# Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections - Hardcover

by **Shaun Tan** (Author)

**BEST OF THE YEAR**  
**_The Guardian_ - SLJ Teen Librarian Toolbox**

**From the creator of _The Arrival_, a collection of essays illuminating his thoughts and advice for writers and artists, young and old.**

Shaun Tan is one of the world's most highly acclaimed narrative artists--his stories and images are loved by countless young and not-so-young readers around the world. Drawing upon 25 years as a picture book and comics creator, painter, and film-maker, _Creature_ explores the central obsession of this visionary artist, from casual doodles to studied oil-paintings.

Beyond sketches for acclaimed works such as _The Arrival_, _The Lost Thing_, and _Tales From Outer Suburbia_, this volume collects together for the first time unseen and stand-alone illustrations, each resonant with unwritten tales of their own. Detailed commentary by the artist offers an entertaining insight into the endless allure of imaginary, non-human beings and what they might tell us about our so-called "normal" human selves.

Artists, writers, students, dreamers, and anyone interested in the deeper undercurrents of creativity, myth, and visual metaphor will find inspiration in these pages.

**P R A I S E**

"Weird and wonderful. Tan often explores the junction between adult experience and childhood memory."  
**\--_The Sydney Morning Herald_**

"A strange beast: dark, whimsical and deeply moving."  
**\--_The Guardian_**

"Like Miyazaki, Tan engages audiences across a wide range of age and sophistication."  
**\--_The New York Times_**

★ "Tan acts as artist, curator, interpretive essayist, and catalog editor for a gallery of over two hundred pieces of his own works that highlight a dominant theme of animate beings--some real, most invented, but all fellow travelers through our world and through our psyches."  
**\--_BCCB_ (starred)**

★ "This gorgeously designed coffee-table survey of his picture book, comics, exhibition and sketchbook work exposes readers to a 26-year panoply of off-kilter conceptions, in all their disquieting delight. Wondrous."  
**\--_Booklist_ (starred)**

### Author Biography

**Shaun Tan** is an artist, writer, and filmmaker from Perth, Australia. Known for his dream-like imagery and fantastical creatures, Shaun's work is enjoyed world-wide by children and adults alike. Shaun is the recipient of an Academy Award for the short, animated film _The Lost Thing_, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in Sweden, and the Kate Greenaway Medal in the UK. He currently resides in Melbourne. Visit him online at www.shauntan.net.

**Number of Pages:** 224

**Dimensions:** 1.6 x 10.9 x 10.1 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** November 01, 2022

## Details

- **Price:** 35.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 35.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Creature: Paintings, Drawings, and Reflections - Hardcover

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