“This drawing was done for a solo exhibition
curated by Daniel Maghen in France. I went
with a concept that has both Korean and
oriental themes, which audiences from
different cultures can sympathise with.
A dragon is an imaginary animal. It’s
present in both eastern and western cultures,
but looks slightly different in each. I wanted
to draw a dragon and disassemble it.
The dragon is the drawing’s main focal
point. I made my story more interesting by
adding a whole range of figures to tell more
stories within a single composition. You cansee the disconnect between elite and
common citizens.
I place the main storyline in the centre of
the canvas: the protagonist who hunted the
dragon. I then added stories about his family.
The scene shows that catching the dragon
was quite challenging. And the story
continues with his wife and children, who
are worried about him, the people who take
the dragon apart and the various tools they
use, the people carrying away parts of the
dragon, and so on. I spread out small stories
within the bigger picture.”PicturinG the aFtermath
oF a draGon’s death
Gi’s skills as the consummate storyteller are on show in this intricate
illustration that’s full of compelling narratives... and a dead dragonArtist Portfolio
38 August 2017
and a comic book illustrator
known and loved by people who’ve
never read a comic. His clients include
DC, Marvel, Riot Games and Universal
Pictures. And Gi being Gi, he can
remember the moment it all began.A quiet oBserver
He didn’t play games as a child. He
preferred watching other children
playing. He liked to observe his
environment, to take it all in. As a boy,
he saw an illustration on the cover of a
manga series called Dr. Slump, drawn
by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama.
Gi was fascinated by complicated
things, particularly machinery. He
drew these things, dismantling and
rebuilding them in ink. He’d always