My Story and Your Story and Drawings

A Day before Holidays

2011-11-24T03:08:00.003-05:00

On Thanksgiving:

1. To my plain greeting "Happy thanksgiving,"at the end of the email, she wrote me back "Happy Gobble Gobble to you!" I was so amused. :)

2. Against my expectation that the printshop would be very slow right before the holiday weekends, it was more crowded than usual. Had to squeeze in to find a spot to ink my plate. One very delightful eavesdropping made me smile though.

...conversation on thanksgiving plan.
Student: It seems like no one is really talking about what they are thankful for.
Teacher: Let's hear what you are thankful for.
Student: Mmm....I'm really thankful that my parents are helping me out to go to college. It is extremely expensive. And I'm thankful that I can be an artist and do what I want to do.

3. In the meantime, there will be a happy gobble gobble tomorrow! There would be a lot of cleaning and cooking and another cleaning going on. Happy Thanksgiving for everyone! ;)

Website Update!!

2011-11-10T23:41:00.003-05:00

www.AramKim.com is now updated with new portfolio pieces, news, and new bio! Many thanks to Jungeun Ryu, who did all the work as wonderfully as usual!

Somehow I end up updating the website only once a year. I would definitely try to do, let's say, at least twice a year from 2012.

As I work more and more, I do realize that creating something is not only by the person who presents it, but by a lot of people's help and support. I couldn't have this website I love if I were on my own. I couldn't have possibly finished the Love...Jeju project without many friends' help with photos, references, technical support and advice. More and more I realize it, more and more I am drawn to a collaboration projects. I cannot wait for the next project, but it is time for me to work more on my personal works.

Hands

2011-10-23T02:34:00.004-04:00

Second and third drawing of Four drawing series of hands, which is included in the project Love... to be shown this Thursday at the Korean Cultural Service, NY, with the music by New York Classical Symphony (see the previous posting for more info on the event!).
Done by soft ground etching and aquatint, colored with color pencils and collage. I made the series specifically for this project, but the idea is growing and this hand series would be the next project I'm going to work on after I finish this show. Sakura from SVA printshop gave me such an inspiring idea on a new project, I can't wait to get it started. That is the most wonderful thing about this SVA printshop. Everyone shares ideas and inspires each other. What an awesome place! :)

Art with Music, 2nd Round, on October 27th, 7:30pm

2011-10-20T17:42:00.008-04:00

Collaboration Project Love... will be presented for the second time on October 27th, Thursday, 7:30pm at the Korean Cultural Service New York. It's located on 57th street, Park Avenue, 6th floor.
I am reworking on some pieces I used last time at 1 & 9 Gallery in New Jersey when we had the first showing. Deadline has been really tight for both times, but I was a little surprised to realize how much I enjoy the tight deadline...It would be only because I'm enjoying the project so much.
This will be mainly a concert by young and talented musicians from New York Classical Symphony. They are playing several pieces, including Piazzolla and Hendel, which I would update the program soon. The project Love... will be presented at the beginning of second half, with live music and video file of original drawings. I am working hard to include a new etching piece in the series.
Come enjoy the show! :)

*Here is the press release at the Korea Times on this event, if you read Korean. ;)

Collaboration with New York Classical Symphony Ensemble

2011-10-10T21:46:00.007-04:00

The collaboration project I was working on with young musicians from New York Classical Symphony Ensemble went great. The show was on last Thursday, October 6th, at the 1 & 9 Gallery in Ridgefield, NJ. 5 musicians played 15 minute long piece, titled Love..., composed by Byungjin Kim, who also played piano. It consisted of 8 movements and there was a vocalist for one of them. I had heard the piece with a music file before, which Byungjin made roughly for me by piano. I loved it, it was a beautiful piece, but I had never heard it played as an ensemble.

Since I was still working on making a video file (my friend Judy was making it, I was basically just sitting next to her. She stayed up all night for me working from 3pm to 9am to make a beautiful video file then went home in a state of being groggy..!!) on the night before the performance, I couldn't go to the musicians' rehearsal, which I was supposed to go to match up my video file with the music.

So it was basically the first time for me that I listened to the music played by the ensemble, at the very performance, while I was sitting right next to them controlling the computer to project my images on the wall of the gallery. I was truly amazed by their beautiful performance and couldn't believe I had a chance to create images to go with the music.

Despite some behind the scene obstacles, the performance went great, and now I have to work on the project more to make it better. Basically I finished five 30 x 22 pastel drawings in a month so far, and I'm planning to add some etching pieces to the project. Next performance has been scheduled on November 4th, Friday night, in Columbia University as a part of other events. We're hoping to have our own performance in which we would be the center of everything! Yay! :) I'm also hoping to have a chance to show my original pieces along with the video. Detailed information will be posted, and next time I will make sure to have some photos as well. ;) I didn't invite anyone this time (for some reasons,) and I was at the performance so I couldn't take any pictures. (Though they played two more pieces after the Love..., and I went into the audience to listen to them, I was so absorbed into the music, I couldn't think of taking photos..)

I was a little too tired by the first deadline for the first performance (it came quite all of a sudden, and I panicked!!), but I surely had so much fun. It is still on-going project and I still have a lot to do about it, but I am truly grateful for this great and exciting opportunity. A million thanks for the awesome musicians from New York Classical Symphony Ensemble and the composer Byungjin Kim who invited me to join the great project.

Horang Likes My Work!

2011-09-19T04:33:00.004-04:00

She comes, when I work on drawings and paintings.

She likes my work so much, she has to lick it.-.-

Being annoyed by my shooing her away from the painting, she soon turns her interest towards pretty colored water.

I usually lets Horang comes up to my working desk even while I'm working, but there were way too many open containers of pastels and palettes with paints and waters for brushes on the desk today. I constantly shooed Horang away and prevented her from jumping up to the desk, she was upset.

Aram's Picture Log Update Notice

2011-08-30T01:12:00.004-04:00

Just to keep separate functions of this blog and my tumblr site, Aram's Daily Picture Log will be only updated at http://aramdraws.tumblr.com from now on. This blog will remain as it was, being updated (only occasionally and quite lazily) with personal thoughts, some daily events or special events and more on my art work related issues (which should be updated more frequently!!).

Starting my daily picture log, the best gain is the refound joy of drawing and scribbling on a small sketchbook. For quite a long time, I grew apart from carrying a sketchbook around. I just felt lost when I opened a small sketchbook. But, not any more. I can't put my sketchbook away. :)

Sisters' Survival Kit for Hurricane

2011-08-28T18:26:00.001-04:00

Hurricane Irene, which put pretty much the whole city in a quite tense alert passed by. Spent the day yesterday with my sister getting ready for the emergency of losing water and electricity. We did have pretty much everything in hand, we just put them out to the kitchen table to be handy, filled lots of jars and containers with drinking water, cooked some food and stored them in case the gas won’t work.

Fortunately nothing so serious happened around this neighborhood. People started walking around by the late morning with grocery bags in hand. We had the radio on with people talking about the situations around them.

Wind is still very strong and it’s gray out, and of course we missed our usual grocery shopping at Sunday’s farmer’s market, but I think we could use our emergency food for regular meals now. In the meantime, since MTA stopped anyway, and since it’s still unclear when they would be back in service, I’m secretly hoping that I won’t have a transportation to work tomorrow.

Fireworks from Night Bus

2011-08-28T02:04:00.002-04:00

Aug.27.2011

One summer night, fireworks I saw from the inside of the bus. The best view of the fireworks that I’ve ever seen. So beautiful without any blockage, felt almost surreal in the darkness of the bus with only a few passengers looking at the fascinating colors bursting into the dark night sky.

