Esther Paterson

Esther Paterson Gill (5 February 1892  – 8 August 1971) was an Australian artist, book-illustrator and cartoonist.

Paterson was born in Carlton, Victoria, the second child born to Scottish emigrants Hugh and Elizabeth Leslie (née Deans) Paterson. She was the niece of eminent landscape painter John Ford Paterson. Paterson grew up around artists, actors, and other creatives, and lived next door to Annie and Frederick McCubbin. She began her education at Oberwly School, St. Kilda. At age thirteen, Paterson studied painting at the National Gallery of Victoria School from 1907 to 1912.

Educated to a secondary level in St Kilda at European-style finishing school Oberwyl, formerly Etloe Hall, in Burnett Street, run by Swiss art patron Madame Elise Pfund, Paterson studied painting beside William Beckwith McInnes at the National Gallery of Victoria art school over 1907-12 under Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin, who was a neighbour of her family. .

Paterson was publishing her illustrations while still at school with work featured in The Woman in 1908 and cartoons appearing in the Sydney Bulletin throughout 1912. This led to regular appearances in Melbourne Punch, the Argus, and other papers and journals. Her work saw her labelled by the Sun as "Melbourne's Poster Girl."

Her first book of sketches "Aussie Girls" was published in 1918 by Melbourne Publishing Company. It conveyed her ability to analyse the customs and values inherent in Melbourne society at the time. This was followed by her second book "'Me': a page from my diary" in 1919. Her talent in both illustration and poignant writings led to collaboration with writers Ethel Turner and Mary Grant Bruce, and acknowledgement from editors and publishers.

Paterson had bylines as a freelance journalist with pictorial essays in publications such as Table Talk, Home, and the Weekly Times.

Paterson nurtured the artistic talent of her younger sister Betty Paterson, who had trained as a musician at the Marshall Hall Conservatorium. Betty's drawings of babies and young children led to her also becoming a cartoonist for Punch, and the sisters even exhibited their works together. An exhibition of pictures by Esther and Betty was opened in 1922 at the Queen's Hall by then Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes. While the pictures were described as a "sometimes frivolous quality of humour", Esther was commended for her portraits of "Inez" and "The Purser." They were also active in helping charities during the Second World War, selling their pencil sketches at a fete in aid of Women Artists' National Service, held at Ola Cohn's East Melbourne studio.

Her work as a published illustrator was to become more prolific upon her marriage to George Hermon Gill. Gill worked as a staff writer for the Melbourne Star, the Argus, and the Herald, with Esther illustrating many of his articles.