Best of 2019

Last year, I drew with dip pens and sketched more on site. I also tried weaving in stories, be it on science or others.

Next year, I’d like to try one-cut cartoons, starting from re-drawing classics, and hopefully at some point weaving in more from my day job, neuroscience and cognitive science. I know this part of my resolution is the same as last year’s. I found it difficult to start from vacuum, and that’s why I want to start from reinterpreting existing works.

What’s your new year’s resolution?

Links to the original:

1. Reflection
2. Aerialist
3. Build
4. Jack O’Lantern Sleeping Rough
5. Hanging On
6. Horgous
7. An Unexpected View
8. Full Speed (Criss-Cross)
9. Boxer at Rest

An Unexpected View (+ Ink)

I added ink to the original pencil drawing. I wasn’t sure how to deal with the complex lines of the trees – if I were to draw them all with pen, they would have overshadowed the church. So I tried wash and exaggerated the contrast. The moleskin paper was too thin to take the heavy wash but I was happy with the depth from the wash. The drawing started unexpected anyway.

Sketched on site. Pen and wash afterwards. YK 2019.

An Unexpected View

The city center of Cambridge is usually busy with tourists and shoppers during weekends, so if I have to shop, I usually scramble to get out of the center as soon as possible. But this time I decided to take my time and check out a cafe my friend recommended. The inside was full and steamy, so I had to take a seat outside, and funny enough, only then I noticed the view of The Round Church, the 800-year-old church that I have long wanted to visit.

The air was hazy and cool, and as I drew, someone knocked on the cafe window behind me. An elderly couple smiled and raised their thumbs. It was a sweet unexpected excursion in the middle of the busy city.

Boxer at Rest / 쉬고 있는 복싱 선수

The weary boxer in bronze was excavated in Rome. His photo when he was found looked as if he was taking a short rest after a bout of work.

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Sunday Morning at Pool Cafe / 일요일 아침 수영장 까페에서

A public space can be quietly inspiring when it has seats enough to be half empty. If I were an urban architect, I would add seats just so that they can be empty most of the times. Just like desks need more wood than fits a book and beds more than fits a body.

공공장소에 자리가 반쯤 비어 있으면 조용한 영감을 얻는다. 내가 도시를 설계한다면, 대개는 비어있을 수 있도록 자리를 더 놓겠다. 책상이 책보다는 커야 하고 침대가 몸보다는 커야 하듯이.