Thinking that I should draw this when I get back home, I thought of this old fashioned way that I used to do in the elementary school. Using oil pastel, color with bright colors, cover them with black, and scrape over. Messy, but fun.

Good Girl Mode Horang

2011-08-27T03:17:00.003-04:00

Aug.26.2011

Sometimes when I’m awake in the morning, I found Horang at the foot of the bed, sleeping ever so peacefully. I like it when it happens because it doesn’t happen so often. Usual case is that she sleeps right next to my head then she wakes up earlier than I do, and (sometimes quite frantically and impatiently) wake me up. I’m quite persistent too, not to wake up, but Horang never gives up until she gets her breakfast whenever she wants. I know I’m not going to get a peaceful sleep until I walk with her to the kitchen and fill her bowl.

I love the feeling of softness and warmth of Horang when she cuddles right next to me, but especially in summer, I can’t help saying “Good girl!” (only inside) when I see her back of the head still sleeping, at the foot of my bed, which means that I am given one peaceful morning.

Rainy Day

2011-08-26T00:55:00.002-04:00

My eyelids were especially heavier this morning.. Maybe they predicted upcoming rain.

Spicy Chicken Sandwich Lunch!

2011-08-24T23:53:00.002-04:00

Aug.24.2011

Nothing can beat Zaiya’s Spicy chicken sandwich! Whenever I need to get some food near the museum, I go to Zaiya. I’ve tried other kinds of sandwiches and rice platters, too, just to get some varieties. I just always come back to Spicy chicken sandwich. Moreover, Zaiya serves the Seattle’s Best Coffee which is getting harder and harder to find since a lot of Border’s Bookstores are closing down.

Alessandra joined me and my sister today at lunch. When we sat around the table on the side of the New York Public Library, we found out that all of us were having the same menu- Spicy chicken sandwich! With the salmon color spicy sauce all flooding out, it makes one look pretty messy. But none of us got embarrassed today because all of us were quite messy with the sauce!

Most importantly, it was the beautiful, beautiful weather. Nothing can beat the lunch outside with good people in the beautiful weather (especially if you were staring at the computer screen for hours all morning indoors) !

Gouache paints

2011-08-23T16:08:00.003-04:00

While I was ordering more colored pencils online this afternoon, I dragged out a bag of gouache paints I used to use and went through them. Gouache had been one of my primary medium while I was at school, but I grew apart from them after graduation thinking I wouldn’t want to afford expensive paints any more. During 2 years, I didn’t miss them much, but occasionally I did.

Just couple of weeks ago, I came across some works of Cornelis Dusart, dutch painter, and I suddenly had this desire to go back to gouache painting. So here I was, going through old gouache paint tubes and put them in three groups, to keep, to toss, to replace. Thankfully, most of paints were in good shapes despite my horrible treatment they didn’t deserve. Some paints needed to be tossed because they were like bricks inside the tube. Some paints needed to be replaced with new ones because they were like bricks but I needed them for sure.

But on a second thought, I wouldn’t toss any of them.

Bitter Day

2011-07-01T00:13:00.005-04:00

From one of my favorite illustrators, snowcat's blog. (I have been a big fan of her for over 10 years now!)
About the feeling of bitterness of life.

"one can taste a bitterness of life even by just making sure of one had already known."

Sometimes it is rather surprising, how many pleasant things and unpleasant things could happen during just one day. I could just let everything go without feeling so much of anything while I could be very up and down again and again. I choose the former, for my own sake. Maybe I would become a better artist if I chose the latter.

A Beautiful Death: cover essay by Peter Daszak on Spring Has Gone

2011-06-26T02:43:00.005-04:00

Last year, I participated in the art competition at the EcoHealth 2010 Conference. So very gratefully I received the first prize and Spring Has Gone was to be published on the cover of EcoHealth Journal. The publish was delayed for awhile then I kind of forgot to check on it this year.

When I all of a sudden remembered and went back to their site to check, contents were updated and seemed to have been already published. That wasn't the most exciting part yet. When I clicked to read the cover essay by Peter Daszak, A Beautiful Death, then read it, I just sat there for awhile, motionless. It was a quiet and calm, yet very very beautiful and strong writing and very deep thoughts in it.

Most artists make art because they have something to say. Something they are eager to tell others. Something they desire to express. However, it is not easy for artists to meet the audiences who catch what artists wanted to say. And that is OK. That is the beauty of art- numerous way of interpretation. In the mean time, it is even rarer for artists to meet an audience who could interpret and express even much better than what artists did. In that sense, I feel like I am the luckiest artist.

I am very grateful and thankful how beautifully and profoundly Peter Daszak interpreted my art and delivered it through the precise and beautiful words.

If I am to write in the future, as I have always been wishing, I wish to be able to deliver the message as beautifully as he did.

Check out Peter Daszak's essay here.
And more of the journal here.

Cat Photographer

2011-06-15T12:47:00.002-04:00

Find a cat from the photo below..:-D

The rough translation of the original title of the work 집에함께가는세친구와나무인척앉아서눈만크게뜨고있는고양이 is Three Friends Heading Home Together and A Cat Pretending To Be A Tree Sitting only with Eyes Wide Open. It is certainly much more whimsical when you read the title in Korean!

This photo is from a blog http://ckfzkrl.blog.me of this artist who takes photos of stray cats EVERY DAY. He's a working artist, working at the branch of news paper distribution office. He delivers papers everyday and while he's at it, he takes photos of stray cats he comes across. He finds them very well, it's amazing if you look through his photos how he has found all these cats hiding and doing something different.

I love how his photos contain such a warm feeling towards stray cats (who aren't very welcomed by many people at least in Korea) and also love how he delivers it with a hint of humor.

Did you find a cat in the picture? :-)

Basil at Home!

2011-06-06T03:17:00.009-04:00

My sister and I went to check out the local green market on Sunday in Jackson Heights and brought these Basil plants! We were looking carefully, and almost decided what to choose, even though the leaves were a little smaller than we wanted. We wanted fully grown basil so that we could eat right away!! Last time we bought some sesame leaves to grow, but they are still growing...:( Long way to go until we can pick them and eat them. So this time, we wanted big ones! Amie asked a guy at the stall if he got any bigger one, and yay! he pulled out real good ones for us and we happily took them. They smelled great.

We were a little worried that Horang might get so excited about her new salad dish (like she did when we brought sesame leaves to grow.), but she was quite indifferent this time. Maybe fragrance was too strong for her.

So, today's dinner was basil pasta, my sister's recipe, and it was really really good!

Green market on Sundays. Another reason to love this neighborhood..and I'm so loving this neighborhood! :-D

(Find more about the Greenmarket at Jackson Heights here! )

Cats on the Street

2011-06-04T11:27:00.007-04:00

In my neighborhood, there are lots of stray cats. All kinds, various colors, diverse characters. I walk two long blocks with all the houses lined up along the way, and I meet and see many cats along the way. Some of them getting some sun at the porch, some of them sniffing around like doggies, some of them chasing birds, and some of them running from here to there.

My cat, in the meantime, is nibbling on the leaves of my plants at home and enjoying her salad...

On A Very Hot Summer Day, Iced Coffee Would Be Nice. :-)

2011-05-30T18:23:00.007-04:00

I have been waiting for Memorial Day for quite some time, and determined to have a good rest at home. Finally it came, but it has bee just sooooooooooooo HOT and my AC is still in the closet. Instead of installing the AC, I dug up my art drawer and pulled out my old woodblock prints of Iced Coffee.

I made that print during the notorious hot summer of 2008 in New York City. I was diligently (I was, at that time) going to the Printmaking Workshop everyday during that summer, and that particularly hot summer day, I walked into the studio with an iced coffee, sat down, and just made that print. I just needed to make something that would make me feel cool and refreshed. The print certainly did. I made two versions of it, one with blue background, one without it. I like them both.

