Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop!

Today’s topic is: Who is your favourite artist?

Remember to visit my fellow writers to see what they have created. You can find their works here!

I wracked my brain on this one. First, what makes an artist? Are we talking only about visual media – painting, sculpture, photography? Isn’t music and writing also art? And film, how can I forget film? So with all of these factors considered I’ve settled on one person – Tim Burton.

There are many talented artists, but Tim Burton has a style that has always resonated with me. Let’s go back to 1993, when a six-year-old Steven first saw The Nightmare Before Christmas. A stunning piece of stop-motion magic. The characters, the story and what I now know to be the unmistakable Tim Burton aesthetic.

This one film has become my singular favourite film, especially combined with the incredible soundtrack from Danny Elfman. Since then I’ve discovered so much of his other work, Edward Scissor Hands, Vincent, Beetlejuice, Mars Attacks, Batman – the man is a treasure trove of quirky, dark humour and gothic vibes. And of course his self-illustrated book, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.

Last year I also went and saw The World of Tim Burton at the Design Museum in London. There I learnt more about his beginnings, and the incredible breadth of his work as a filmmaker. I saw his writings, and the sketches, literally on napkins and beermats. These formed the early ideas for his films. And I also got to see his works as an artist and photographer. As I sit here writing this, I look up at a somewhat disturbing print of one of his works and it’s just incredible, you can see it here: