This is an extract of an interview I did with Dave McKean back in 2010. Dave's work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. He has illustrated works by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Heston Blumenthal, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. He has also directed three feature films.
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Can you set the scene for a typical day – do you work from a gothic castle with a moat full of crocodiles – are there images pasted all over your floor and walls?
Yes. Well, okay, not really. I work at home. There are turrets, although they are really the rather more mundane, oast house roundels, and there is a moat, again, rather more mundane fish pond with rickety bridge over to my studio. Some people prefer to be surrounded by their own work, others prefer to look at other people's. I'm in the latter category. I try and keep the place pretty clean and sorted. I find it hard to work, or think, in a mess.
Do you aim to re- interpret the author’s work or provide images that match the text or a mixture of both?
It depends on the book, they all have their own demands. As a general rule I don't really like illustrations that just literally show a selection of scenes from the story. I think the pleasure of a book is seeing those scenes in your own mind. However, if you can find a way to create a mood, a feeling, or emphasise the drama, then that's usually a good start. Even better, if the imagery has its own job to do, then that is the ideal.
Do you think we should be exploring the themes of death more in children’s art and literature as it is often a taboo subject in adult conversation.
Not obsessively, but ultimately all art and writing is about death to a degree. It's the final deadline. It can only do good to open these tough subjects up for discussion and the imagination in young readers. That's what stories and art are for, to deal with these kinds of emotions in a safe place. To see that we do come out the other side of fear, grief, shock - that we can carry on. They are rehearsals for adult life.
Are you fed up with people asking you what Neil Gaiman’s like to work with and how much do they airbrush him these days!?
No, I've had a long working relationship with Neil, so he always comes up. And yes, it is amazing what you can do with photoshop these days.
What’s Neil Gaiman like to work with?
Who?
Pet hates? Things that drive you nuts?
People mostly. Too many of them. Queues. Tourists (why can't they just stay home and send money?). General bigotries and belief systems. Middle men, grey men, money men, marketing departments. Pushy parents. People who drive cars while wearing hats, people who drive in the fast lane all the time, or undertake on the motorway. Just other drivers generally really. I watched The Omega Man, and thought Charlton Heston had a pretty good life.
Can I have a signed photo and picture?
Of what? Neil, I assume.