{"id":13336,"date":"2026-10-23T11:43:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T03:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=13336"},"modified":"2026-10-23T11:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T03:44:14","slug":"on_david-wiesner_2021_04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2026\/10\/23\/on_david-wiesner_2021_04\/","title":{"rendered":"The fourth in a series of ten lec\u00adtures on David Wies\u00adner: Tues\u00adday (Part 2) \u2013 Where does crazy imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion come from?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last time, we did a \u201cspeed read\u201d of David Wies\u00adner\u2019s mas\u00adter\u00adpiece, *Tues\u00adday*, a work by the mas\u00adter of word\u00adless books.<\/a>This time, I\u2019ll try to explore more of the sto\u00adries \u201cbehind\u201d this book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the pre\u00advi\u00adous episode, I tried to tell the sto\u00adry of this book, rough\u00adly describ\u00ading part of the sto\u00adry I saw in the illus\u00adtra\u00adtions. As a near\u00adly word\u00adless pic\u00adture book, every\u00adone is like\u00adly to see dif\u00adfer\u00adent things. David Wies\u00adner said in an inter\u00adview that he has received a lot of feed\u00adback from read\u00aders, and what read\u00aders dis\u00adcov\u00ader some\u00adtimes sur\u00adpris\u00ades him. Artists often rely on instinct and intu\u00adition when cre\u00adat\u00ading; they may not be think\u00ading much about it, but read\u00aders may read things that the artist him\u00adself is not even aware of. This is nor\u00admal. When we read, we often see our\u00adselves, pro\u00adject\u00ading our own life expe\u00adri\u00adences and inner feel\u00adings onto the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, let me first talk about why David Wies\u00adner wrote this book, Tues\u00adday, and why he made frogs fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cov\u00ader of Crick\u00adet mag\u00ada\u00adzine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The imme\u00addi\u00adate cause was actu\u00adal\u00adly a coin\u00adci\u00addence. A chil\u00addren\u2019s lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture mag\u00ada\u00adzine called *The Crick\u00adet* asked him to design a cov\u00ader, and the mag\u00ada\u00adzine\u2019s design direc\u00adtor gave him free rein. It was March, coin\u00adcid\u00ading with St. Patrick\u00ad\u2019s Day, whose main col\u00ador was green, and the frog was a com\u00admon motif. Per\u00adfect! He decid\u00aded to draw a frog! So, he drew a frog sit\u00adting on a water lily leaf, but the leaf looked suspicious\u2014it looked like a fly\u00ading saucer! Okay, he remem\u00adbered the var\u00adi\u00adous sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion movies he\u2019d watched as a child, like *For\u00adbid\u00adden Plan\u00adet* and *The Day the Earth Stood Still*, clas\u00adsic block\u00adbusters with fly\u00ading saucers. And then he had the frog sit\u00adting on a water lily leaf flying\u2014didn\u2019t that remind him of Aladdin\u2019s mag\u00adic car\u00adpet from *One Thou\u00adsand and One Nights*?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imag\u00adine this: the lotus leaves have been replaced by Aladdin\u2019s mag\u00adic car\u00adpet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his mag\u00ada\u00adzine cov\u00ader illus\u00adtra\u00adtion, set against a back\u00addrop of a pond on a full moon night, there are water lilies, a frog tak\u00ading flight on a lotus leaf, and a ter\u00adri\u00adfied tur\u00adtle\u2026 The next ques\u00adtion is: Why do frogs fly? Where are they fly\u00ading to? And then what? And then what?