Well friends it looks like I've found myself another artist to become twitterpated over. Which is wonderful for me since I'm stuck at the PDX airport waiting on mine and my family's flight to San Diego to watch my brother graduate from the Marine Corp Boot Camp. Alas!
But, *ahem* onward!
The artist who has recently captured my eye is the inimitable Shaun Tan. He's originally from Perth, Australia, which is where a good chunk of his inspiration came from for consistently implementing the clear open Western Australian skies in his work. He'd recently won an Oscar for working on the animated short "The Lost Thing," which was based on one of his already illustrated picture books.
Excerpt from "The Lost Thing"
He's a tireless worker, finding more pleasure derived from creating his next illustrations in the quiet of his home with wife, parrot and budgies. I add this little tid bit in because honestly...how often do you find someone really living such a quintessential life? I'm a fan, essentially. I'd be doing something almost entirely mirror-like, except I'd have an artistic wife and a few moose sized dogs gallivanting around the home.
Excerpt from "The Red Tree"
His childhood to adult life is also a classic progression to fame. Never his goal, but as a child he was known as the "good drawer," which was better than being known as "the short kid." A quiet serious fellow, he attended Balcatta Senior High School in the arts program graduating in 1991 and attained his Bachelor of Arts at University of Western Australia graduating in 1995. Since then he'd been working as a freelance illustrator and taking whatever gigs came his way to hone his craft and pay the bills.
Now, obviously, things have taken quite the drastic turn. Over the past 16 years he has won numerous awards for his picture books and continues to wow people with his insane ability to narrate using hardly any words to accompany his visuals. There isn't really a specific age group that he aims for, he just wants to tell a good story.
And boy I can't wait until I get my grubby little paws on his stuff. This is more than just exciting for me. This is the kind of work I'd like to someday aspire to. I've no idea what my style is yet, other than it being light-hearted whimsy based material. Which doesn't always stay on paper. But at least I have an idea of where my style lays!
The Rabbits
The Arrival
Tales From Outer Suburbia
But, *ahem* onward!
The artist who has recently captured my eye is the inimitable Shaun Tan. He's originally from Perth, Australia, which is where a good chunk of his inspiration came from for consistently implementing the clear open Western Australian skies in his work. He'd recently won an Oscar for working on the animated short "The Lost Thing," which was based on one of his already illustrated picture books.
Excerpt from "The Lost Thing"
He's a tireless worker, finding more pleasure derived from creating his next illustrations in the quiet of his home with wife, parrot and budgies. I add this little tid bit in because honestly...how often do you find someone really living such a quintessential life? I'm a fan, essentially. I'd be doing something almost entirely mirror-like, except I'd have an artistic wife and a few moose sized dogs gallivanting around the home.
Excerpt from "The Red Tree"
His childhood to adult life is also a classic progression to fame. Never his goal, but as a child he was known as the "good drawer," which was better than being known as "the short kid." A quiet serious fellow, he attended Balcatta Senior High School in the arts program graduating in 1991 and attained his Bachelor of Arts at University of Western Australia graduating in 1995. Since then he'd been working as a freelance illustrator and taking whatever gigs came his way to hone his craft and pay the bills.
Now, obviously, things have taken quite the drastic turn. Over the past 16 years he has won numerous awards for his picture books and continues to wow people with his insane ability to narrate using hardly any words to accompany his visuals. There isn't really a specific age group that he aims for, he just wants to tell a good story.
And boy I can't wait until I get my grubby little paws on his stuff. This is more than just exciting for me. This is the kind of work I'd like to someday aspire to. I've no idea what my style is yet, other than it being light-hearted whimsy based material. Which doesn't always stay on paper. But at least I have an idea of where my style lays!
The Rabbits
The Arrival
Tales From Outer Suburbia
0 comments:
Post a Comment