AD5508 The Illustrator

Critical Report concentrating on the work of Shaun Tan

In my critical report I will be focussing on the work of Shaun Tan. Tan has had many books published and in many different languages. Numerous factors have influenced Tan’s style and the choices he has made in a number of his books. I will discuss what has inspired him to create his work, who he wishes to benefit from his work and why he is successful in what he does.

Tan has written and illustrated many books. He is best known for The Arrival, Eric, The Lost Thing, The Red Tree and The Rabbits. The majority of these books allow the reader to decide on the meaning behind the story and illustrations. “Any real meaning is left to the reader to find for themselves, rather than overtly stated or implied, with an encouragement towards a close visual reading against quite minimalist text.” (1) This encourages readers to use their imagination and think about what is happening in the story. By doing this a picture book becomes something that the reader can look into with increased depth as the detail that is shown in a drawing is more descriptive to the eye than what a selection of text would be. Also in picture books it is rare that people would rather read a large amount of words and then briefly skim over the illustration that accompanies it, as this decreases creativity in not only the artist but the artists’ audience as well. Tan prefers this style of book as they “simply present the reader with ideas that are essentially silent, unexplained” (2) allowing the viewer to think about what they are seeing and the illustrations are therefore “open to very broad interpretation” (3) which is concocted by all different people of all different ages.

Tan does not focus his books on one single target audience. “My books are simultaneously treated as children’s, young adult, and adult titles, depending on reader, bookseller, publisher and country of publication.” (4) Different people will have different opinions on what Tan’s main subject matter is in his stories. Tan creates artwork with an idea of the sort of image he wants people to see but it depends on the second pair of eyes to take what they wish from the paintings and drawings. For Tan, “what matters are ideas, feelings and the pictures and words that build them.” (5) He knows that “neither text nor image explain each other fully, and the reader must fill in the gap of meaning with their own theories.” (6) This is one of the main reasons why Shaun Tan is so successful in what he does, he allows people to have a mind of their own when they begin “migrating through genres from fantasy to social realism.” (7) Tan creates a world from his mind and allows other people to see it but what they receive from these ‘fantasy’ worlds depends on what their mind allows them to see. They either see their own world reflected in the images but exaggerated and therefore more peculiar than what they are used to; adults or people in the older category are more likely to see his books in this way as it is a much more mature view to have. However, some may see something completely different that they’ve never seen before and are able to experience something “foreign and fantastic.” (8) An audience of the younger category, children, would view Tan’s stories in this way as they would be too young to understand the books in such a deep meaning as it reflecting the current world, as they barely know the current world themselves. As Tan chooses to use very few words to reflect the oppressive themes of his books, he is able to use the illustrations as they are perfectly suitable for children. Although some may seem frightening (see ‘The Story of the Giants’ taken from The Arrival) he uses light in a creative way. The source of light isn’t coming from just one direction. By creating shadows with light source behind and in front of buildings, the illustration seems to appear more dreamlike rather than real. Therefore enhancing his audiences’ imagination with his work and taking away the scary thought of giant people taking smaller people from the ground using large suction tools as it is created to appear dreamlike. By creating work that appeals to such a wide range of people, Tan has become extremely effective in what he does.

Another book Tan has been a part of creating is The Rabbits which was written by John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan. The story is based on “a symbolic portrayal of Australia’s colonial past.” (9) With this subject matter being so poignant it would be relevant to many people. A lot of people would relate to the story because as the world is changing and new technologies and new ways of thinking are taking over old methods, Tan views the book as “a narrative he believes is understood by everyone.” (10) By cleverly creating a universal narrative there should be very few people who cannot relate to the subject and therefore very few people who would not connect with it. He wishes to portray it as “a story about power, ignorance and environmental destruction” (11) which is how he perceived the invading of Australia by a new culture. The book is “deliberately sparse and strange”… “conveying an overall sense of bewilderment and anxiety” (12) by the already colonised characters. By portraying these emotions in the book, readers are able to connect with the images as many people have experienced either moving to a different place or having people move into a place you have been for a long time. Although this book was written by someone else, Tan fully understands the subject matter from his personal experience from when he was growing up. Tan’s heritage makes him “a part Chinese, Malaysian, Irish and English person from Perth, Western Australia” (13). Tan would have had to understand the legacy of many different cultures, and as you can imagine as a child, he would have experienced this ‘bewilderment and anxiety’ himself. It is useful to Tan to be able to relate to the subject matter as this causes his work to become even more powerful in the message it is aiming to represent because he can portray his experience through his illustrations.