\u2026 To sat\u00adis\u00adfy this curios\u00adi\u00adty, David Wies\u00adner illus\u00adtrat\u00aded this book, Tues\u00adday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the real ques\u00adtion is, why did David Wies\u00adner tell this frog sto\u00adry, and almost entire\u00adly through pic\u00adtures? The sto\u00adry seems fan\u00adtas\u00adti\u00adcal, but it does\u00adn\u2019t seem to have much edu\u00adca\u00adtion\u00adal val\u00adue. What les\u00adson is he try\u00ading to teach chil\u00addren? That\u2019s the crux of the mat\u00adter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Wies\u00adner did\u00adn\u2019t intend to preach any moral lessons in this book; he sim\u00adply want\u00aded to cre\u00adate a book he\u2019d always want\u00aded to read as a child, a book that was excep\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly fun and had\u00adn\u2019t yet been writ\u00adten by any\u00adone else. If you know about his child\u00adhood, you\u2019ll know he grew up in a very hap\u00adpy fam\u00adi\u00adly, had a won\u00adder\u00adful child\u00adhood, and lived in an envi\u00adron\u00adment very close to nature. On one hand, he had a rich edu\u00adca\u00adtion in art and sci\u00adence; on the oth\u00ader hand, he had plen\u00adty of time to play with his friends in nature. *The Hur\u00adri\u00adcane* is a per\u00adfect reflec\u00adtion of his child\u00adhood. It was because of this child\u00adhood that he became a curi\u00adous and imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtive indi\u00advid\u00adual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hur\u00adri\u00adcane (inner pages)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In terms of his draw\u00ading style, he par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly enjoys dis\u00adtor\u00adtion. For exam\u00adple, see\u00ading an orange, he might draw it and even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly turn it into a sail\u00adboat, which then trans\u00adforms into a fish once it hits the water. So, see\u00ading a frog sit\u00adting on a lotus leaf, he can\u2019t help but see it as a fly\u00ading saucer. He also loves play\u00ading with dis\u00adpro\u00adpor\u00adtion\u00adate sizes; for instance, in this book, the frog is zoomed in for a close-up, cre\u00adat\u00ading a rather eerie and mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous atmos\u00adphere, does\u00adn\u2019t it? David Wies\u00adner wants to share the sense of won\u00adder he often expe\u00adri\u00adences with chil\u00addren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, although he start\u00aded illus\u00adtrat\u00ading chil\u00addren\u2019s books imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly after grad\u00adu\u00adat\u00ading from uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty, for over a decade due to finan\u00adcial pres\u00adsures, he pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly worked on cus\u00adtom illus\u00adtra\u00adtions for edi\u00adtors or col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adrat\u00aded with oth\u00ader authors to cre\u00adate more tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal pic\u00adture books where the illus\u00adtra\u00adtions com\u00adple\u00adment\u00aded the text. David Wies\u00adner illus\u00adtrat\u00aded over a dozen such pic\u00adture books, employ\u00ading diverse styles rang\u00ading from real\u00adis\u00adtic to sim\u00adplis\u00adtic fairy tales to fan\u00adta\u00adsy. He found him\u00adself bet\u00adter suit\u00aded to the fan\u00adta\u00adsy style, but his own cre\u00adative free\u00addom was lim\u00adit\u00aded in sto\u00adries writ\u00adten by oth\u00aders. It was\u00adn\u2019t until his first word\u00adless book, *The Great Flight of Dreams*, won the Calde\u00adcott Hon\u00ador in 1989 that he became con\u00advinced he could inde\u00adpen\u00addent\u00adly cre\u00adate the kind of pic\u00adture books he had longed to read as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cThe Three Lit\u00adtle Pigs,\u201d David Wies\u00adner had the pigs ride on paper air\u00adplanes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can think of Tues\u00adday as a col\u00adlec\u00adtion of var\u00adi\u00adous ele\u00adments that David Wies\u00adner loved grow\u00ading up, and you can dis\u00adcov\u00ader a lot by read\u00ading it from this per\u00adspec\u00adtive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, there\u2019s comics. David Wies\u00adner belongs to the gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion that grew up read\u00ading comics. He favors cool visu\u00adals and is adept at the visu\u00adal sto\u00adry\u00adtelling style of comics. Although he draws pic\u00adture books, he heav\u00adi\u00adly bor\u00adrows from com\u00adic book tech\u00adniques. For