Books // Professional Category Winner
WIA2016
OVERALL PROFESSSIONAL WINNER
Promenade
Commissioned by Chun Sang-Hyun for Sang Publishing
Jungho Lee studied graphic design at Hongik University in Seoul. After undergraduate, he has worked as an illustrator for various media since 2007. Recently, he has focused on works for books and making a picture book.
About Entry
The illustrations submitted for AOI are part of 21 images for a book 'Promenade' published from Sang Publishing in April 2016. I have got brilliant experience as an illustrator through this project for a year and I am very honored to receive AOI award. It will be a great encouragement and motivation for my works in the future.
website
leejungho.com
Brief
Publisher proposed this book 'Promenade' inspired from two of my illustrations which worked before. At that time, I had worked on many illustrations that related to the subject of 'book' that I had kept record my ideas and sketches for long time. These collected works were motivated making a picture book and edited for a unique book with my added writing. The overlap theme of each images are surreal image of 'book' which help us to expand endless imagination about 'book'.
Materials
Charcoal, water colour, gouache, many kind of hot pressed papers and computer.
Research
I am usually interested in surrealism of visual language so I tried to study again a kind of surrealism artists such as René Magritte for my project. Especially, I have inspired from German artist Quint Buchholz because he already had worked many paintings about the theme of 'book'. I tried to study his works deeply because I had to avoid same composition when I compared with his works. The most important thing was to find a good composition for a good matching with message through each illustrations, so I tried to throw a light on a book with many angle for observation and to compose with many kind of books as standing, folding and opening a book.
Process
First, I usually draw a basic idea of an image which was tried with a rough sketch and I start to draw a detail of image from one of the best rough sketch on a big paper. I usually describe with graphite or charcoal on the separated paper which based on the rough sketch. It is a step to gain many layers for the final completed image by scanneing them through the computer. Each of these elements can be coloured digitally but sometimes this process changed with different ways like a hand-drawing painting.
Resistances
One of the main concerns is how to show my spread image for a audience when it is opened. At last, I decided a big layout size even though the image is separated with left and right side on a book. The limited space is difficult to avoid drawing an image in the middle of book due to folding.
Insight
I could have confidence from these works and implicative images can convey much more meaning to audience. And I realised that the implied image demand a process of verified from illustrator's practice for many time.
Distractions
Taking a walk along the Han river, playing classical guitar, listening to ambient music.
Numbers
Countless pieces of illustration, a picture book, twelve month.
Afterwords
I'm very delighted and honoured to receive one of the best illustration award in the world.
I'd like to share this honour with Sang Publishing.