Tan is known for pushing boundaries and creating work that is extraordinary. Although Tan does not wish to dictate the meaning that is intended in the stories he has written, he does follow a variety of themes and subject matters such as “the value of whimsy, our obsession with categories and bureaucracy, about alienation, claustrophobia, altruism, disability, entropy and the possibility of joy in places where this has been extinguished.” (14) Tan chooses themes that are not necessarily conventional and in his books tries to find a happy medium from themes that could be translated in either a good way or a bad way. For example, in The Red Tree, a little girl is feeling alone, and as though she has a heavy burden on her shoulders. (See ‘Darkness Overcomes You’ image), the girl is being followed by a large fish overhead, which bathes her in darkness and portrays the theme of ‘claustrophobia’ and being unable to escape. The fish is crying dark tears which reflects the girls’ emotions in her lonely world as she is unable to express them. As the book goes on Tan’s use of colour gradually changes from dark, gloomy blues and black to a big bright red tree growing in her room on the last page (see ‘The Red Tree’ image). This indicates the light at the end of the tunnel and that although things may seem horrible at a certain time, there is always something better to come from it in the end. Tan is able to approach subject matters that perhaps other illustrators are afraid to as they can become very sensitive. Many other illustrators work is focused on “depicting situations and emotions immediately familiar” (15) so they would be more likely to choose, happy, friendly or sad themes. However, Tan approaches emotions which people may be afraid to think about or speak about and so he is able to stimulate “imagination and curiosity” (16) through making these subject matters easier to approach. Tan is drawn more towards “ideas of belonging, difference, and the conceptual boundary between what is familiar or ‘normal’, and what is exotic or ‘weird’.” (17) This is due to him growing up and not feeling like he belonged in Australia because of his many different nationalities. Tan may have felt like he didn’t have anything to help him through that time in his life, so by creating books, he is able to help other people who are feeling the same way.

Tan doesn’t only create work for books. He has created paintings, he’s constantly working on projects such as murals, competitions, collaborations with musicians etc. and his picture books have been adapted for film and theatre. By creating such a wide range of work for all different areas, Tan ensures his work is familiarised by many people. Larger murals are more likely to be seen and remembered, likewise with film adaptations, as when these are done in the right way then they will stick in a persons’ mind for a long time. With all of these types of work “Tan evokes feelings of fear, of longing, of wonder and of joy, all by simply showing rather than telling.” (18) His work is very powerful, (see ‘The Tea Party’ image) the mural was “24 square meters” (19). Creating something so large requires a lot of perseverance and also a lot of content to keep it interesting. Tan decided to “depict a flowing landscape with whimsical creatures strolling, swimming, flying and rowing through it” (20) by having creatures doing many different activities “Tan relies on simple, universal aspects of body language” (21) to distinguish the differences between the creatures. Although the mural is just a one off piece to be seen in only one building (not as effective as a book that can be published internationally) because it is so large, fans of his work are more likely to travel to view the work for themselves.

When taking Tan’s work into context with older picture books, for example when looking at The Snowman by Raymond Briggs in 1978 you can see similarities in their work. As you can see, the image attached taken from The Snowman has a similar layout to ‘Tickets’ and ‘Inspection’ taken from The Arrival. The multiple images on a page in small square boxes indicate that Briggs would have influenced Tan when he thought about the layout of his sequential images. Both sets of work are created in a sketchy pencil way, showing similarities in their styles of work. Although The Snowman is produced in colour and The Arrival is produced in black and white the detail which Shaun Tan puts into his drawings causes the artworks to be on the same level of effectiveness. This implies that work created years ago still has an influence on work being created now. However, with more technology available nowadays, images can be enhanced more so than images thirty years ago. This gives present day illustrators an advantage on their images as they are able to “(play) with these by digitally, distorting, adding and subtracting, drawing over the top of them, and testing various sequences” (22) all using a computer which saves time, rather than re-drawing images over and over. Also they are able to see “how they could be ‘read’” (23) so if an image isn’t as effective to the eye as they would have hoped, they can alter any problems and they still have the original artwork to work with over and over again should something go wrong. Another similarity that Tan’s The Arrival and Briggs’ The Snowman have is that both books “uses no words” (24). Tan would have grown up reading The Snowman as a child so he would have remembered how “the absence of any words suits the magical connection between snowman and boy” (25) and decided that this was such a powerful connection that he too would be able to create but between his story and the reader hence his choice of storytelling in his books.

