Shaun Tan Report

Introduction

John Holt says in his book, Teach Your Own (1997), that human children have an innate sense of curiosity. (1) Shaun Tan says in his essay, Picture books: who are they for?(2), that teenagers and adults still maintain this natural sense of curiosity and wonder when experiencing a picture book, in the same way that they might enjoy other visual stimulation, such as a movie or a painting.

Fig.1 Shaun Tan: The Arrival 2006

When Tan creates a picture book his main objective is to convey the narrative, with or without words (Figs.1 & 2), and with no particular target audience in mind. Tan uses the environment of the image to communicate and tackle some difficult, emotional and sometimes disturbing narratives, which, with their surreal characters and lack of text crosses physical and psychological boundaries worldwide.

The crossing of boundaries is, after all, fundamental to storytelling.(3)

Fig. 2 Shaun Tan: The Arrival 2006

The Red Tree

The darker regions of the emotions are more visually stimulating for Tan and he explores these feelings in The Red Tree. The book follows a sad little girl, not necessarily sequentially, through various moods, such as hopelessness and despondency.  (4) (Fig.3) However, there is hope and a smile in the end, when the little girl finds the red tree. (5) (Fig. 4)

Fig. 3 Shaun Tan: The Red Tree 2001

It was interesting to show this book to my seven-year-old daughter, who experiences these feelings due to living with learning difficulties. First she read it alone, then we discussed it and read it again together. It enabled her to acknowledge these sentiments in a safe and beautiful way. She was happy to find that someone else cared enough to produce the book, that they understood how she felt and that she was not alone. The surreal imagery proved an effective mechanism for communicating as it allowed her to experience her negative emotions in an experiential, rather than cognitive manner. It does this by disassociating them from the usually painful sensations, as in art therapy, (6) and as discussed previously, eliminates boundaries between audiences. The red tree picture, below, was her favourite and when asked, she was able to recognise and explain what it represented.

Fig. 4 Shaun Tan: The Red Tree 2001

The Rabbits

The Rabbits looks at colonisation, and again crosses all demographical and cultural boundaries (Fig.5),

A rich and haunting allegory for all ages, all cultures. (7)

Tan uses anthropomorphism to accompany John Marsden's telling of the history of the British colonialism of Australia. Just like the anthropomorphic representations of cartoons past and present (8).

Fig. 5 Shaun Tan: They came by Water, The Rabbits 1998

The seemingly simple narrative contains complex references that most obviously relate to the contemporary, contested notion of colonisation... (9)

The Rabbits has been an immense success, being used in the National Curriculum of Australia's secondary schools and has won numerous awards, (10), as well as being translated and produced worldwide.

Working Practice

Tan's illustrations are usually paintings that he produces with the intention of reproduction, unlike his works for  exhibition which will be viewed on the wall. (11). Tan says his ideas begin with free associative, "doodly" sketches. He noticed, in his sketchbooks, that a common theme of two close characters in an immense landscape was recurring and suggests this may have an autobiographical association. (12). He doesn't often set out with a particular theme in mind, this usually evolves through the drawing. He then begins with small pencil sketches (Fig 6), then coloured pastel drawings (Fig 7), followed by more detailed pencil drawings (Fig.6) before the final painting.

Fig 6. Shaun Tan: Study for The Rabbits: they came be water

Fig. 7 Shaun Tan: The Bird King and artist's notebook 2010: Summoning

Fig. 8 Shaun Tan: The Bird King and artist's notebook 2010: The Lost Thing dummy page

Practice as Research

Brief:

1. Use some old technical drawings (provided by tutor) to produce a fantastical landscape. If anyone recognises the skyline I used, please feel free to put a note in the comments. (Fig. 9)
2. Find two unrelated characters from your sketchbooks and juxtapose them to create a new picture. (Fig. 10)

I combined the technique of varied line width I have been practising in the Advanced Drawing Module to create a sense of perspective. This was a very useful exercise that I will certainly use in future projects, a very simple idea that can be particularly effective.

Fig. 9 Kitty B: Fantasy skyline

Although the characters do not sit well with the background (not part of the brief, but I tried it, just to see), I think that it is an interesting way to develop a new narrative. Again, I will seriously consider this concept for future story generation.

Fig. 10 Kitty B: Juxtaposed Winged Woman and Sophia

Footnotes:

1. pg.1 Holt, John. Teach Your Own. Lighthouse Books. 1997
2. para. 5. http://www.shauntan.net/essay1.html Picture Books: Who are They For?
3. para. 1. Tan, Shaun. STRANGE MIGRATIONS, IBBY Conference Keynote, London 2012 (http://www.shauntan.net/comments1.html)
4. para. 26. http://www.shauntan.net/essay1.html Picture Books: Who are They For?
5. para. 27. http://www.shauntan.net/essay1.html Picture Books: Who are They For?
6. pg.102 Johnston, Susan S. M. Family Therapy: The Journal of the California Graduate School of Family Psychology. 1997, Vol. 24 Issue 2
7. Back cover. Marsden, John & Tan, Shaun. The Rabbits. Lothian Children's Books 1998
8. pg.132 Gravett, Paul. Graphic Novels Stories to change your life
9. para. 2 McGlasson, Dianne. A Toothy Tale: Themes of Abjection in John Marsden and Shaun Tan's Picture Story Book, The Rabbits, The Lion and the Unicorn Volume 37, Number 1, January 2013
10. para. 1. McGlasson, Dianne. A Toothy Tale: Themes of Abjection in John Marsden and Shaun Tan's Picture Story Book, The Rabbits, The Lion and the Unicorn Volume 37, Number 1, January 2013
11. para. 2. http://www.shauntan.net/paintings1.html
12. Tan, Shaun. 4min 37sec Shaun Tan talks about Rules of Summer - The Origins and Ideas - YouTube

Bibliography

Gravett, Paul. Graphic Novels Stories to change your life
Holt, John. Teach Your Own. Lighthouse Books. 1997
Johnston, Susan S. M. Family Therapy: The Journal of the California Graduate School of Family Psychology. 1997, Vol. 24 Issue 2
Marsden, John & Tan, Shaun. The Rabbits. Lothian Children's Books 1998
McGlasson, Dianne. A Toothy Tale: Themes of Abjection in John Marsden and Shaun Tan's Picture Story Book, The Rabbits, The Lion and the Unicorn Volume 37, Number 1, January 2013
Tan, Shaun. Shaun Tan talks about Rules of Summer - The Origins and Ideas - YouTube
http://www.shauntan.net/paintings1.html

http://www.shauntan.net/essay1.html Picture Books: Who are They For?
Tan, Shaun. STRANGE MIGRATIONS, IBBY Conference Keynote, London 2012 (http://www.shauntan.net/comments1.html)