E. H. Shepard’s first and middle name were Ernest Howard.
Ernest Howard Shepard was the English artist who illustrated A. A. Milne’s original Pooh books. He was born in London in 1879 and became known for delicate pen-and-ink drawings of animals, landscapes and literary characters.
Before his Pooh work, Shepard was a regular contributor to Punch, the influential British humour magazine. Milne and Shepard had both worked with Punch, and their collaboration helped give the Pooh stories their instantly recognisable visual style.
Shepard also illustrated The Wind in the Willows, another classic children’s book. His Pooh drawings were based partly on observation and partly on his own artistic interpretation; notably, he used his son’s teddy bear Growler as a model for Pooh rather than Christopher Robin Milne’s actual toy. Shepard later expressed frustration that Pooh overshadowed his wider career.