The young Doyle had no formal art training other than his father's studio, but from an early age displayed a gifted ability to depict scenes of the fantastic and grotesque.

[3] Doyle collaborated with John Leech, W. C. Stanfield and other artists to co-illustrate three Charles Dickens Christmas books, The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845) and The Battle of Life (1846).

[5] Following this success Doyle illustrated a string of fantasy titles: The Enchanted Doll by Mark Lemon (1849), The Story of Jack and the Giants[1] (1850), and John Ruskin's The King of the Golden River[1] (1850), which went through three editions in its first year of publication.

[1] A devout Roman Catholic, he resigned his position on the staff of Punch in 1850 in response to its hostility to what was termed "papal aggression", and spent the remainder of his career in preparing drawings for book illustration and to painting in watercolour.

Doyle published works of his own, which helped establish his reputation with a large readership: Manners and Customs of Ye Englishe (1849)[1] and Bird's Eye View of Society (1864).

[3] His masterpiece is indubitably In Fairyland, a series of Pictures from the Elf World, with a poem by William Allingham, printed by Edmund Evans and published by Longman in time for Christmas 1869 (dated 1870).