Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan
Area(s)	Writer, Penciller, Artist
Notable works	The Red Tree The Lost Thing The Arrival
Awards	Numerous
Official website

Shaun Tan (born 1974) is an Australian illustrator and author of children's books and speculative fiction cover artist. He won an Academy Award for The Lost Thing, a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Beside The Lost Thing, The Red Tree and The Arrival are chapterbooks he has written and illustrated.

Tan was born in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1974 and, after freelancing for some years from a studio at Mount Lawley, relocated to Melbourne, Victoria in 2007. In 2006, his wordless graphic novel The Arrival won the "Book of the Year" prize as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. The same book won the Children's Book Council of Australia "Picture Book of the Year" award in 2007. and the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Premier's Prize in 2006.

Tan was the University of Melbourne's Department of Language Literacy and Arts Education Illustrator In Residence for two weeks through an annual Fellowship offered by the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust.

In 2010, Shaun Tan was the Artist Guest of Honour at the 68th World Science Fiction Convention held in Melbourne, Australia.

For his career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" Tan won the 2011 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council, the biggest prize in children's literature.

Biography

Early life

As a boy, Tan spent time illustrating poems and stories and drawing dinosaurs, robots and spaceships. At school he was known as a talented artist. At the age of eleven, he became a fan of The Twilight Zone television series as well as books that bore similar themes. Tan cites Ray Bradbury as a favorite at this time. These stories led to Tan writing his own short stories. Of his effort at writing as a youth, Tan tells, "I have a small pile of rejection letters as testament to this ambition!"

Eventually he gained success with his illustrations. At the age of sixteen, Tan's first illustration appeared in the Australian magazine Aurealis in 1990.

Transition to illustration

Tan almost studied to become a geneticist, and enjoyed chemistry, physics, history and English when in high school as well as art and claimed that he did not really know what he wanted to do, even at university. University studies were taking him along an academic route until he "decided to stop studying and try working as an artist."

Illustration was something Tan enjoyed. The decision to choose it as a career simply allowed him to make a living from drawing and painting. Drawing was something he had never stopped doing, claiming "...it was one thing I could do better than anyone else when I was in school."

Tan continued his education at the University of Western Australia where he studied Fine Arts, English Literature and History. While this was of interest to him, there was little studio practice involved. In 1995, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

Work process

Of his actual works he has said: ‘‘I don’t think I’ve ever painted an image as a reproduction of what I’m seeing, even when I’m working in front of it. I’m always trying to create some kind of parallel equivalent."

Originally, Tan worked in black and white because the final reproductions would be printed that way and this preference extended to The Stray Cat. Some black and white mediums he used included pens, inks, acrylics, charcoal, scraperboard, photocopies and linocuts.

Tan's current colour works still begin as monochromatic. He uses a graphite pencil to make sketches on ordinary copy paper. The sketches are then reproduced numerous times with different versions varying with parts added or removed. Sometimes scissors are used for this purpose. The cut and paste collage idea in these early stages often extend to the finished production with many of his illustrations using such materials as "glass, metal, cuttings from other books and dead insects."

Tan describes himself as a slow worker who revises his work many times along the way. He is interested in loss and alienation, and believes that children in particular react well to issues of natural justice. He feels he is "like a translator" of ideas, and is happy and flattered to see his work adapted and interpreted in film and music (such as by the Australian Chamber Orchestra).

Influences

Tan draws from a large source of inspiration and cites many influences on his work. His comment on the subject is: "I’m pretty omnivorous when it comes to influences, and I like to admit this openly." Some influences are very direct. The Lost Thing is a strong example where Tan makes visual references to famous artworks. Many of his influences are a lot more subtle visually, some of the influences are ideological. Below are some influences he has named in various interviews:

• Films: Brazil, Yellow Submarine
• Filmmakers: Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott
• Artists and illustrators: Francis Bacon, Raymond Briggs, Ron Brooks, Frederick Clement, Joseph Cornell, Giorgio de Chirico, Milton Glaser, Edward Gorey, John Olsen, Michael Leunig, Rene Magritte, Sidney Nolan, Gerald Scarfe, Katsushika Hokusai, J. Otto Siebold, Peter Sis, Lane Smith, Ralph Steadman, Arthur Streeton, Brett Whiteley, Fred Williams, and Chris Van Allsburg
• Other: paintings in galleries, "an arrangement of clouds, a lighting effect, a picture in a newspaper, or indeed supermarket plumbing", incidents, textures and accidental compositions created by objects, things from other cultures and times, Polish poster art, streets, clouds, jokes, times of the day, people, animals, the way paint runs down a canvas, or colors go together.

