Cruikshank, Honoré Daumier and Giandomenico Tiepolo are featured.

Among the highlights is a selection of Tiepolo’s 1753 etchings of The Flight into Egypt. There are 19th-century Japanese woodcuts by Hokusai and Hiroshige, the entire set of original drawings for Edward Gorey’s 1962 The Willowdale Handcar and a series of original page spreads from the fantastically titled Oi! Get Off Our Train by John Burningham.

'Depuis que le cyclisme est entré dans les moeurs, le monde marche maintenant comme sur des roulettes' ('Since cycling entered our ways, the world now works as if on wheels') by Lucien Métivet. From Le Rire, 8 December, 1894, collection of Quentin Blake.

Fittingly a sequence of work by Quentin Blake is also featured.

The display is a National Touring Exhibition from the Hayward Gallery in London. When it closes in Worcester, it’ll move on to Plymouth City Museum Art Gallery from October 22 – December 4, followed by Aberystwyth Arts Centre (December 10 – January 29 2006) and Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle (February 4 – March 26 2006).