Surviving cloudy days

… was the reason I painted it, after weeks without the sun. It wasn’t needed for long because soon after I finished it, it suddenly started to be sunny again. It still helped while I was working on it.

Perspective

YK 2019.

Life drawing

Life drawing at ARCSOC. It was hard for me to render my own perspective as I was busy trying to capture the individuality of the model and the pose. I often feel similar trade-off between the artist’s style and the uniqueness of the object. (Compare, for example, Picasso’s early, realistic paintings vs. his late cubist paintings.) I wish I could find a way to capture both. Do you feel such tension when you draw? If so, how do you deal with it?

Repainted: Hanging On

I painted the background with watercolor and removed flaky strokes of pastel.

I’m not sure whether I should retouch gibbons. They also have pastel strokes but to me it seems less jarring than in the background. What do you think – shall I retouch the gibbons to make it look finished?

Thank you very much, everyone, for helpful advice! I think I will submit both this one and the other one. The deadline is today and the most pressing question for me is whether to retouch the gibbons. I’d appreciate your feedback!

YK 2019.

 

Compare Colors: Home

In the above, I tried colors different from the previous one (below), which was more vivid. The call is for an exhibition for homeless people, and I think some gravity is due. I still don’t want to make it taken for granted by expressing gravity with sad colors, so I’m trying to find a right balance. What do you think – how would you compare this one with the previous one (below)?

Full Speed (criss-cross) / 앞으로 앞으로 (옆으로 옆으로)

I started this one with a serious tone, but it wasn’t fun – it felt like being absorbed in a problem, without being able to observe it. So I made a new version with a lighter (nonchalant?) touch. I also added a company, because I thought the protagonist can’t be alone in his struggle. Which version do you like better?

그림을 시작할 때는 심각한 분위기로 잡았는데, 재미가 없었다. 문제를 바라보기보다 문제에 파묻히는 것 같았기 때문이다. 그래서 더 가볍고 어쩌면 무심한 듯한 분위기로 그려보았다. 주인공 혼자서 겪는 문제는 아닐 것 같아서, 사람도 하나 더 넣었다. 어느 버전이 더 좋으신지 궁금하다.

Me and my spirit / 나와 내 영혼

Encouraged after our first collaboration, my daughter and I worked on another story. Again she wrote the story, and I illustrated it:

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One fall evening couldn’t be more peculiar. The sky was grey with weird bits of bobs that looked like hard bits of rock.

My spirit tugged my sleeve. I sensed she was scared. Since I was scared, too, I broke into a run. But as I did, something most extraordinary happened. My body slowly rose off the ground. It was so silent you could even hear a feather drop off a bird’s wing. A second later, I was in a different world.

The sky wasn’t grey any more. It was the most creamy type of yellow you could ever see. As I describe this, the smell was unbreathable. Even though the smell was disgusting, I decided to find something or someone to entertain me. As I lifted my head up, I was shocked to see a funky looking eye staring at me. It was big and floating. Something about it made me scared. At least I had my spirit inside me to keep me going. I finally made up my mind to ask:

“What’s your name, and what are you doing here?”

After a short silence, it said:

“Why should I tell you?”

The voice reminded me of a robot that was almost rusted.

“I don’t see why not. I’ll start first. My name is Roberta Smith Jenkins. But of course you’ll say your own name.

“I don’t know what I’m doing here with my spirit. You see I’m new to this country. Can’t you show me around?”

All this talking was making my throat dry.

“My nam i 1BZA47. Im hee fo a inaor”

I guessed he said “I am here for an invader.” But who would it be?

My legs had pins and needles in them, so I decided to stand up. Just then, I heard a siren and to my surprise, I was stuck in a red blob!

– Written by EK, illustrated by YK

첫번째 협동작품 뒤에 힘을 얻어, 딸이 쓰고 내가 그림을 그린 또다른 이야기이다:

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어느 가을 저녁은 더할 나위 없이 이상했다. 하늘은 돌조각을 흩어놓은 듯 잿빛이었다.

