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Oliver Jeffers, Story-teller

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I love this whole video. And I really love the little peeks into his sketchbooks. And his compulsion to both tell and illustrate stories simultaneously. There’s something of a Wes Anderson aesthetic to all of this, but more free-seeming. I love the listing and the crossing-off-of-listing and the drawers and the labeling.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/57472271 w=400&h=300]

He has a new website, but it’s not up yet. I learned about him through SHARE SOME CANDY, but I’d like to see more.

He has some things up here: www.oliverjeffers.com. There are a bunch of projects and books and even some interesting paintings up on his site, but what I really want to see are more of those sketchbooks! Plus he’s pretty dreamy, so seeing more of him wouldn’t be bad, either. BowchickabowWow.

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He has some nice little doodles in the “Illustration for Me” section on his website. The real gold, however, is in peeking into his sketchbooks: Sketchbook 2. I seriously adore every spread….

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I think part of why I like his work so much is that he has great handwriting. I am always interested in/jealous of great handwriting. What do I mean by “great handwriting?” Well, I believe it has something to do with being happy-looking, bubbly, in a sense. The letters are irregular in size, shape and height. But there is something clean and neat about it. There is something child-like about the form, but not in a negative sense. Perhaps, great handwriting is handwriting that looks hopeful and curious and investigative in a Harriet-the-Spy sort of way.

“I’ll tell stories to anyone who’s listening. And sometimes to people who aren’t.”

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2 thoughts on “Oliver Jeffers, Story-teller”

  1. Hi thanks for finding and sharing Oliver Jeffrey’s web site. I have had a look around his current site and really liked his work and find it so imaginative, what an amazing range he has – books, paintings, animation.

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