Since I pulled it out, I updated my etsy shop as well, which I have been postponing for so long. Why not share this coolness on the wall? :-D

Update on Portfolio at Children's Illustrators Website

2011-05-26T14:18:00.010-04:00

This is the peek of what I've been working on this month after I have settled in my new home. Theme was the bridge between Japan and New York, and I did them digitally. I do enjoy working digital quite a lot, but not all the time. I get into it once I start doing it, but I am always happy to go back to hand drawing and coloring on papers.

Four new images have been updated to Children's Illustrators' website, and you can check them out at here or simply click the banner icon on the right side. Hope you enjoy them. :-)

Kris Waldherr Art and Words: Gallery/ Studio in Flatbush Neighborhood

2011-05-26T13:17:00.021-04:00

Kris Waldherr Art and Words studio, where I had worked as a gallery assistant for 2 years since my senior year at SVA, was featured a video on Brooklyn Independent Television: http://blip.tv/neighborhoodbeat/art-and-words-with-kris-waldherr-neighborhood-beat-flatbush-5186535

I just got a link from Kris and enjoyed watching it a lot! This cozy and beautiful gallery/ space is located at the Flatbush Neighborhood in Brooklyn and attracts a lot of neighbors and passers-by as well as people who come from far away as they find out about the place via various media.
Kris is working as a designer, illustrator, fine artist and author while she runs the gallery organizing diverse exhibitions, workshops and social gatherings at the place. I, myself have been wanting to work exactly what she is doing right now, designing, illustrating and writing, have learned a lot from her while I worked for her.
Running a neighborhood-friendly gallery/ studio where neighbors could drop by and feel that art is part of their lives also had been my long time dream since I decided to be an illustrator. That dream did not really seem to be tangible since I came to New York, but I certainly remembered about it when I started working in Kris's gallery. It is just a part and a scene of the neighborhood and everyone loves it! People come in to see exhibition, come in to buy affordable art and books for presents, come in to learn something. Working at Kris's gallery certainly has been the most valuable experience for me to learn how to pursue my career as an illustrator/ author and for my future dream to run a neighborhood friendly gallery.
The Art of Children's Book Exhibition at the gallery right now is briefly featured in the video, and my whale book and NAP ON WHALE piece are shown in the background as well. :-) The show is closing down soon and the closing reception for the show is on June 12th, Sunday, 1-4pm. Saturday afternoon at the cozy, beautiful gallery is always good. :-)

Check out about the gallery and direction here.

Plus, these are some pictures I took from the opening reception of the show last March. A lot of children came, but they rather stayed outside of the gallery running around and drawing on the sidewalk with chalks while adults stayed indoors. Not surprisingly, they were all genuine artists.

D.I.Y. Table of Your Own

2011-04-29T12:46:00.010-04:00

Sometime last week, when it was pouring outside,
I was working at my desk on the drawing DREAM #1, for the group show (that my friends and I are hoping to arrange) in December. Having artist's block, I looked for something more energetic than sitting at the desk and staring at my drawing.

So this happened.

I had a 4 - year- old, boring looking, but very useful tea table from IKEA. This.

Sadly, it got a lot of scars. Like this.

I decided to cover the surface. (I actually was never bothered by those scratches, but I just needed to do something. Also I needed a little more funner table.)
I took out my old New Yorkers. I was gonna use their covers. I was determined to use my favorite artist's, Jean-Jacques Sempé's works. (On top of the pile here.)

...But, somehow I ended up using my own illustrations. I loved New Yorker's covers, but I didn't like all the same size images. At the same time, I didn't want to cut them down to many different sizes, so I decided to save them. Instead, I pulled out the misprinted illustrations of mine and used them. They were going to trash because colors did not come out right while I was using the printer. But now here they are after a lot of gluing and several layers of varnishing.

With fruits and coffees on top. Yum..

It did not turn out to be super pretty, but I like it. Actually surface is not that even because I'm terrible at gluing. But now, after only a few days, I cannot see the surface anyway...

It was fun. :-)

Doors, doors, doors in Cold Spring, NY

2011-04-26T01:27:00.011-04:00

On Sunday afternoon, the day it felt like an early summer, I took a train to Cold Spring with my sister. On our way to to Grand Central Station, weather was so beautiful, people were outside enjoying the sun and lunch at the park. I thought staying in the city would be fine, too, enjoying the weather, walking around.

When I stepped out of the train, however, after an hour and a half of train ride, I realized that it was the perfect decision to come to Cold Spring. Just one step out of the train, air felt much fresher, nice and warm breeze with a hint of flower fragrance surprised me.

Cold Spring was a very pretty little town, pretty stores and houses lined up along the main street. Walking along the street, I was amazed to see something very interesting. Doors of this town are so so so beautiful!! How could they be all in different colors and all so beautiful and harmonious?! Just looking at doors made me very delighted.

Blue door at the yoga studio.

Emerald colored door at the house. Just love the stairs!!

Elegant purple doors.

Interesting thing was that, doors were not just pretty in colors but colors matched with their shapes and characters. They even matched with colors of trees planted near the doors! Blue door with a hint of violet with glass windows works perfect for a yoga studio. The blue goes so well with warm dark umber of the wall around it and the fun texture of the walls give a warmth to the clean, cool feel of the door. Emerald color door wouldn't find a better color than the beige frame around, and look at the lion shaped door handle to knock!!! They all go perfect with red brick stairs, walls, black metal fences. It is just amazing how the door colors go perfect with yellow green leaves. How about the elegant purple door with elongated pattern, off-white frame and banister with worn out wooden stairs? Two door knobs in the middle and faded orange color brick walls? Did someone intentionally plant white flower trees to go well with the purple doors?
Just amazing, amazing, amazing.

Plus, this antique store was the true treasure island I discovered. (I didn't really discover it, it was right there at the main street right near the train station.) I didn't really expect much when I was entering the store, but soon found myself being trapped inside, being unable to get out, spending hours and hours getting nervous and excited about all the treasures I found. For the first time in my life, I wished I had a truck. I would have filled the truck with so many things. But luckily for myself, I didn't have a truck, so I and my sister just ended up with couple of small things.

Images of a few items that I had to leave behind still linger, but hey, I got to see all those beautiful doors & a reason to go back.

See You Soon!

2011-04-07T16:35:00.007-04:00

Jiyoon, flying high, at the beach, NJ. March, 2011

It is quite a bit surprising to realize that I have lived in New York for almost 5 years now.

When I first visited New York, it was February 2001. Already 10 years ago. I was vising my sister in Boston and I just took a bus for 5 hours to spend 5 days in New York. I enjoyed the visit very much, but I did never think that I would live in New York. It was an exciting city to visit and spend some holiday time, but not so great to live in, I thought.

But here I am. Already 5 years. When I think about how fast time flew away, I guess I would be saying that it has been 10 years any time soon.

I cannot say I love New York very much, but I like it. I learned what to love about it. I have never felt I am settled well and I always have this tiny bit of anxiety about where to go and what to do next. At the same time, however, it is also a bit of consolation that I don't have to be settled. I can move around freely and do what I like to do. Could be distressing in some way but could be exciting in another way.

New York is a city of immigration. A lot of people come and go. come to live and leave to live. You kind of have to get used to your good friends' constant leaving. I actually have been quite lucky that it didn't happen too often to me. However, one of my closest friends went back to Korea this week. It was a lot of hassle to sort out and pack her five years of accumulation into two giant bags and get her on the flight! Many friends gathered a night before in her apartment, chatted away, packed, threw things away, cleaned, slept, ate and chatted again. Next morning, another frantic hours of chatting, packing, trashing and cleaning, then we were all off to go to the airport.