exam\u00adple, he might divide a page ver\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly or hor\u00adi\u00adzon\u00adtal\u00adly into sev\u00ader\u00adal image blocks to depict a series of actions, like the frog tak\u00ading flight or the tur\u00adtle on the drift\u00adwood. Anoth\u00ader com\u00admon tech\u00adnique is insert\u00ading frames into large back\u00adground images to pro\u00advide close-ups of details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The chase between the dog and the frog in Tues\u00adday\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, the basic gram\u00admar of com\u00adic book sto\u00adry\u00adtelling is quite sim\u00adi\u00adlar to that of pic\u00adture books, as both use pic\u00adtures to tell sto\u00adries and fol\u00adlow cer\u00adtain com\u00admon con\u00adven\u00adtions. For exam\u00adple, the sense of direc\u00adtion: usu\u00adal\u00adly, mov\u00ading from left to right on the page is the direc\u00adtion of progress, and vice ver\u00adsa is usu\u00adal\u00adly back\u00adward. In this book, the frog army\u2019s direc\u00adtion is basi\u00adcal\u00adly from left to right, giv\u00ading the impres\u00adsion of advanc\u00ading all the way. In the fourth part, \u201c4:38 AM,\u201d the scene where the big dog encoun\u00adters a frog fly\u00ading low is par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly typ\u00adi\u00adcal in terms of direc\u00adtion. First, the frog flies from left to right, then the big dog sud\u00adden\u00adly darts out from the right side of the screen, the frog grabs a lotus leaf to brake, and then turns and runs away; at this point, the direc\u00adtion is from right to left. Turn\u00ading to the next page, the frog army comes to help, chas\u00ading the big dog away; at this point, the direc\u00adtion becomes for\u00adward from left to right again. This sense of direc\u00adtion is a com\u00admon con\u00adven\u00adtion in visu\u00adal sto\u00adry\u00adtelling, but pic\u00adture books empha\u00adsize the effect of turn\u00ading pages more; the pre\u00advi\u00adous page cre\u00adates sus\u00adpense, and turn\u00ading to the next page may bring sur\u00adpris\u00ades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, let\u2019s talk about the sec\u00adond type of ele\u00adment David loved grow\u00ading up: fan\u00adta\u00adsy films, espe\u00adcial\u00adly sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion. As men\u00adtioned ear\u00adli\u00ader, David\u2019s favorite techniques\u2014distortion and using dis\u00adpro\u00adpor\u00adtion\u00adate size com\u00adpar\u00adisons to cre\u00adate mag\u00adi\u00adcal effects\u2014stemmed part\u00adly from his pre\u00adferred sur\u00adre\u00adal\u00adist paint\u00ading style and part\u00adly from direct bor\u00adrow\u00ading from sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion films. His view\u00ading of *2001: A Space Odyssey* when he was around 13 years old had a pro\u00adfound influ\u00adence on his life\u2019s work. In *Tues\u00adday*, the scene where the frogs arrive in town on lotus leaves direct\u00adly bor\u00adrows from the space\u00adship shots in the film. So, read\u00aders can try to imag\u00adine them\u00adselves mak\u00ading a movie, trac\u00ading these scenes, and imag\u00adin\u00ading how they were \u201cfilmed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Com\u00adpare: 2001: A Space Odyssey and Tues\u00adday.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When cre\u00adat\u00ading such works, David Wies\u00adner typ\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly does\u00adn\u2019t write a man\u00adu\u00adscript first. Instead, he con\u00adceives the image in his mind and then sketch\u00ades it into a series of small drafts\u2014the kind of sto\u00adry\u00adboards or shot sketch\u00ades often used in film\u00admak\u00ading and ani\u00adma\u00adtion. To cre\u00adate a real\u00adis\u00adtic effect, he makes small mod\u00adels, such as frogs or lotus leaves, sketch\u00ading them from dif\u00adfer\u00adent angles and adding light\u00ading to achieve a very real\u00adis\u00adtic inter\u00adplay of light and shad\u00adow. For him, cre\u00adat\u00ading such a book is almost like writ\u00ading, direct\u00ading, and film\u00ading a short movie him\u00adself. If you\u2019ve seen *2001: A Space Odyssey*, you