Chris Van Allsburg quotes

At first, I see pictures of a story in my mind. Then creating the story comes from asking questions of myself. I guess you might call it the 'what if - what then' approach to writing and illustration. (Chris Van Allsburg)
The inclination to believe in the fantastic may strike some as a failure in logic, or gullibility, but it's really a gift. A world that might have Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster is clearly superior to one that definitely does not.
Chris Van Allsburg
My ideas are not meant to suggest dreams or reality, but a surreal quality.
Chris Van Allsburg
I'm not a perfectionist. I'm just very observant.
Chris Van Allsburg
its not bad to be different. Sometimes it's the mark of being very very talented.
Chris Van Allsburg
As much as I'd like to meet the tooth fairy on an evening walk, I don't really believe it can happen.
Chris Van Allsburg
The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context of the ordinary is what's fascinating to me.
Chris Van Allsburg
The opportunity to create a small world between two pieces of cardboard, where time exists yet stands still, where people talk and I tell them what to say, is exciting and rewarding.
Chris Van Allsburg
I don't think ordinary things are very interesting, so I try to imagine a world that is less ordinary.
Chris Van Allsburg
An award does not change the quality of a book.
Chris Van Allsburg
The Polar Express is about faith, and the power of imagination to sustain faith. It's also about the desire to reside in a world where magic can happen, the kind of world we all believed in as children, but one that disappears as we grow older. (Chris Van Allsburg)
I pore over every word on the cereal box at breakfast, often more than once. You can ask me anything about shredded wheat.
Chris Van Allsburg
The Polar Express began with the idea of a train standing alone in the woods. I asked myself, What if a boy gets on that train? Where does he go?
Chris Van Allsburg
I think most people agree there is a component of skill in art making; you have to learn grammar before you learn how to write.
Chris Van Allsburg
There was a great deal of peer recognition to be gained in elementary school by being able to draw well. One girl could draw horses so well, she was looked upon as a kind of sorceress.
Chris Van Allsburg
Your house is all about routine, not the unexpected events of your life.
Chris Van Allsburg
Brainstorming, for me, takes place in my bed at night between the time I turn out my lights and I finally fall asleep. It is not a very violent storm, but what's happening is I am just thinking about different ideas and maybe things I've seen that day that I think might make a good story.
Chris Van Allsburg
I believe that there will be many things that happen to me in my life that I will not be able to explain. Some of those might be magic. I'm not sure.
Chris Van Allsburg
Some artists claim praise is irrelevant in measuring the success of art, but I think it's quite relevant. Besides, it makes me feel great.
Chris Van Allsburg
I've always thought of the book as a visual art form, and it should represent a single artistic idea, which it does if you write your own material.
Chris Van Allsburg
I write for what's left of the eight-year-old still rattling around inside my head. (Chris Van Allsburg)
There's definitely a value in being literate.
Chris Van Allsburg
At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.
Chris Van Allsburg
There must be something to think about at the end.
Chris Van Allsburg
Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can't see any reason to change the formula now.
Chris Van Allsburg