Thankfully, we all were too tired to cry. Also we kind of believed that she would be coming back quite soon. Maybe surprisingly soon and we are gonna say "already back?"

I hope she would be back soon because I'm moving to the neighborhood close to the noodle shop she loved. In addition, she is looking at me all the time anyway on the wall right over my work desk. She gave me her self portrait for my birthday. How sweet is that!

Her web portfolio, www.LadyGeeral.com would be opening soon. She has the funniest ideas and how she executes them is brilliant. As much as I look forward to seeing her new website, I am not quite sure when it's going to open. She does take her time...Well, she flew for 24 hours stopping by in Beijing for 12 hours, so who could blame her. :)

Went to the show_Infinite Variety

2011-04-04T14:49:00.012-04:00

Eve, my friend/ co-worker, who is into knitting and who actually knits beautiful beautiful things let me know about this one week show in Armory's. Title of the show itself, Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts, sounded so intriguing, it moved my lazy butt to the exhibition.

I went on the last day of the show and as I approached near the Armory's, surprisingly many people were walking towards the same direction to the Armory's (and it was Wednesday afternoon!). As I stepped into the entrance, I realized why. The scene unfolded in front of my eyes was absolutely exhilarating. I cannot describe better than that. Quilts were just so amazing, displayed beautifully, hanging from the ceilings. I didn't expect them to be that large, but the quilts were very gigantic and amazingly beautiful with ALL DIFFERENT patters. "Infinite Variety" seemed to be the perfect title for the show.

I am so glad I caught the show before they closed.
Plus, I got to see this amusing public installation, The Roses, by Will Ryman along the Park avenue actually on the divider on the road.
What made it much more pleasant was that, if you were walking south to north, before you actually saw the gigantic roses, you would start to notice petals of roses first on the road. Then after couple of blocks, you would see the roses then you would realize what those petals were about.
.

Drawing Speaking To You

2011-03-25T15:59:00.008-04:00

The Morgan Library and Museum is having an exhibition this fall of Drawings from Louvre. Will be a very exciting show with incredible old masters' drawings. I was helping with images for the show and encountered a drawing of Camille Corot. I loved his somewhat warm-feeling landscape paintings, but never saw his drawings before. It was a nude of crouching girl in landscape and I had to stare at the drawing for awhile. Later, after I got back home, I searched for the image online, which actually wasn't so easy maybe because it wasn't the popular or common image of his art.

Studying art history, going to museums and galleries, taking anatomy classes...if you have just a slightest bit of interest in art, you just come across a lot of nude paintings and drawings or nude itself. I know a lot of artists in the history have been fascinated by beauty of human body or mystery of human body. I, in the contrast, haven't been really intrigued by nude.

But this drawing of a girl by Camille Corot was something else. It looked like it was going to say something. Just about to, but somehow held back. A bit of aching feeling. This drawing reminded me of my long time favorite drawing of Vincent Van Gogh's Sorrow.

It was about 10 years ago that I saw this drawing for the first time. I couldn't take my eyes off from the drawing because it was saying something. This one wasn't hiding anything. It was very honest and naked. The drawing was sad but it was beautiful.

Looking at these drawings, I remembered what I wished for when I first decided to do art. I hope someday, I would draw something that speaks to people. Something that people would look at it, listen to it and feel for it.

That kind of things.

Snow in March

2011-03-23T15:19:00.008-04:00

I used to complain about this long winter in New York, but somehow this year I've been secretly hoping this winter to linger just a bit longer. Though I enjoyed the spring-like weekend very much, I'm kind of grateful for this last bit of snow in March. It will help me get ready to say goodbye to winter.

cat drawing for children's book

2011-03-22T14:12:00.005-04:00

Currently started to work on children's story written by Youngki Jin. Really cute and funny story of a boy and his cat. I'm doing some drawings for the story to come up with right characters. This cat is not the main character, but she will be helping a boy to look for his missing cat. Not so sure if I'm going to use this character, but just for fun! :-)

Happy Birthday To My Friend

2011-03-19T02:57:00.010-04:00

There is a Korean term "In-bok" which means luck to have a number of very good people around. I know I do have that In-bok. Sometimes I wonder what I did so well to have all these good friends around me.

In March, two of those wonderful friends around me have their birthdays, quite close to each other. When I turned my Yoshitomo Nara calendar (a present from another good friend when we went to Nara's exhibition at Asia Society in New York last year!) at the beginning of March, I couldn't help smiling. This month's picture suited so perfect one of the friends who has a birthday this month! The impression of the girl in the picture just reminded me of her. They do not exactly look alike, but I just couldn't help thinking she looked like her!!

So now I get to think about her quite often whenever I look at the calendar.

Today is her birthday.
We have been friends for 11 years and we have been living in different continents for 5 years now. Smart, thoughtful, caring, adventurous girl. Always very awake.
She hosted me so warmly during my stay with her in Tokyo last year, I felt I truly rested after a long, long, long period of tiring years and months.

When Saint-Exupery dedicated his book, THE LITTLE PRINCE, to his friend Leon Werth in France during the year of WWII, he said the reason of the dedication was because his friend "needs to be comforted."

I wish I had something that I could help comfort my friend like Saint-Exupery did because she also needs to be comforted. Though she might not be in a state to celebrate her birthday and have a good time, I hope that she feels her families' and friends' care and love. And I also hope that the affection and concern are not only towards her, but also towards the community and people she cares and worries about very much. I hope this would comfort her even just a tiny bit.

Happy Birthday, my dear friend.

Updates.

2011-03-17T00:42:00.006-04:00

1. The Art of Children's Books Opening Reception
-> It did go really well. Weather was very nice and breezy so I enjoyed a long walk along the tree lined street at the Victorian Flatbush neighborhood from the train station to the gallery. Q train wasn't running for the weekend, but it turned out to be better because I got to take F train which I had never taken before to Brooklyn and I actually liked that long walk.
A lot of people and a lot of kids. I so love that 'children friendly' exhibition. Though they are more into playing with each other, running around in the gallery and drawing with chalks on the side ways than looking at framed art pieces, it is the show celebrating children's books anyway!
I am actually considering to buy a piece from Sara's new book, BAKE SALE. It is about this cupcake who goes for a journey to meet foreign pastries. One of the pieces in the show was the scene in which the cupcake was selling a coffee to an egg. It was so amusing, I just couldn't take my eyes off from it! I really want to have it on the wall when I move next month!

2. New Promotion Postcards Arrived..
-> I made it with NAP ON WHALE. I did it through overnightprints.com as usual, but this time, didn't turn out to be so great. Somehow it picked up a lot of red and pink on prints, so whales are very pinkish. Hmm......

3. Blog Updates.
-> Have you noticed I changed the title? :-) When I opened this blog, I was a senior at SVA, one semester before I graduated. I made this blog with kind of obligation that I HAD TO HAVE A BLOG to promote my illustration better. I guess that was the reason I wasn't feeling so attached to the blog so far.
So I decided to change it more personal writing what I really want to write about. Drawing and illustration are big parts of my life, so this will still be a lot about what's going on with me as an illustrator, but I don't want to get trapped by the limitation. So I will now talk more about other things in my life and hopefully that will get me in track to love my blog and to talk more openly.
So far I like the new look of my blog. :)

4. Childrensillustrators.com/aramkim
-> Yes. Have you noticed the new cool banner on the right?! I did open a new account with them and worked all day to put my portfolio together on their site. I'm quite happy with the portfolio there. Looks nice and organized. Actually liking it better than my personal site, I guess. They look more focused and consistent. But I still like www.AramKim.com portfolio because it shows my history. It might be a little off from what art directors would like to see, but it shows how I have been working and how my style has been changed. I like that. (But I will need an update for that site very soon, too...So much work to do!!)

5.
It really has been busy, busy, busy past 2 months. Now things seem to slow down a little bit, but not really. A lot of new projects are coming up. Hoping to get some good rest until this weekend.
Tired, but feeling very good especially with Spring around the corner!

Exhibition_ The Art of Children's Books: INSPIRATION TO ILLUSTRATION

2011-03-09T12:20:00.004-05:00

I am part of upcoming exhibition, The Art of Children's Books: INSPIRATION TO ILLUSTRATION. Thanks to Kris Waldherr's kind offer, I will be showing two pieces of my works in the show along with all other great artists who have published several books.

One piece will be from the book WHALE IN THE FOREST, and another piece is NAP ON WHALE that I just recently finished.

Opening reception is this Saturday, March 12th, 1pm-4pm in Kris Waldherr Art and Words Gallery (1501 Newkirk Avenue, one block from the Q and B subway station). More info about the gallery could be found here!

Following is the press release:

Children's Picture Book Art Exhibit Opens in Brooklyn Gallery

Everyone has a favorite picture book from their childhood. But have you ever wondered at how these gorgeous books are created? The Art of Children's Books: Inspiration to Illustration is an art exhibit offering a behind-the-scenes look at the art, design, and production of illustrated books. It presents a wide variety of art techniques and styles—from the witty digital art of Sara Varon to the soft classicism of Donna Diamond, and beyond.

Kris Waldherr, owner and curator of the Brooklyn studio-gallery, says “"My first job in publishing was as a picture book designer. So many people seem to be interested in making children's books these days—my intent with this exhibit is to offer a look at how these books are made." Waldherr is also an author-illustrator of many books; she will be displaying watercolor paintings from her picture book Harvest in the exhibit. The show is co-curated by Aram Kim, a children's book illustrator and etcher.

The opening reception for The Art of Children's Books: Inspiration to Illustration takes place on Saturday, March 12, 1 – 4 pm. Admission is free and children are welcome. The exhibit will be up until the end of May. Books and prints featuring art from the exhibit will also be available for sale. Future events coinciding with the exhibit include a children's art workshop by Inkblot author Margaret Peot and meet-the-author book signings.

Kris Waldherr Art and Words gallery is located at 1501 Newkirk Avenue, one block from the Q and B subway station. To learn more about this event and others, visit ArtandWords.com/events.html or call 347-406-5811.

# # #

About the participating artists:

Donna Diamond's (TheArtofDonnaDiamond.com) art explores the boundaries of painting and collage and incorporates the use of modern technology. Her recent wordless picture book The Shadow uses art alone to unfold a mysterious narrative.

Margaret Peot (TheInkblotBook.com) is a painter, printmaker, costume maker, and writer. Her new book Inkblot: Drip, Splat and Squish Your Way to Creativity offers children and adults a way to unleash their artistry.

Sara Varon (Chickenopolis.com) has created illustrations for the New York Times, Nickelodeon, and other clients. Her graphic novel Bake Sale is about a cupcake who longs to travel abroad to meet a foreign pastry.

Aram Kim (AramKim.com) is a children's book illustrator at work on her first picture book, Whale in the Forest. She was born in Ohio but grew up in South Korea before returning to the United States to attend the School of Visual Arts.

Amy Saidens (AmySaidens.com) has had her digital art published internationally. She has illustrated several themed pop up books incorporating paper dolls for children.

Kris Waldherr (KrisWaldherr.com) is an author, illustrator, and designer whose art has been exhibited in the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her most recent book is Doomed Queens.

Sleepy Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T03:42:00.008-05:00

Horang sleeps...

But she is still sleepy...

So she sleeps some more... (a lot more in truth...)

When she wakes up, she gotta scratch her face with some edges of something.

She doesn't know this winter a lot of people would see her sleeping.

Merry Christmas! :)

.

2010-12-09T00:09:00.003-05:00

I do hope desperation and frustration are what it takes to grow as an artist.
Otherwise, what's the worth of late night's work at the studio and still finding myself frustrated with a piece I just printed?

Sun Basking Turtle

2010-11-24T02:21:00.011-05:00

“Being slow is being faster.”
It is an old Korean saying.

I learned that it was true when I started printmaking. When I rushed, it always went wrong and took much longer. There is so much time for waiting when I do printmaking. I, being used to do things quickly and efficiently, couldn’t stand the waiting time. I often rushed the process, wanting to finish it up quick so that I can do some other “useful things,” then totally screwed it up, having to start over. But as I did the process slower, eventually I got the result faster, and of course better.

I still have to learn how to slow down and not to think about efficiency all the time. Not everything needs to be “useful.”

Sometimes it is good to be a sun basking turtle.

Winter Comes.

2010-11-20T21:19:00.003-05:00

Winter is a good time to work. Not much temptation from warm, nice weather to go out and run around enjoying the sunshine. Much work to do before this winter's over. So long winter will be O.K.

New York Society of Etchers, 10th Anniversary Fall Show

2010-11-03T12:29:00.009-04:00

Interesting and weird thing that I have experienced about competitions or contests is that I often hear a good news when I don't expect it at all or when I completely forget about it. At the same time, I never hear a good news when I wait to hear the result or when I eager to get in the show.

This time it happened again. I came back to New York from 3 weeks of trip to Korea and Japan and was going through a heap of mail tearing a lot of spam. In the middle of the pile, I found a mail from New York Society of Etchers and thought their postage was really cute (it was Calvin and Hobbs postage!). I didn't open it immediately because I was almost sure that it was one of those letters (again) that said "I'm sorry to inform you that your work has not been selected. This year, we have a lot of talented candidates."

I opened it anyway though after awhile, to tear it down after checking the content, and very surprisingly, it was informing that Carousel in Woods had been selected for the show and I was supposed to deliver the art work on Sunday to the National Arts Club.

I was especially delighted because I didn't get in this annual show from New York Society of Etchers last year (when I was eager to hear a good news!). This year, couple of months ago as deadline for this annual show came close, I was debating if I would want to submit the work while I was quite sure not to get in the show again. Even after I submitted the work, I forgot about it because I didn't expect to hear any good news. So there is another reason that I just have to keep trying whether I think I might get in or not.

Opening reception will be held on November 9th, Tuesday 6 to 8pm at the National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South New York, NY 10003). Show will last until November 17th. They have very gracious and elegant gallery spaces. I am very honored to show my work there and deeply appreciate the curator of the show, William Maxwell, and Bruce Waldman as always, who introduced a beautiful world of etching to me.

Website Update ~ www.AramKim.com

2010-09-19T18:27:00.005-04:00

I am so glad to announce that my illustration website has been FINALLY updated!! :-)

This time, too, Ms. Jungeun Ryu so kindly helped me out with it. After she worked hard on building a home to my online portfolio 2009 summer, I had been meaning to update it when I made more art and when I had more news to share, but never succeeded in it. Lack of knowledge in programs, lack of actual existence of programs and the bigger reason, out of fear to handle the programs, and the biggest reason (which I do not want to admit), lack of motivation and laziness.

Anyhow, it had been more than one year since the last update of portfolio and I had more and more pieces that I wanted to include in online portfolio. So I finally S.O.S.ed Ms.Jungeun Ryu and she said yes in a second for my great relief and gratitude.