know that the film has very lit\u00adtle dia\u00adlogue; there\u2019s not a sin\u00adgle line in the first 20 min\u00adutes. David Wies\u00adner has long desired to cre\u00adate visu\u00adal nar\u00adra\u00adtives that require vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly no text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s talk about the third ele\u00adment he loved grow\u00ading up: draw\u00ading. His fas\u00adci\u00adna\u00adtion with art began at a very young age, but his inter\u00adests changed at dif\u00adfer\u00adent stages. Ini\u00adtial\u00adly, he adored clas\u00adsi\u00adcal painters like Michelan\u00adge\u00adlo and Leonar\u00addo da Vin\u00adci. As he grew old\u00ader, he fell in love with mod\u00adern artists like Dali, Picas\u00adso, and Magritte. As you may know, the British pic\u00adture book mas\u00adter Antho\u00adny Browne also adored sur\u00adre\u00adal\u00adist painters like Dali and Magritte. He often paid homage to these mas\u00adters in his works. For exam\u00adple, in Antho\u00adny Browne\u2019s debut book, *Through the Mag\u00adic Mir\u00adror*, there\u2019s a pic\u00adture of choir boys float\u00ading in the sky. That pic\u00adture is based on Magrit\u00adte\u2019s famous paint\u00ading *Gor\u00adcon\u00adda*, where a group of men wear\u00ading bowler hats float in the air. You see, in David Wies\u00adner\u2019s illus\u00adtra\u00adtions, this scene becomes frogs sit\u00adting on lotus leaves, float\u00ading in the air! There\u00adfore, look\u00ading at *Tues\u00adday* from a sur\u00adre\u00adal\u00adist per\u00adspec\u00adtive, bor\u00adrow\u00ading a per\u00adspec\u00adtive sim\u00adi\u00adlar to Antho\u00adny Browne\u2019s \u201cshape play,\u201d might reveal many new dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00adies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside pages of Antho\u00adny Browne\u2019s \u201cThrough the Mag\u00adic Mir\u00adror\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion page for *Tues\u00adday* reads \u201cDed\u00adi\u00adcat\u00aded to Tom Sculls.\u201d Who is this per\u00adson? Tom Sculls was a painter and a senior pro\u00adfes\u00adsor at the Rhode Island School of Design, who had a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant influ\u00adence on David Wies\u00adner\u2019s art. David ini\u00adtial\u00adly tried oil paint\u00ading in col\u00adlege, but always seemed to strug\u00adgle. Final\u00adly, under Pro\u00adfes\u00adsor Sculls\u2019 guid\u00adance, he regained his con\u00adfi\u00addence in water\u00adcol\u00ador paint\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sum\u00adma\u00adrize, Tues\u00adday may seem unin\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtive, but it\u2019s incred\u00adi\u00adbly fun and engag\u00ading, packed with engag\u00ading ele\u00adments. Per\u00adhaps its great\u00adest strength is its abil\u00adi\u00adty to spark young read\u00aders\u2019 curios\u00adi\u00adty, and the sto\u00adry\u2019s con\u00adtent large\u00adly depends on what the read\u00ader dis\u00adcov\u00aders with\u00adin the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When it was first pub\u00adlished, David Wies\u00adner was a lit\u00adtle uneasy. He wor\u00adried that par\u00adents or teach\u00aders would com\u00adplain that \u201cthis book is a bit scary\u201d or \u201cit fright\u00adened the chil\u00addren,\u201d but he lat\u00ader dis\u00adcov\u00adered that teach\u00aders loved it. The main rea\u00adson was that the book was per\u00adfect for encour\u00adag\u00ading chil\u00addren to express them\u00adselves. After all, there are no stan\u00addard answers in a word\u00adless book; just say what\u00adev\u00ader you see, with\u00adout fear of mak\u00ading mis\u00adtakes. Grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly, many adults also loved the book. Pre\u00adcise\u00adly because it has no words, every\u00adone found their own mean\u00ading in the sto\u00adry. So you see, the less stan\u00addard the answer, the more it stim\u00adu\u00adlates peo\u00adple\u2019s imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s all for this book for now. We\u2019ll talk about the next book in the next episode.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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