I think ‘The Road’ is a good example of a book everyone should read, but I wouldn’t recommend it to young kids. Shaun Tan Read Quote
Animals represent the abstract notion of acceptance. Living with these funny creatures – you kind of have to accept them. It’s like a test in a way. Shaun Tan Read Quote
I became more interested in the idea of being an immigrant and particularly of being in a country you’re not familiar with. And so I began reading migrants’ stories. The fact that my father is Chinese – he emigrated from Malaysia when he was about 20 – may have had some bearing on my attraction to the subject. Shaun Tan Read Quote
Illustrating is more about communicating specific ideas to a reader. Painting is more like pure science, more about the act of painting. Shaun Tan Read Quote
Seeing your work in print is exciting, especially when you’re young. It’s that feeling that you have some effect on the world outside of your immediate neighbourhood. Shaun Tan Read Quote
By itself, just to draw crazy creatures has limited appeal – if I had to give up one thing, it would be the wild imagination. When the work becomes too detached from ordinary life, it starts to fall apart. Fantasy needs to have some connection with reality, or it becomes of its own interest only, insular. Shaun Tan Read Quote
Drawing a good picture is like telling a really good lie – the key is in the incidental detail. Shaun Tan Read Quote
Like all of my previous work – which I also hope is a bit hard to categorise – ‘The Oopsatoreum’ is an illustrated book, so a combination of words and pictures that tell a kind of story. Shaun Tan Read Quote