So. What I'm saying is that, please visit www.AramKim.com to see more pieces in the portfolio section since last summer. :-)

"lovely...as a Tree" show in Gallery Della - Piana

2010-09-03T23:19:00.008-04:00

It is a little late to notify, but my CAROUSEL IN WOODS color version is part of the show "lovely...as a tree" in Gallery Della - Piana in Wenham, MA.

After I printed Carousel In Woods last month, I explored with color pencils on the etching piece as usual. Adding colors on etching often switches the mood of the piece quite a bit, but this case it was really quite a bit.

Ms.Elissa Della-Piana graciously accepted the piece that I submitted to be considered for the show even though I couldn't bring the art in person (again), so I mailed the art out. I unfortunately haven't had a chance to go see the show yet due to the long distance. This Gallery Della-Piana is the same place where I had my Spring Picnic piece for the show "Bird...watching!!!" She definitely has something in common with me in terms of considering the theme of art and I am very glad that I found the place where I can share the interest.

Spring Picnic, from the last show, is on its way back to me. When it comes back, I am delivering it to a person who contacted me to buy the piece. Very glad and little sad. It is actually a little more special than other pieces that I had sold because this piece is not from printmaking, but just drawing and painting, which means only one piece. A while ago, I read an autobiography by Jeom Sun Kim, one of my favorite Korean artists. She mentioned that She was very sad when she sold her paintings. She loved her own paintings and once she sold them, she wouldn't be able to see them again. I remember my artist friend Jungyeon mentioned the same thing when she sold her silkscreen book she made with a lot of effort and care. It could be a common feeling among people who create something with care. I am not very sad though. I am more excited and glad. I am even more glad now because I got to meet and talk to the people who wanted to buy the piece last Wednesday and I really liked them a lot. I love the feeling when I know someone reads something from my art and it touches their heart.

Things go around and life goes on. And I love the principle.

Got the cover~!

2010-08-23T23:13:00.004-04:00

I received a file for EcoHealth Journal cover fall issue. They must have a really good designer in the team. They made the image really stand out but really harmonious at the same time with texts and everything else on the cover. It is very lucky to meet a very good designer. They actually make art look better.

Now I'm part of their cover archive. :-)

http://ecohealth.net/archive_vol7.php
http://ecohealth.net/covers.php

EcoHealth Journal Cover Selection

2010-08-20T00:13:00.007-04:00

Last month, I submitted two art pieces of mine to the art contest held by Eco Health Conference. Since I didn't hear from them for a while, I was disappointed a little, but forgot about it later (since I am very used to not hear from the contest..*sob* ). So I was very happy to hear from them on Wednesday last week.

It was actually "can't be better" news for me. They didn't pick out the piece I submitted, but they actually visited my website and suggested if I could submit another piece, SPRING HAS GONE. They said they would like to consider it for a first prize.

Naturally, I was very very delighted because that was my personal favorite among my portfolio. And of course, I submitted the piece and later on received the notification of the first prize.

This is very meaningful for me because I believe my art has not been selected only for its appearance, but also for its message. I love art for art's sake. I truly do. But I hope my art to contain a story. Many stories, actually, according to whoever sees it. I want my art to be speaking to the viewer. So I'm very glad that it actually said something and someone listened.

I am even more excited because the piece would be printed on the EcoHealth Journal cover in the fall issue. My first cover print ever! I am very grateful for the EcoHealth Conference team who actually troubled themselves going through the portfolio and found what they wanted instead of just turning the already submitted pieces down. I am truly appreciative of their eagerness. I am also grateful for Ms. Chia-Yi Hou, who gave me the most pleasant experience of email correspondence. It might be weird to hear, but I felt the very honest, positive and energetic vibe through the email correspondence (,which is very rare, isn't it?).

This is the link to the past cover collection of the EcoHealth Journals. I was very thrilled to see the high quality of covers and great collection and very honored to be a part of it. And this is the competition showcase.

Went Back to the Sacred Gallery after the Opening

2010-08-17T00:09:00.015-04:00

So this afternoon, I finally made it to go back to the Sacred Gallery in Soho to take some photos of the exhibition before the show is taken down at the end of this month. Opening night, which was already 2 weeks ago, was quite amazing with packed people (which led to nice encounters and happy reunions!) and beautiful works. I really appreciated the chance to be a part of this wonderful show. Gallery space was not so big, but there were 167 works arranged so beautifully, I was very impressed.

Today, I went back to the gallery to take some pictures of it without crowded people.

When you go up to the second floor and pass the entrance, there is quite a big tattoo studio on your left. Gallery is on your right in the same space.

It's French Salon Type exhibition rather than museum style. I like it!

Oh, there goes mine in the middle! Carousel in Woods. :-p

Other's works. I love the colors flowing so harmoniously from one piece into another.

It is so cute that they hung Patricia Wynne's Sperm Whale and my Beluga Whale next to each other. :-) I love the sperm whale, too. I might try the sperm whale sometime. (Patricia Wynne actually has other pieces in the show with beluga whales!! I guess we share same subjects -or same passion!)

...And the picture I took with friends who came to the opening show that night! Jenny from work and Luna from neighborhood? and me! I love my friends' big smiles!! :-) And Jiyoon is taking this picture, so she's not in the photo..T.T

Well, that certainly was a fun night, and this show certainly was very inspiring. Hope to have other shows coming up soon. Million thanks to Bruce who invited me to be a part of the show and another million thanks to Kavin who graciously had all of us in his gallery. :-)

Dark Vision : A collection of Printmaking in New York

2010-07-20T01:53:00.007-04:00

With more than 60 artists participating, including the great artists that I am so excited to be exhibited with, show will be in the Sacred Gallery in soho, duing July 31st through August 29th.
Opening reception will be held on July 31st, 7-11pm.

I am delivering two of my etching pieces to the gallery tomorrow. One the Whale in the Forest piece, the other one, the new piece that I'd worked on until last week. It was my first trial to do a (comparably) big etching piece (18"x12"), which was quite fun and also painstaking. Also my first time that I liked the print on gray paper the best. I cannot decide how exactly I feel about this new piece though. I always need some time in-between finishing up the work then deciding my feeling about it.

This piece gave me a frustration and excitement all together. Now I'm trying out some coloring on it, which again is giving me another frustration. Oh, by the way, the title for this piece is Carousel in Woods. :-)

Check out the Sacred Gallery here.
It has exhibition information, direction to gallery, and all those participating artists' names along with their websites.

Bookmaking Class with Yoyo~

2010-07-04T18:06:00.010-04:00

Last April, I went to Yoyo's apartment every Monday for 6 weeks to learn how to make/bind books. She had so many beautiful books & portfolios & boxes for books she made, I was totally overwhelmed and didn't know among those what I wanted to do..

I chose three kinds, eventually, finished first one, which was a map folding book. I was so excited to use my baby color pencil for a button! So bad job with gluing though...:(

Print inside is the GIRL IN ADVENTURE (etching, 2009) and inner paper is what I bought in New York Central. Very funky paper with all kinds of cat patterns.

Second one, the portfolio I started, I couldn't finish in time, so Yoyo gave me extra lessons to finish it up and also we did coptic binding, the third one, to make a book. I made a journal out of it so I guess I finally have something I can write in.:-)

Another color pencil button! :-)
Cover paper for the coptic binding book is also from New York Central. Patterns looked very familiar to me when I bought the papers because those are the images I see all the time at the Morgan Library & Museum every Wednesday.

You got to be really meticulous to make beautiful books. I am not. I enjoy it though so much. Yoyo makes unbelievably beautiful books and what makes her books even more special is that she uses all the beautiful papers she made herself for covers. That is truly unique.

I enjoyed the class with her so much and very appreciate her kindness, patience and stories from her wild time. :-D

Do check out her blog for her recent shows and news: http://yasuyoart.blogspot.com/
She has various workshops and classes at which she teaches how to make decorative papers, how to bind books, collagraph and etc.

