RESEARCH Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan is an illustrator who worked with horror and fictional books from a young age. While he now works with political and social books, his subject matter of fantastical imagery has persevered. His work is both narrative and imagery; he writes and illustrates his books himself. Like Tolkien, there is a symbiotic relationship between the two aspects, not really one without the other.

The drawings themselves are very surreal more than fantasy, while he does include architecture in his books, it is the surreal almost dadaist images in the book Rules of Summer- 2013. The books is based on two boys, and doesn't really have a linear narrative, but consists of a set of bizarre rules for them to follow and how they overcome these situations, like 'never leave a read sock on the clothesline' (Never leave a red sock on the clothesline- 2012, above). The images feature huge creatures and strange situations, which all appear seemlessly to be the imagination of the young boys. In this respect Tan has succeeded in creating a magical world for the two boys and anyone reading the book. Although without the text included, I can see the collection of images seeming extremely random, yet aesthetically similar.