S1E54 - Iain McCaig - Storytelling from the Chocolate Box

Why are some of us drawn to scary stories?  “Because we want to believe that we are strong enough to survive being scared.”  In peeking into that dark side, we cultivate empathy.  Few have had a bigger role in constructing imaginary worlds than renowned concept artist Iain McCaig.  His work is truly the stuff of legend.  We found his zest for illustration, telling stories, the creative process and living a creative life to be nothing short of infectious.  Accountable only to his own validation, McCaig is an exemplar of living fully and illuminating a path for the rest of us to follow.  We spoke of his illustrious career and his esteemed colleagues, as well as his myriad creative projects past, present and future.   Unencumbered by a quest for truth, McCaig cannot NOT tell stories that make people smile.  Despite, or perhaps because of, being left to live alone at 14 and surviving a heart attack, he is only afraid of being afraid. He left us with an irrepressible urge to draw our own stories - a skill, he insists, that we all possess. Join us to catch that itch.

Biography

Iain McCaig divides his energies between a lifelong love of storytelling, and a passionate belief that everyone in the world can learn to draw.

As of 2021, McCaig has worked for 43 years in the entertainment industry.  Many of his creations have become pop-culture icons, like his cover for Jethro Tull’s ‘Broadsword and the Beast’ or his Star Wars designs for Queen Amidala and Darth Maul.  He has created art for games, from LucasArts ’The Secret of Monkey Island’ to Respawn’s ’Titanfall’, and for many films, among them ’Terminator 2’, ‘Interview With The Vampire’, ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’, ‘Hook’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Charlotte’s Web’, ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, ’The Avengers’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’, Disney’s live-action ’The Jungle Book’, and the ongoing 'Star Wars' movies, as well as designs for the 'Star Wars: The High Republic’ graphic novels, and ’Star War: Galaxy’s Edge’ theme parks. 

In his spare time, McCaig writes, produces and directs, and wanders the land encouraging people to draw and tell stories.  In 2008, Palace Press published ’Shadowline: the Art of Iain McCaig’, a combination of 28 years of McCaig’s commercial and private artwork, a mini-course in how-to-draw, and a fictionalized expose of his creative process.

In May 2008, Spectrum Fantastic Art gave McCaig their GRAND MASTER Award, and in September 2021, the Concept Art Association honored him with a LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Award.

Conversation recorded on October 6, 2023.