Patronage

The Shaun Tan Award for Young Artists is sponsored by the City of Subiaco and open to all Perth school children between 5 and 17 years. The award is aimed at encouraging creativity in two-dimensional works. It is held annually with award winners announced in May and finalists' works exhibited at the Subiaco Library (crn Rokeby and Bagot Road, Subiaco) throughout June.

Awards

1992

• L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future Contest: First Australian to win

1993

• Ditmar Award, Best Artwork, Shortlisted for Relics

1995

• Crichton Award for The Viewer
• Ditmar Awards, Best Professional Artwork for Aurealis Magazine and Eidolon Publications

1996

• Ditmar Award, Best Artwork for Eidolon Publications Issue 19 (Cover)

1997

• Ditmar Award, Best Artwork/Artist, Shortlisted for The Viewer, written by Gary Crew

1998

• Crichton Award, Winner for The Viewer
• Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year, Notable Book for The Viewer
• Ditmar Award, Best Professional Artwork for artwork in Eidolon Publications and the cover of The Stray Cat, written by Steven Paulsen, Shortlisted
• Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, Children's Book, Shortlisted for The Playground

1999

• Children's Book Council of Australia, Notable Book for The Playground
• Aurealis Conveners' Award for Excellence for The Rabbits
• Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year, Winner for The Rabbits
• Spectrum Gold Award for Book Illustration for The Rabbits
• Ditmar Ditmar Award, Best Professional Artwork, shortlisted for The Rabbits, written by John Marsden

2000

• Spectrum Gold Award for Book Illustration
• APA Design Award for Memorial
• Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for Memorial
• Ditmar Award, [edit] Best Artwork (Professional) for the Cover of Orb 0, Shortlisted
• Ditmar Award, Best Artwork for Cover to The Coode St Review Of Science Fiction
• Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, Writing for Young Adults award, Shortlisted for Lost Thing

2001

• Ditmar Award, Best Artwork for The Lost Thing (Lothian Books, 2000)
• Ditmar Award, [edit] Best Professional Achievement for The Lost Thing (Lothian Books, 2000)
• Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, Children's Books, Shortlisted for Red Tree
• Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for The Lost Thing
• World Fantasy Award for Best Artist

2002

• Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year, Honour Book for The Red Tree
• New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature Winner for Red Tree

2006

• Premier's Prize and Children's Books category winner in the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards for 'The Arrival'

2007

• World Fantasy Award for Best Artist
• New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Community Relations Commission Award for The Arrival
• The Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards: Picture Book of the Year for 'The Arrival'.

2008

• Hugo Award, Nominated for Best Related Book for The Arrival
• Hugo Award, Nominated for Best Professional Artist (also in 2009 and 2010)
• Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Comic Book for Là où vont nos pères, the French edition of The Arrival
• Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Young Adult category winner for 'Tales from Outer Suburbia'

2009

• World Fantasy Award for Best Artist

2010

• Hugo Award, won for Best Professional Artist
• Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, winner of the Children's Literature Award category and the South Australian Premier's Award for 'Tales from Outer Suburbia'

2011

• Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
• Peter Pan Award 2011 for the Swedish translation of The Arrival
• Academy Award, (Oscar) | The Lost Thing, Best Short Film (Animated)
• 2010 Dromkeen Medal | Awarded by the Governors of the Courtney Oldmeadow Children's Literature Foundation for significant contribution to the appreciation and development of children's literature in Australia.
• 2011 Ditmar Award | The Lost Thing, Best Artwork, Awarded at the 50th Australian National Science Fiction Convention in Perth in April 2011.
• Hugo Award, won for Best Professional Artist