I just need to practice these so that I won't forget!!

July Exhibitions Update1(second is coming soon...)

2010-07-01T16:51:00.007-04:00

I've been meaning to update about the newest exhibition I'm in, but just didn't have time (or enough motivation to get online...I'm not very fitting in this digital era..? I kind of thought I was before...). Updating blog has been on the top list of my to-do list for almost two weeks though. I am also planning to go back to facebook at some point as well.

Anyways, my SPRING PICNIC piece is in the exhibition "BIRD...watching" in the the Gallery Della-Piana in Wenham, MA. I got to know about this place from Anne Moore, art director at Candlewick Press, (check out her cool etsy antique shop here- you will find really pretty heartwarming antique items: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mybackporch) then Elissa Della-Piana, who owns the gallery, was very kind to accept my submission after the deadline.

Following is the link to the gallery blog where you can see some opening scenes for the show:

http://gallerydellapiana.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-exhibit-birdwatching-opened-on.html

I couldn't make it to the opening at the time, but I'm hoping to go there at some point before the show is taken down. I'm also submitting for the next exhibition in the gallery, "as lovely as TREEs." She has all those themes that I get really excited about! :-)

2010-06-01T14:33:00.004-04:00

People often say life is like a journey. I used to go on traveling quite a lot a few years ago. Through those journeys, I learned loneliness. I also learned that I cannot always plan a trip and follow exactly. Things I didn't plan happened all the time and I generally did about a half of what I planned to do. However instead, I always got to do something I didn't plan but maybe cooler.

If life is like a journey as people say, it is quite reasonable that life doesn't always go on as I plan. And that is OK. It might seem to be a disaster at first,but often it turns out to be much better.

Life goes on and I am very happy. And Horang is very happy, too. :-)

Finally Spring Comes.

2010-03-16T15:02:00.005-04:00

After a long, long winter, finally there comes spring. Only couple of days ago, it poured like there was a hole in the sky, but it is very sunny and warm today. Just like new spring.

Not many things happened since New Year. I did a full spread illustration for Spider Magazine at the beginning of New Year, made a trip to Seattle for a few days to meet up with my old friends from high school, and My roommate and I decided to move to another area of Brooklyn, which means next month would be quite hectic for us. Oh, I finally sent out the second promotion cards to art directors as well last month. I shall keep doing that every two months from now on. No more laziness!

One of my New Year's resolutions was to make art at least a piece per month, and it has been going good so far. I feel good about it since I was quite ashamed by the fact that I didn't create much at all since last summer. At the end of the last year, I just found that I did not have enough fresh works.

One more thing. It would have been one full year next month since I started working as a voluntary monitor at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, but I have decided next Saturday would be the last day for me. I decided after a careful consideration about my situation, but still feel a little sad about it. Working there was the only motivation I could get up early every Saturday morning for one year no matter how late I went to bed the night before.
*I made the sketch above last month while I was working there one Saturday morning. There are these cute plant pots along the office window of Tina, and they all have names. How cute! :-)

With good weather, happily sleeping cat next to me, thinking of moving to a new place, and changing of my schedule, they all make me feel like starting new. Feeling good.

Baby went to the vet.

2009-11-25T14:30:00.002-05:00

She made a trip to the outside world for the first time since she came to live with me! She has been to the hallway though several times where she explored around all excited. She was soooooo scared of the subway trip, I felt so bad for her.

She's all good now, and I'm good, too! :-D

My dear companion,

2009-11-22T23:27:00.005-05:00

When you cuddle right next to my face, sleeping, warming me up, I just can't stop appreciating that you are with me. When I hear you meow from upstairs, upon entering the door of my apartment building, I hardly can wait till I run upstairs and open the door to see you standing right there looking at me. (Though I need to check the mail box before I go up.) When you just want to sit on my lap hanging onto it firmly with your paws, I don't mind your nails hurt my knee. (Ouch.)
I love you so much, Horang, so stop fighting with Noah, okay?

then one year passed..

2009-11-21T01:06:00.006-05:00

I've been always thinking to color this plate that I did last November, and I finally did couple of weeks ago. I added colors with color pencils and added more drawings and lines with pen. It's somewhat funny that I did this almost exactly one year after I did the first print out of this plate. Date is almost same as I remember because I was doing this for a certain date. Many things have been changed a lot for that one year though..

After Maurice Sendak,

2009-11-13T01:12:00.003-05:00

Before I knew anything about Maurice Sendak, just a little after I arrived in New York, I found IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN by him at the bookstore while I was just browsing at children's book section. I completely fell in love with the awesome, imaginative illustrations of the book and the wit of the story. It became the very first children's book that I ever bought myself. It was a while after that when I found he is one of Americans' favorite children's book authors/ illustrators.
What else can I say about his works.
I found in the library a while ago, another book of his from 1960s, called HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP! OR, THERE MUST BE MORE TO LIFE. Illustrations done by delicate pen lines, black and white, just unbelievable. I photocopied some of those and kept them on my wall. I always thought it would be wonderful to redraw it with etching since the line works are so delicate. I didn't do it with etching, but copied it with pen and did color pencil over. Left, xerox from the book, right, my copy of it with color.

Fairy Tale Exhibition Participation

2009-10-12T22:10:00.003-04:00

I'm participating in this fun exhibition called FAIRY TALES: From The Dark Wood to Happily Ever After with three pieces from my children's book WHALE IN THE FOREST. It's going to be held in Kris Waldherr Art and Words Studio in Flatbush, Brooklyn where I intern. Must be fun!!! :-D

Following is the press kit:

http://www.kriswaldherr.com/press/ftpress.html

Instead of whales..

2009-08-25T11:42:00.002-04:00

Just made this this week. :-)

Friday, Rie Cramer

2009-08-06T09:28:00.004-04:00

I used to have at least one day a week when I don't even step out of the house, stayed home all day and just enjoyed doing whatever. Since graduation though, I guess I never got a chance to do it. Not because I was always too busy. Rather because it makes me a little nervous and worried than relaxed. Last Friday though, the day Kris went away so I had a week off from my internship, I stayed home all day. It rained quite a lot, too. I just stayed and drew this illustration after Rie Cramer.

sun shines.

2009-07-12T09:53:00.003-04:00

The most beautiful Sunday morning in this past couple of months. But feels a little like this picture. Desperately need someone whom I can drag to have some good pancakes! I will feel better later today.

New Website has opened~

2009-07-07T10:05:00.004-04:00

New Website has finally opened yesterday!
Check out the new website and updated portfolio pieces!

www.aramkim.com

Many thanks to Smomo, who had made the first version of my website all by herself while I wasn't doing anything, and many thanks to Jung Eun Ryu who was so keen with her advice on design and did all the hard work for new version of this website! I had great fun working with her on this website. I am so lucky to have all these people around me~

*this is the new piece that I worked on. I've been trying to put some colors on my etching pieces recently.

or this?

2009-06-09T15:32:00.004-04:00

or this.

2009-06-09T15:05:00.003-04:00

selfportrait

2009-06-09T12:09:00.001-04:00

worked on this to put on my website. hmm...not so sure..

cat meets cat

2009-05-03T22:10:00.003-04:00

i first printed this last november. i was in a rush, did this in two days. i was thinking to make a bookmark. this was the first time i did the aquatint by myself and it was okay, not so great. i didn't so much like it, so kind of abandoned the plate after i got couple of prints. later though, i got to like it and regretted that i didn't save the plate.
a few weeks ago, i accidently found the plate in the cabinet in the etching studio where so many plates were stacked up. i was happy, worked on this plate a little more. i put another layer of aquatint to make the background a little darker, put more line works. i used different color of inks, too. it is a very small print, but i like it a lot. this is always in my portfoio.

third version

2009-05-03T22:05:00.004-04:00

this is pretty much the last version of this print. from the second version, i put aquatint in the back, which turned out very uneven, so then i put more line works. uneven aquatint in the back actually made it look better i think. then i explored a lot with colors of flowers. this is my favorite one even though it's a bit dark. i like this one but this one brings me a bit bitter feeling so i don't really want to think about it.

