“I mean, it's not even been a two-and-two-make five sort of a day, it's more like a two-and-to-make... fish... or something... You know? Not even close to making sense.” HumorConfuse Book:Cages Source: Cages
“Siamo tutti uccellini, ciascuno nella sua deliziosa gabbietta. A volte voliamo fino a un’altra gabbia un po’ più grande ma non abbiamo mai il coraggio di abbandonare completamente la nostra prigionia".” GabbiaPrigioniaUccelli Book:Cages Source: Cages
“There are so many comics about violence. I'm not entertained or amused by violence, and I'd rather not have it in my life. Sex, on the other hand, is something the vast majority of us enjoy, yet it rarely seems to be the subject of comics. Pornography is usually bland, repetitive and ugly, and, at most, 'does the job.' I always wanted to make a book that is pornographic, but is also, I hope, beautiful, and mysterious, and engages the mind.” MindDoeBookHandsSeemsWantedJobsBeautifulSexEnjoyViolenceSubjectsMajorityUglyMysteriousPornographyAmusedRepetitiveBland Author:Dave McKean
“I like being able to do anything. I think that's healthy, doing anything and everything, rather than just getting completely obsessed with one particular genre or particular kind of work.” ThinkingKindAbleParticularHealthyGenreObsessedAnything And Everything Author:Dave McKean
“I tend to be known for different things. I mean, there are a lot of comics or sci-fi fans out there who sort of think of me doing that kind of work, but there are just as many people who like the CD covers I've done, or the children's books I've done. So different people like different things.” PeopleThinkingKindMeanChildrenBookDifferentDoneKnownFansDifferent ThingsSci FiDifferent PeoplesCdsThink Of MeChildren's Books Author:Dave McKean
“I'm a huge science fan; I read a lot of science books. But I'm not a scientist, my interest in science is I love the facts, but I like to interpret those facts. They become the raw materials for stories and paintings and things.” BookFactsStoriesInterestFansPaintingMaterialsHugeScientistRaw MaterialsScience Books Author:Dave McKean
“I don't want to get pigeonholed just doing just family films and fantasy films... I don't really want to get pigeonholed just doing anything in particular.” WantFilmFantasyParticularFantasy Films Author:Dave McKean
“The inspiration is all in the script, in the text. So whatever it is, either it is a film or a book to be illustrated, anything. Everything you need to know is in the text. So the thing is trying to find right tone and voice, the right style, the right way of expressing the emotions in a story or in the location of the story, but it is all in the text.” KnowsWayNeedsTryingBookStoriesInspirationFilmVoiceEmotionStyleScriptsToneLocationRight Way Author:Dave McKean
“I've always liked making things that don't deny the medium that they're made in. If it's collage, I'm happy for it to look like that. If it's a film made with computers, I don't mind that it looks like a film made with computers as long as it still has a feeling or a mood or an atmosphere that is relevant.” IfsMindLooksLongMadeStillsFeelingsFilmComputerDenyMoodMediumsAtmosphereRelevantCollages Author:Dave McKean
“If you want to be a chef or a scientist, you've got to know what the current thinking is, so if you want to write comics or draw comics find out what the very best ones are and look at them all and then you'll know where the bars are because the bars are often very high, if you are going to make a splash and make yourself known, you need to get to that level.” IfsThinkingKnowsWantNeedsWritingLooksLevelsKnownDrawsScientistCurrentsBarsChef Author:Dave McKean
“I like stories that exist both in the naturalistic world and in our imaginative lives, films are so immersive in that sense, we can explore how our characters think and dream, as well as how they exist in the real world.” ThinkingWorldWellsRealCharacterStoriesDreamFilmReal WorldImaginative Author:Dave McKean
“I think the two jobs I dreamed of doing as a teenager were comic book artist and record cover illustrator. Maybe film director was in the mix as well, but that seemed to be an impossible mountain to climb.” ThinkingWellsTwoBookJobsFilmArtistRecordsImpossibleDirectorsMountainComicTeenagerClimbsComic BookFilm DirectorsIllustratorsTwo Jobs Author:Dave McKean