Adaptations

• The Red Tree, a play based on Tan's book of the same name, was commissioned by the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
• The Red Tree, a music performance created by new composer Michael Yezerski with Richard Tognetti; performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra with the youth choir Gondwana Voices, and accompanied by images from the book.
• The Arrival. Images from this book were projected during a performance by the Australian Chamber Orchestra of conductor Richard Tognetti’s arrangement of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 15
• The Lost Thing has been adapted as an Oscar-winning animated short film.
• The Lost Thing inspired an album by Sydney band Lo-Tel, complete with artwork from the book.
• The Lost Thing has also been adapted as a play by the Jigsaw Theatre Company, a youth theatre company in Canberra. This was the main event for the National Gallery of Australia's Children Festival (Canberra) and at the Chookahs! Kids Festival (Melbourne) in 2006.
• The Lost Thing was the theme for the 2006 Chookahs! Kids Festival at The Arts Centre in Melbourne, with many different activities based on concepts from the book.
• The Arrival was adapted for the stage by Red Leap Theatre.
• "The Arrival" was again projected on a screen to an orchestral score, performed by Orkestra of the Underground with 18 pieces created by musician and composer Ben Walsh. This was performed in the Opera House in Sydney, The Melbourne Recital Centre and Her Majesty's Theatre in Adelaide.

Works

Books

As illustrator

• Pipe, by James Moloney (1996)
• The Stray Cat, by Steven Paulsen (1996)
• The Doll, by Janine Burke (1997)
• The Half Dead, by Garry Disher (1997)
• The Viewer, written by Gary Crew (1997)
• The Rabbits, written by John Marsden (1998)
• The Hicksville Horror, by Nette Hilton (1999)
• The Puppet, by Ian Bone (1999)
• Memorial, written by Gary Crew (1999)
• Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link (2008)

As author and illustrator

• The Playground (1997)
• The Lost Thing (1999)
• The Red Tree (2001)
• The Arrival (2006)
• Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008)
• The Oopsatoreum: inventions of Henry A. Mintox, with the Powerhouse Museum (2012)

Installations

• Mural in the Children's Section of the Subiaco Public Library (Perth, Western Australia). Size: 20 square metres

References

• "About Shaun Tan" Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness Program Retrieved 27 December 2005
• "About Our Authors and Illustrators". Lothian Books Retrieved 27 December 2005
• "CMIS Focus on Fiction: Shaun Tan", Curriculum Materials Information Servicesin the Department of Education and Training, Western Australia Retrieved 27 December 2005
• Haber, K. (2001) "Shaun Tan: Out Of Context", Locus magazine Retrieved 27 December 2005
• "Media Statement (2005)", Western Australia Department of Education and Training Retrieved 27 December 2005
• "The Red Tree", Queensland Performing Arts Centre Retrieved 27 December 2005
• "Shaun Tan Award For Young Artists", City of Subiaco Retrieved 27 December 2005
• "Shaun Tan: Biography", Dreamstone Retrieved 27 December 2005
• "Shaun puts students in the picture (2000)", The University of Melbourne Retrieved 27 December 2005
• "Tan, Shaun", AustLit Retrieved 27 December 2005
• Tan, S. (2001) "Originality and Creativity", AATE/ALEA Joint National Conference Retrieved 27 December 2005
• Tan, S. (2001) "Picture Books: Who Are They For?", AATE/ALEA Joint National Conference Retrieved 27 December 2005

External links

• Official website
• Shaun Tan at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Shaun Tan at the Internet Movie Database
• InFrame.tv interview with Shaun Tan on the animated adaptation of his book The Lost Thing
• The Lost Thing: Online interactive version
• Interview with Shaun Tan on Australian Edge
• Webquest on 'Representations of Belonging' - using the picture books of Shaun Tan by Julie Bain
• Webquest on 'Viewing the Viewer' - postmodern picture books for teaching and learning in secondary English education by Julie Bain
• Drawn Outsider - a profile of Shaun Tan
• Shaun Tan's Gallery with biography and artbooks on Inside Your ART

Interviews

• "NSW HSC Online" [2] 1999
• "Locus Online" [3] December 2001
• "OzComics" [4] April 2007
• "Articulate" [5] May 2007
• "Newsarama" [6] October 2007
• "The Australian" [7] May 2008
• "ABC Radio National: The Book Show" [8] May 2008
• "Articulate" [9] July 2008
• "The Big Issue" [10] February 2009
• "SlowTV" (Video) [11] August 2009
• "BDTheque" [12] October 2011