Shaun Tan

08/17/21 • 57 min

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Artist and writer, Shaun Tan, talks to Giuseppe Castellano about how dinosaurs helped him become an artist (and combat bullies); why 95% of the art he makes never sees the light of day; how simplicity and complexity can be synonymous; why a crisis of confidence can be a good thing; and more.

To learn more about Shaun, visit shauntan.net.

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Michael Youens, Ann Baum, Thomas Crosby-Smith, Yōichi Kotabe, Don Freeman, and Maurice Sendak

Shaun and Giuseppe spoke at length about this image from Shaun’s book, The Red Tree.

Shaun credits A Natural History of Dinosaurs for his early artist training. You can learn more about that 1970’s book on chasmosaurs.com.

If you find value in this podcast, you can support it by subscribing to our best-selling publication, Notes On Illustration, on Substack. Among other benefits, you will gain access to bonus episodes we call “Extra Credit”. | Visit illustrationdept.com for offerings like mentorships and portfolio reviews, testimonials, our alumni showcase, and more. | Music for the podcast was created by Oatmello.

To learn more about Shaun, visit shauntan.net.

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Michael Youens, Ann Baum, Thomas Crosby-Smith, Yōichi Kotabe, Don Freeman, and Maurice Sendak

Shaun and Giuseppe spoke at length about this image from Shaun’s book, The Red Tree.

Shaun credits A Natural History of Dinosaurs for his early artist training. You can learn more about that 1970’s book on chasmosaurs.com.

Previous Episode

Dave McMahon

Dave McMahon, Director of Learner and Teacher Experience Design at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, talks to Giuseppe Castellano about the role of an Experience Designer—and how it applies to other forms of art; what 1980’s Nintendo games taught us about the inevitability of losing; what seven-word mantra everyone would do well to follow; and more.

To learn more about Dave, visit davemcmahon.com.

Next Episode

John Hendrix

Illustrator, Author, and Professor, John Hendrix, talks to Giuseppe Castellano about the lessons he learned from the early days of his illustration career; how his religious faith intersects with his art (and why he thinks “God is dunking” on him); what baseball can teach us about working as an illustrator; and more.

To learn more about John, visit johnhendrix.com.

Artists mentioned in this episode include: Barry Fitzgerald, Marshall Arisman; Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast, Steven Heller, Grant Wood, Chris Van Allsburg, and Marjane Satrapi

Giuseppe mentioned an blog post he wrote about the similarities between baseball and illustration. You can read it here.

John is the Chair of the MFA Illustration and Visual Culture Program at Washington University in St. Louis. To learn more about the program, visit samfoxschool.wustl.edu.

John and Giuseppe spoke about the intersection of Faith and Art in John’s books. One such title is The Holy Ghost: A Spirited Comic, from Abrams ComicArts.