“I'm interested in the parallel narrative of our fantasy lives. How the moment of 'now' that is palpably real, is surrounded by our memories, our dreams and hopes, the stories and connections that our brains make as we navigate a universe of fantasy, or unreality, or surreality. I'm keen to explore this very human experience, how our minds create our own realities, a blend of fact and interpretation of fact.” MindHumansRealMomentsFactsStoriesDreamRealityUniverseMemoriesBrainFantasyConnectionsNarrativeInterpretationOur DreamsHuman ExperienceParallelsOur MemoriesNavigateUnrealityFantasy Life Author:Dave McKean
“I'm always thinking about story, and the development of ideas or images, so with all types of media, I'm simply trying to communicate the feelings and ideas in the story or characters in the most appropriate and effective way.” ThinkingWayTryingIdeasCharacterStoriesFeelingsMediaTypeDevelopmentCommunicateAppropriateAlways Thinking Author:Dave McKean
“Film gives me live actors, editing, music, sound, a huge and powerful toolbox to play with. If there is a problem for me, it is that film gives me too much. There is less room for the audience to add their side of the conversation.” IfsGivingPlayProblemFilmActorsSoundSidesRoomsPowerfulAudienceToo MuchHugeConversationGive MeAddEditingToolbox Author:Dave McKean
“The human face is the most deeply ingrained image in our brains. It is the two dots and a dash we connect with as babies. It is the focus of our attention in our relationships with each other. The face and the human figure express all we are. Everything else - architecture, art, even landscape - we usually understand in relation to us.” HumansArtTwoFacesAttentionBrainFocusFiguresBabyRelationArchitectureLandscapeOur RelationshipDotsHuman Faces Author:Dave McKean
“The reason I love comics is that they DON'T move, and there is NO sound. As a creator I have to evoke those elements in the drawings and writing, and the reader has to create those elements in their own minds.” WritingMindReasonMovingSoundReaderElementsCreatorDrawingEvoke Author:Dave McKean
“Reading a good comic is a creative act. Watching a film is often a more passive experience, and since I'm interested in engaging that conversational aspect of creativity, I'm trying to find ways of achieving that in my films.” WayTryingFilmReadingCreativityCreativeAchieveAspectComicPassiveEngaging Author:Dave McKean
“Sometimes the things I learn making paintings or drawings - composition, colour, expressionism, texture - can directly influence the making of a film. Sometimes it's great that they are different, and simply taking a break from one medium to spend time with another, recharges the batteries and I feel refreshed.” FeelsDifferentSometimesFilmBreakInfluencePaintingDrawingMediumsColourCompositionEnd TimesSpend TimeTextureBatteriesExpressionismTaking A Break Author:Dave McKean
“The filmmakers I really love are the ones that let me look through their eyes for a while. They have an aesthetic and social point of view.” LooksEyeSocialViewsLet MePoint Of ViewFilmmakerAesthetic Author:Dave McKean
“I love the silent era because you can see the rules being written, the grammar of film being created. Most of my films are in some way love letters to the silent era.” WayFilmWrittenLettersSilentErasGrammarLove Letter Author:Dave McKean
“My stuff is generally quite collage-y anyway. So it's sort-of suited to gathering raw materials like shooting actors, then making stills or animating characters, then just bringing them all together in a 3D space. That process is very close to my 2D work anyway.” StillsCharacterTogetherActorsStuffProcessSpaceMaterialsShootingGatheringRaw MaterialsCollages Author:Dave McKean
“But actually making pictures to look like my pictures, I've done it for so long, I'm kind of used to it now. So at the beginning of the process, designing and storyboarding everything, I sort of did all that. And then designed the characters, and doing the textures for the characters, and the texture maps to cover all the animated characters and the sets, I did those, because that's where my sort of coloring and textures get imprinted on the film.” LooksKindLongDoneCharacterFilmUsedProcessDesignMapsTextureAnimatedStoryboarding Author:Dave McKean
“Usually, the most difficult thing to do is photo-real stuff. Something that has to actually look like the real world, because it's just so difficult to do that. We're just so used to looking at the real world, our brains instantly see when something is not quite right.” WorldLooksRealUsedStuffDifficultBrainThings To DoReal WorldDifficult ThingsReal Stuff Author:Dave McKean