Shaun Tan has developed a style that is quite surreal and reflects dream-like states. His surrealist style is noticeable in the image ‘The City’ taken from The Arrival (see image). There are many objects in the artwork that the viewer would recognise, for example, roads, buildings, boats and the moon. But these are involved in a composition that incorporates many shapes, objects and figures that are not recognisable, that have been made up in Tan’s mind. He “breaks down the boundaries of storytelling, taking us to a place beyond the picture book, beyond the comic strip album, beyond conventions and literacy hierarchy” (26). By pushing these boundaries he’s giving his audience a piece of work that hasn’t been created before by another artist or seen before by any person. Tan plays with his work until he gets it right and it has the effect he is looking for “when sketching, I’m constantly erasing or deforming things almost as soon as I’ve drawn them, testing to see what holds, what gives and what resists.” (27) Tan never wants his work to appear ‘normal’ so by constantly changing his drawings in one way or another, he creates a piece of art he is happy with as it looks abnormal enough to be effective in his book and he therefore creates the best possible work he can.

Shaun Tan is effective in what he does as an illustrator because he is not afraid to push the boundaries of the unknown and create work that is not always classed as conventional. His work is open to so many different people, reflecting emotions, themes and subject matters that have rarely been touched on before. He openly talks about his work, allowing people to receive a real understanding of his intentions when creating his work and this is why his art has been published numerous times and why he is constantly working on projects, because people enjoy his work and want to see more of it.

References:
(1) Tan, Shaun. (2002) Picture Books: Who Are They For?
(2) Tan, Shaun. (2010) Words and Pictures, an Intimate Distance.
(3) Tan, Shaun. (2010) Words and Pictures, an Intimate Distance.
(4) Tan, Shaun. (2010) Words and Pictures, an Intimate Distance.
(5) Tan, Shaun. (2002) Picture Books: Who Are They For?
(6) Tan, Shaun. (2010) Words and Pictures, an Intimate Distance.
(7) Tan, Shaun. (2012) Strange Migrations.
(8) Charlesworth, Catherine (2011)
(9) Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2011)
(10) Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2011)
(11) Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2011)
(12) Tan, Shaun. The Rabbits.
(13) Tan, Shaun. (2012) Strange Migrations.
(14) Tan, Shaun. (2002) Picture Books: Who Are They For?
(15) Fang, Zhuhui (1996) pg. 132
(16) Fang, Zhuhui (1996) pg. 140
(17) Tan, Shaun. (2012) Strange Migrations.
(18) Charlesworth, Catherine (2011)
(19) Tan, Shaun (2003) The Tea Party
(20) Tan, Shaun (2003) The Tea Party
(21) Charlesworth, Catherine (2011)
(22) Tan Shaun. Comments on The Arrival.
(23) Tan Shaun. Comments on The Arrival.
(24) John Mullan (2008)
(25) John Mullan (2008)
(26) Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2011)
(27) Tan, Shaun (2012) Suburban Odyssey

Bibliography:
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (2011) Shaun Tan Breaks Down the Boundaries of Storytelling. http://www.alma.se/en/Award-winners/2011-Recipient/More-about-XXX/

Charlesworth, Catherine (2011) A Wordless World: Shaun Tan’s Approach to the Silent Graphic Novel. http://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2011/12/wordless-world-shaun-tans-approach-to.html

Fang, Zhuhui (1996) Illustrations, text, and the Child Reader: What are Pictures in Children’s Storybooks for? Reading Horizons Volume 37 #2. Purdue University, West Lafayette Indiana.

Mullan, John (2008) John Mullan on The Snowman and Father Christmas, by Raymond Briggs. The Guardian Newspaper. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/dec/13/raymond-briggs-snowman.

Tan, Shaun. http://www.shauntan.net/