Thalamus: The Art of Dave McKean
retrospective-art-book · First published 2023
Author guide
Dave McKean Books in Order
Dave McKean is an English artist, writer, photographer, graphic novelist, illustrator, designer, musician, and filmmaker. He is best known for his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, including Violent Cases, Signal to Noise, and Mr. Punch, as well as for his own graphic novels Cages, Celluloid, Black Dog, and Raptor. His work combines drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, and digital media. He has also created photography books, travel sketchbooks, art books, film-related works, and experimental comics collections.
graphic novelsexperimental comicsart booksphotographyillustrated booksnonfiction
Catalog record updated .
Dave McKean's Newest Book
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Cages
Dave McKean's major wholly self-authored graphic novel and a strong introduction to his mixed-media storytelling.
Violent Cases
A concise, foundational collaboration with Neil Gaiman that established McKean's distinctive graphic style.
Pictures That Tick
The clearest entry point into McKean's short-form comics and experimental visual narratives.
Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash
A mature synthesis of graphic storytelling, painting, photography, music, and performance.
Read in order
Books by series
graphic-collection · complete
Pictures That Tick
Collections of Dave McKean's short comics, visual narratives, and experimental sequential works.
- 1 Pictures That Tick
Book 1 · graphic-story-collection · 2000
- 2 Pictures That Tick 2: Exhibition
Book 2 · graphic-story-collection · 2015
tarot-art-book · complete
The Particle Tarot
Dave McKean's photographic and visual interpretations of the Major and Minor Arcana.
- 1 The Particle Tarot: The Major Arcana
Book 1 · photography-book · 2000
- 2 The Particle Tarot: The Minor Arcana
Book 2 · photography-book · 2006
travel-sketchbook · ongoing
Postcard Sketchbooks
An ongoing series of Dave McKean's travel sketchbooks.
- 1 Postcard from Brussels
Book 1 · travel-sketchbook · 2009
- 2 Postcard from Paris
Book 2 · travel-sketchbook · 2008
- 3 Postcard from Barcelona
Book 3 · travel-sketchbook · unkn
- 4 Postcard from Vienna
Book 4 · travel-sketchbook · unkn
- 5 Postcard from Bilbao
Book 5 · travel-sketchbook · 2012
- 6 Postcard from Perugia
Book 6 · travel-sketchbook · 2011
- 7 Postcard from Prague
Book 7 · travel-sketchbook · unkn
- 8 Postcard from Venice
Book 8 · travel-sketchbook · unkn
- 9 Postcard from Copenhagen
Book 9 · travel-sketchbook · unkn
graphic-novel · ongoing
Sokol
An ongoing graphic-novel series featuring the traveler and hunter Sokol.
- 1 Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel
Book 1 · graphic-novel · 2021
A visual tour-de-force graphic novel from artist and writer Dave McKean (Black Dog, The Sandman). The Raptor, Sokol, flickers between two worlds: a feudal fantastical landscape where he must hunt prey to survive, and Wales in the late…
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (8)
- Violent Cases
graphic-novella · 1987
"Before The Sandman, there was Violent Cases, the first teaming of multi award-winning writer Neil Gaiman and innovative artist Dave McKean. Now, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this seminal work, Violent Cases is being re-issued in…
- Black Orchid
graphic-novel · 1988
Both human and flower, the heroine, Black Orchid, undertakes a hazardous journey to uncover her true origins, providing a moving ecological parable for our times.
- Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
graphic-novel · 1989
In this groundbreaking, painted graphic novel, the inmates of Arkham Asylum have taken over Gotham's detention center for the criminally insane on April Fools' Day, demanding Batman in exchange for their hostages. Accepting their demented…
- Signal to Noise
graphic-novel · 1992
A film director is dying of cancer. His greatest film would have told the story of a European village as the last hour of 999 AD approached—bringing Armageddon. Now that story will never be told. But he’s still working it out in his head,…
- The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch: A Romance
graphic-novel · 1994
"A dark and frightening fully painted novella, Mr. Punch tells the tale of a young boy's loss of innocence results from a horrific confrontation with his past. Spending a summer at his grandfather's seaside arcade, a troubled adolescent…
- Cages
graphic-novel · 1998
An allegorical tale of apartment dwellers, a painter, a novelist, and a musician, each with their own lives and their own opinions about life in general. Their stories intertwine and relate to each other in many ways. God, jazz, sex, and…
- Celluloid
graphic-novel · 2011
- Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash
graphic-novel · 2016
Short fiction (1)
- Prompt: Conversations with AI
graphic-story-collection · 2022
Collaborations (1)
- Slow Chocolate Autopsy: Incidents from the Notorious Career of Norton, Prisoner of London
collaborative-prose-and-art-book · 1997
Norton, the hero, travels through London's underbelly trapped in space but not in time. He is present to witness dark deeds from Deptford at the time of Marlowe's death and in the East Endduring the sixties watching the murder of Jack th…
Other (9)
- Voodoo Lounge
art-book · 1995
- A Small Book of Black and White Lies
photography-book · 1995
- Option:Click
photography-book · 1998
- The Alchemy of MirrorMask
art-book · 2005
- An Ape's Progress
artists-book · 2015
- Apophenia
art-book · 2018
- Caustic
art-book · 2019
- Thalamus: The Art of Dave McKean
retrospective-art-book · 2023
- Squink
drawing-collection · unkn
Frequently asked questions about Dave McKean
Who is Dave McKean?
Dave McKean is an artist, writer, photographer, illustrator, designer, musician, and filmmaker whose work combines drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, and digital media.
When and where was Dave McKean born, and where did he study?
He was born in Taplow, Berkshire, in 1963, and studied at Berkshire College of Art and Design from 1982 to 1986.
How did Dave McKean work with Neil Gaiman?
McKean met Neil Gaiman in 1986, and they first collaborated on Violent Cases. McKean also created the covers and design for Gaiman’s Sandman series, and directed the Gaiman-written film MirrorMask.
Sources: davemckean.com (opens in a new tab)neilgaiman.com (opens in a new tab)
What are Dave McKean’s main artistic influences?
McKean has cited surrealists and artists such as Max Ernst and Moebius, as well as Picasso, Francis Bacon, and Ralph Steadman. He has also described film, music, architecture, theatre, and everyday places as important influences.
What awards has Dave McKean won?
His honors include the 1991 World Fantasy Award for Artist, Harvey Awards for Cages, and the Victoria and Albert Museum Illustrated Book of the Year Award for Pictures That Tick.
Sources: worldfantasy.org (opens in a new tab)harveyawards.com (opens in a new tab)davemckean.com (opens in a new tab)