“I kind of enjoy the limits. If you've got no limits, you can do absolutely anything, it's very difficult, actually. I always enjoyed working with machines like color photocopiers and letter-pressing type settings, things where the limits are very apparent. You push the machine to do something, and it tries to do its best, and it usually has wonderful qualities all of its own. Then you get a sort of dialogue going, and the limitations become qualities.” IfsTryingKindEnjoyDifficultCan DoQualityWonderfulColorTypeLimitsLettersMachinesSettingDialogueSettingsEnjoyedLimitation Author:Dave McKean
“PhotoShop is a program I use all the time with my 2D stuff. And that's an extraordinary program - you really can do anything there, and I've never hit my head on the ceiling. The 3D stuff is incredibly complicated, monstrously complicated, but for the things that I want to do, I've found very simple and interesting ways, I hope, of making images without getting tied up too much in the maps and technicalities.” WayWantUseFoundStuffCan DoSimpleInterestingToo MuchProgramExtraordinaryComplicatedMapsTiedCeilingsTied UpInteresting WaysPhotoshopTechnicalities Author:Dave McKean
“I've always used masks. I think it's a lot about the fact that masks often reveal a sort of subconscious element to a character. The mask is carved and given an expression or markings to reveal something, even though it's shielding the face. Even though it's hiding the face, it seems to reveal something underneath.” ThinkingCharacterFactsSeemsFacesUsedGivenExpressionElementsMaskHidingSubconscious Author:Dave McKean
“When you just get fantasy stories that are about fairies or goblins, I just don't care. I'm never going to meet a goblin, it doesn't mean anything to me. So my definition of fantasy is very broad, it's anything to do with memory, or dreams, or ways of interpreting or making sense of the world.” WorldWayMeanStoriesDreamCareMemoriesFantasyDefinitionsDon't CareMake SenseFairyBroadsInterpretingGoblinFantasy Stories Author:Dave McKean
“There is nobody who is good or bad, it's just not like that. They all are complex individuals. They all see the world in their own way that makes complete sense to them. Nobody goes around feeling that they're evil - they think that they're doing the right thing. And so that seems to have something really important, big, and deep to say about human beings.” ThinkingWorldWayHumansImportantFeelingsBigsSeemsEvilIndividualHuman BeingsComplexesRight ThingDoing The Right Thing Author:Dave McKean
“I do very, very, very simple, skimpy doodles, nothing too committed. Because people tend to fall in love if they like it - if you color it in and they like it, then they want exactly those colors, even if they were just indications. You really have to do it as simple as possible so they can concentrate on the idea and composition. And then all of the energy goes into making the final piece. And the final piece can be anything - it can be a drawing, a painting, a collage - and usually, it's obvious what that should be. Usually, the idea dictates what medium you use.” PeopleIfsWantShouldIdeasUseFallEnergySimplePiecesColorPaintingFalling In LoveFinalsCommittedObviousDrawingMediumsCompositionIndicationCollages Author:Dave McKean
“I love telling stories. And even in single images, I tend to have stories inside them. I've always loved film, but I was making drawings and paintings and photographs. And you put art and narrative together, and that really is comics.” ArtStoriesTogetherFilmPaintingPhotographDrawingNarrativeTelling StoriesDrawing And Painting Author:Dave McKean
“You could easily spend several lifetimes trying to master film. It make very good use of all the things that I love. Narrative, image-making, also sound and music. It's so full that I can't really imagine getting tired of it. Or getting to the point like I feel like I know it.” KnowsFeelsTryingI CanUseFilmSoundImagineMastersTiredLifetimeVery GoodNarrativeGetting TiredSound And Music Author:Dave McKean
“So I really love this very difficult feeling of being completely out at sea. I don't know what I'm doing, and I kind of like this feeling. So I think for the moment, I'm going to continue to try and nail film down in some sort of shape where I'm happy with it.” ThinkingKnowsTryingKindMomentsFeelingsFilmDifficultSeaShapesNails Author:Dave McKean
“Pride in what and who you are is a strong foundation, but don't be defined by your oppression; use your anger, don't let it use you.” UseStrongPrideFoundationWho You AreOppressionDefinedStrong Foundation Author:Dave McKean
“Everybody's a bird, locked up in a pretty cage. Sometimes you fly to a slightly bigger one, but you never quite have the courage to abandon captivity completely.” SometimesBirdBiggerAbandonLockedCagesNever QuitLocked UpCaptivity Author:Dave McKean
