DRAWING
TECHNIQUES
Kim Jung Gi projects himself into his imagination
and visualises a scene before bringing it to life
I’m often asked questions
along the lines of, “How
do you draw without a
reference?” and “Do you
have a photographic
memory?” In this workshop, I hope to
answer these questions by taking you
step by step through my creative process.
I’ll explain my thinking process, and
how I pre-visualise an image before
placing the first stroke on the paper.
Ever since I was little, I’ve always
enjoyed drawing. These days it doesn’t
matter what I draw or what I’ve been
asked to draw – I still truly enjoy the
simple act of putting marks on paper.
Growing up, I carried out direct
observation studies, doodling things
that were of interest to me. For instance,
while saving up to buy a bicycle, I would
draw a bicycle from many angles on my
sketchbook, notepad and even on the
table cover! After a few days I would
have a visual library of the essence of a
bicycle and how it was constructed. Yes,
observation from life is important, butI believe that understanding the very
nature of an object is crucial when
studying art.
Believe it or not, I used to do detailed
construction drawings, and inked them
just like any other artist. After countless
years of training, one day I realised that
I could draw and paint without any
preliminary drawing. And I’ve taken this
approach ever since.
Once I have an idea of what to draw,
I embark on the first step of my process.
I call it “f loating in the atmosphere”.
I start placing elements in the space that
defines the overall theme, and f loat like
a bird above the scene and observe
which angle will best serve my story.
Then I place myself in the scene, walk
around and see which angle will have
the best shot at delivering my message to
the viewer. All this takes place before a
single line stroke. Now I’ll take you
through my drawing process and how
I decide what to draw first. Then I’ll
show you how I build my values in the
line drawing using a single pen.1
Placing a storyteller in the composition
I draw a circle using a pencil to define the canvas area. Then I start on my focal point: the main character
who’s wearing a VR headset. I want my composition to revolve around this figure because he’s the storyteller.Traditional Skills
GET YOUR
RESOURCES
See page 8 now!Kim Jung Gi
LOCATION: South Korea
Kim’s most notable
creative asset is his
memory, something
he’s developed over a
number of years. He has
the ability to render
extremely complicated
scenes near-perfectly,
without the aid of
references. Kim has six
sketchbooks in print,
which equate to about
4,500 pages’ worth of
drawings over 12 years.
http://www.kimjunggius.comArtist
PROFILEWorkshops