Lyonel Feininger

2009-05-02T12:37:00.002-04:00

edited by Ingrid Mossinger and Kerstin Drechsel

published by Prestel
isbn 978-3-7913-6104-8

got to buy this book!

second version.

2009-04-25T12:24:00.005-04:00

i had several ideas of what to add on top part of this image.
according to what i would add, whole context and title would have changed.
now i decided to add the branches of magnolia which actually was my original idea. title is now spring has gone.
i made this image when i got frustrated about many things las march, and i don't know which to emphasize. magnolia is my favorite spring flower which blooms unbelievably beautiful. but when they fade, their beautiful petals turned to brown and do not seem to hold their integrity as some other flowers do.

untitled, 0330,2009

2009-04-02T00:26:00.002-04:00

the very first print. Will print with aquatint and some other experiments 2 weeks later when I'm back.

back to the etching studio

2009-03-27T20:29:00.007-04:00

so good to be back to the etching studio.. love the atmosphere.

worked on these pieces for a couplf of days. I actually quite like them, but maybe they are way too sweet. Just like a candy you eat and feel all sticky afterwards. If the girl had more characters, this would have been much more interesting. Sometimes I get away with easier ways. Shouldn't. Should deliver more stories.

which one you like better though? I'm more leaning towards the subtle one.

Coloring practice with etching.

2009-03-13T23:45:00.003-04:00

So, this coloring practice with photoshop is all I did on Friday, practically my last day of spring break, other than cleaning, grocery shopping and laundry before I go back to normal. (Oh, I did watch a movie, too! Slumdog millionair, and I watched Coraline yesterday! Surprisingly better than I expected. I have to admit that I had a prejudice towards a movie which based on a book.)

Anyway, the point is that, I gave it a try to color my etching piece with photoshop. I always wanted to add more vibrant colors to my etching pieces even though I love the deep mono tone of etcihngs. Sometimes I can add spot colors with hand blend when I print, but it wasn't enough, I felt. So I scanned this in and tried to color in photoshop. This is what I always thought of trying, but never actually got into. I tried before couple of times, but always stopped in the middle, being bored of tedious process of selecting and paintbucketing the pieces. Today, I decided to at least finish and see the final. I didn't want to go into every details which isn't my cup of tea, I wanted to keep it quite simple.

Result, I kind of like it. But feel like it actually doesn't need to be an etching after finishing up the coloring. It could be just pen drawing and coloring and it would look just same. Then what is the point of going through all those process of etching anyway? I definitely love the process of etching and its effect and look. But if I'm going to color in photoshop afterwards, what would be the point.

That I can't answer right now. My head aches after these hours of staring at the computer screen. This is one thing about photoshop coloring. I less enjoy doing this process in computer than with actual paints, brushes, and every thing in my hand.

Oh, well.

Whale book at the printer

2009-03-13T23:24:00.004-04:00

Ok. Finally. I finished every single page of this book I've been working on since January of 2007, put texts on each page, and sent the files to the printer to be printed and bound. (Practically that's all I did for the half of my precious spring break!) This website, lulu.com actually costs less than if I do on my own. So hopefully I would be happy with what they do for me.

I can't really comment before I actually see the result in my hand, but it was a little tricky to upload files so I'm a little nervous to see how it turns out. They won't accept the full bleed size files and they won't accept the double spread image, so I had cut every image fitting to the single trim size page and upload them all separately.

This image on the page is the half title page, which you see right after you turn the cover. Practically page number 1. I'm quite happy with this simple image, but I wasn't sure about the cover which might be the most important image since it's the very first thing people see. But oh, well, I was over by the time I was thinking of the cover.

I had three candidates for my title, which were 1)Whale in the Forest, 2) Blue the Whale's Footprints, 3) Why Blue the Whale Went to the Sea?
The original idea was number three, and I've kept this title for over an year but I never so much liked it. It sums up the whole content of the story though. But when I saw my friend, Parin, couldn't quite remember the long title and repeat it (which I always have a hard time, too!), that made me sure I needed a simpler title which you can actually remember and repeat it at the book store. So there we go, Whale in the Forest!

I'm excited and nervous at the same time to see the result of what I've been working on for such a long time. I'll update when the printed book arrives.

Society of Illustrators Student Show

2009-02-19T10:47:00.003-05:00

One of my etchings I submitted for Society of Illustrators Student Competition has been selected for the show. (You can see this piece, Whale in the Forest, also at the portfolio> prints section in my illustration website www.aramkim.com) Though it is for student show, I honestly never expected that my work would be hung in the gallery of Society of Illustrators. I am truly happy and grateful for this gallery show chance and I have to admit this gives me a little more confidence and comfort at this scary moment of graduation. I am also very excited to get to actually frame my art work for the show!
Many many thanks to Bruce Waldman (www.brucewaldman.com), my etching instructor. Not only he is the great etching artist, he is the kindest and warmest person that everyone agrees on.

*Show schedule would be updated.

SVA Alumni Scholarship Awards

2009-02-19T10:28:00.005-05:00

My children's book proposal about the whale who was born in the forest was chosen to receive an Alumni Scholarship Award by The Alumni Society of School of Visual Arts. (You can see many spreads of this book which are already done and part of the stories in my illustration website www.aramkim.com) This would definitely help me out a lot to finish up my book project and it also very much encourages me by letting me know that others are also interested in my book!
Since I first started this book project with Yumi Heo, my instructor for Children's book workshop, in January 2008, I've been struggling and enjoying. After a few months break from this project during summer, I restarted this project with my portfolio instructor Steve Brodner(www.stevebrodner.com) changing almost every spread and reworking on the sketches and styles.
This book started with my compassion towards whales, most mysterious creatures to me, and curiosity of them being mammals and living in the ocean. My imagination told me they might have lived on earth just like other mammals and I wrote about the imaginary journey of the whale to the ocean.
I'm hoping to get this book sent to the publishers after I finish and get it published. The most awesome thing that would be happening in my life. :-)

Many thanks to Yumi Heo, Steve Brodner and The Alumni Society of School of Visual Arts!

Website and blog open thanks to SMOMO.

2009-02-18T02:53:00.004-05:00

So. Eventually, my grand plan to study some computer programs myself and build my own website didn't work out. My dear(!!) friend smomo actually took her time and effort to build the beautiful(!!!) website for me though. I love it very much. Since she started working on it, I couldn't resist going into the website every day and see what she had done. I wasn't planning on to link a blog, but this also was a suggestion from her to share my thought process and sketches, not just finished images on portfolio. I agreed.

Since very young, I dreamed to be a writer. I dreamed to be one for quite a long time until before I decided to be expressing more visually. I still want to be a writer. Though I am more leaning toward to be a visual writer now, I still want to write and draw.

I'm not sure what kind of blog this one is going to be growing into, but I am excited about this. Hopefully at the same time, this would force me to write more. Somehow I almost stopped writing for quite a period now.

This posting is the first official one, though I'm keeping smomo's crazy test posting as the first one.

음하하하하

2009-02-13T12:25:00.002-05:00

김타랭을 사칭하는 스모모의 첫 포스팅임다~ ㅋㅋㅋ