내 영혼이 소매를 끌었다. 영혼이 겁먹은 것을 알았다. 나도 무서웠기 때문에 달리기 시작했다. 그러는 동안, 이상한 일이 일어났다. 몸이 땅에서 점점 떠오르기 시작한 것이다. 너무 조용해서, 새 날개에서 깃털이 떨어지는 것도 들렸을 것이다. 금세, 나는 다른 세상에 와 있었다.

하늘은 더이상 잿빛이 아니었다. 가장 크림색같은 노랑이라고 해야 할 것이다. 냄새가 맡을 수 없이 지독했다. 냄새는 고약했지만, 같이 놀 사람이나 물건을 찾기로 했다. 고개를 들자, 희한하게 생긴 눈이 나를 쳐다보고 있어 깜짝 놀랐다. 크고 떠다니는 눈이었다. 어쩐지 무서웠다. 그래도 내 속에 영혼이 있어 용기를 낼 수 있었다. 큰 맘을 먹고 물었다:

“이름이 뭐니? 뭐 하고 있니?”

잠시 후, 눈이 대답했다:

“내가 왜 대답해야 하지?”

녹슨 로봇 같은 목소리였다.

“대답 안 할 이유는 없는 것 같아. 나부터 시작할게. 나는 로버타 스미스 젠킨스야. 물론 너도 네 이름을 말해주겠지. 난 여기서 내 영혼과 함께 뭘 하고 있는지 모르겠어. 이 나라에 처음인데 안내를 부탁해도 될까?”

말하느라 목이 건조해지고 있었다.

“내 이르은 1BZA47 야. 나느 치입자 때무에 와어”

아마 “나는 침입자 때문에 왔어”라고 한 것 같았다. 하지만 침입자가 누구일까?

다리가 쑤셔서 일어나기로 했다. 그때, 사이렌이 울리고, 눈 깜짝할 사이에 나는 붉은 방울 안에 갇혀 버렸다!

My horrible birthday / 비참한 생일

My daughter wants to write multi-volume stories, which turned out to be a daunting task, for anyone including an eight-year-old. So I suggested she start with a short one that fits within a page or two. She was not entirely happy with the restriction, but we made a deal that I would illustrate her story every time she finishes one. So here’s the first one (fiction, that is):

Me and my dad went out to buy some ice-cream because… it was my birthday! Dad didn’t look that happy to buy me an ice-cream. I guess that’s because he thinks it’s unhealthy.

I got a triple scoop of chocolate ice-cream on my mega sprinkle cone. After I said “Thank you”, we headed home.

But then, something terrible happened. I tripped over a rock, and went flying with my ice-cream onto another street. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt badly, but my poor ice-cream became a sticky brown puddle with a lump. Dad was smiling when he came over to me. It seemed like he was so happy I dropped the ice-cream. I cried even more, I cried until we got home.

– Written by EK / Illustrated by YK

딸이 여러 권짜리 이야기를 쓰고 싶어하는데, 곧 8살 어린이를 포함해 누구에게나 어려운 일인 것으로 드러났다. 그래서 한두 페이지 안에 끝나는 짧은 이야기로 시작해 보라고 했다. 딸은 길이 제한을 좋아하지는 않았지만, 이야기를 하나 마칠 때마다 내가 그림을 그려 주기로 하자 승낙했다. 그 첫번째 이야기이다 (픽션이다):

나와 아빠가 아이스크림을 사러갔다. 왜냐하면… 내 생일이었기 때문이다! 아빠는 아이스크림 사 주는 게 그리 좋지 않은가 보았다. 건강에 나쁘다고 생각해서일 것이다.

나는 스프링클 콘에 초코 아이스크림을 세 덩이나 받았다. “감사합니다!”하고 말한 뒤 집으로 향했다.

그런데 그 때, 너무한 일이 일어났다. 내가 돌에 걸려 넘어져서, 아이스크림과 함께 거리 위로 날아간 것이다. 다행히 크게 다치지는 않았지만, 내 불쌍한 아이스크림은 봉우리가 있는 끈적한 갈색 웅덩이가 되어버렸다. 아빠는 내게 왔을 때 웃음짓고 있었다. 내가 아이스크림을 떨어뜨려서 너무 행복한 것 같았다. 나는 더 울었다. 집에 갈 때까지 울었다.

– 이야기 EK / 번역, 그림 YK