World Fantasy is off to a nice start. I had half a day to run around before things got started -- Saratoga Springs is a perfect October town.I had never met Shaun Tan before but I am not entirely surprised to see that he is a great guy. I bought his latest book, The Arrival, about a month and half ago and I keep meaning to get to writing about it. If ya’ll are smart, you'll stop reading this and go pick up a copy.
The only panel I went to yesterday was a drawing demo with Bob Eggleton, Donato Giancola, and Shaun Tan. It was a big room with a large crowd. The smarter among us sat up front on the floor and had great view of all three of them drawing and answering questions as they went.
At one point Shaun said something very interesting which made me think I should hunt done a pen. Of course, by the time I found one I had completely forgotten what he said. Some thoughts from the second half of the hour:
Donato mentioned that he likes to read the book and then let it sit in the back f his mind for a while. Letting it percolate. When he gets to sketching he’s left with the memory of the book, allowing him to capture mood and themes rather than specific scenes.
Bob mentioned that he liked to work more quickly, reacting emotionally to the book. He also mentioned that Lovecraft was one of the most inspiring writers for him - both or the reading experience and for visual inspiration.
When asked about their dream project, all three said that they simply wanted more time to do what they are already doing better.
Bob and Donato said that their early appreciation for draftsmanship came from comics.
Shaun and Donato talked a bit about working beyond the given assignment -- getting to a place in their career where they were confident enough to add their own voice to the project.
So that was yesterday, with the addition of lots of food and late night talking, of course. The art show looks amazing but I have only skimmed it so far. I'm off now to spend some real time there.