IUJIN
“Omule : Hi Iujin! Can you please tell me how everything started?”
“Iujin : Hi! Well, it all started back when I was 5 years old or so, I was a kid obsessed with cartoons. I can still hear my dad’s yelling “You do nothing productive; you’re just wasting your time on TV! Why can’t you do some math, read or draw instead?” Of course, I made the “easiest” choice. I never struggled at the time, as soon as I started drawing, nothing else seemed more intersting to me.”
“Omule : What is like to be an illustrator?”
“Iujin : It feels like a never-ending journey with never-ending possibilities. I always have to get somewhere, that gives me purpose and it is fullfiling me. It is a way of living and it pushes me to always grow and learn.”
“Omule : How would you describe your style?”
“Iujin : I would say my style it’s flexible, I try to evolve naturally, with practice. I love trying different techniques, brushes and subjects, because I am myself a person who get’s bored quickly and I make no exceptions with my art.”
“Omule : Where do you get your inspiration from?”
“Iujin : From pretty much anything. I think it’s my mind playing games. Sometimes I just find a simple thing like a mushroom for example, such a masterpiece of the Universe. The secret it’s to look for the beauty in everything and be able to find it. You can find the extraordinary in the ordinary if you know how to look.”
“Omule : What is your ideal creative environment?”
“Iujin : Some may believe artists are messy, well some might be, but I personally can’t create unless everything it’s spotless. And I like beeing alone, in a confortable chair with my favourite music playing. The perfect creative environment it’s the environment that invites you to be you, the most honest and true version of yourself.”
“Omule : Favourite place to go on a holiday.”
“Iujin : Emotionally and culturally charged places like castles, ruins, temples.”
“Omule : Five things you can’t live without.”
“Iujin : Love, pencil and paper, my bathtub, music and... eclairs.”
“Omule : Do you have any kind of creative patterns and routines?”
“Iujin : I take a moment, around 30 minutes, every day to free my mind completely. Sometimes we tend to think too much and that can become exhausting and can be a creativity killer.”
“Omule : What kind of books and movies to you like?”
“Iujin : Books and movies that intrigue me and add value to my life, make me feel something of any nature, like anger, confusion, joy or peace. I want to get out of the cinema, or I want to close that last page and still think about the movie/book for the next days; I want them to change something in me. For example i loved the movies The Pianist and Schindler’s List and A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming, a book that keeps the promise to open doors to creativity and insight.”
“Omule : What superpower would you like to have and why?”
“Iujin : Oh, I would love to be able to think at least with 70% of my brain. I think I would come up with great solutions to our global or at least local problems.”
“Omule : What would be a great achievement for you?”
“Iujin : Helping someone succeed. I personally know what beeing helped feels and how much it makes a difference. Even a piece of advice or genuine critique at the right times cand be gold. I received a lot of support and I want to give that back into the world.”
“Omule : How do you usually start a new project?”
“Iujin : Excitement. Brainstorming. Research. Moodboard.”
“Omule : Have you encountered ups and downs so far?”
“Iujin : Absolutely, and I don’t expect the rollercoaster will ever stop, but that’s the fun part, it’s life, the point is to keep going.”
“Omule : What kind of feedback have you received so far?”
“Iujin : We are so many and each one of us has their own perspective on things, I received a lot of positive feedback, and I wish I focus more on it, because I am my worst enemy sometimes, and the first negative feedback towards my art comes from me.”
“Omule : What do you like the most about your work?”
“Iujin : Probably the fact that it’s unique. No other artist can do what I do, just like I can’t do what they do. Every one of us puts their hearts into their work and I believe that to be truly special.”
“Omule : Who is on the gues list for you ideal dinner party?”
“Iujin : It’s cliche but definetly my family and closest friends. I would choose them over any celebrity or famous person. But I’d love to grab a coffee with Robert De Niro.”
“Omule : What is your favourite kind of project?”
“Iujin : Many of my projects were offered as gifts, I love working on those because I know they will be a surprise and they will bring happiness into someone’s life. But I also like to work on personal projects that allow me freedom of creation, without a client that is tailoring my work in detail.”
“Omule : Do you have favourite documentaries, series or podcasts?”
“Iujin : Beauty is Embarrasing, it’s a documentary about the cartoonist Wayne White. I find him inspiring in so many ways and absolutely hilarious.
Carpool Karaoke, Billy on the street, That 70’s show, The Heck Family, Breaking Bad, Rick and Morty.”
“Omule : PC or Mac? Pencil and paper or tablet? Photoshop or Illustrator?”
“Iujin : I work on both PC and Mac but i prefer Mac.
Making an income requires a tablet, but I find digital work slightly easier to make due to the fact that you can correct everything immediately and make tons of changes, so I have to choose pencil and paper because it’s the raw ideea, the core of any artwork.
I believe you have far more artistic possibilities in Photoshop, so it is my favourite by far, but Illustrator is a much-needed tool in the industry and whenever I have to create vector-based art, I enjoy doing my magic with it.”
“Omule : Favourite place to visit and why?”
“Iujin : Foreign cities and villages. I find amazing how culture, tradition, environment, or architecture influences people’s way of living. Observation is a big part of my job and I love to find new things about pop culture or life in general.”
“Omule : If you had the power, what would you forbid?”
“Iujin : I know it sounds like I’m a pageant contestant but I would forbid countries to work against each other. I can’t believe we have evolved in other domains so much and we’re still so primitive in other aspects; mankind will have to rise above war mongering.”
“Omule : What made you want to become an illustrator?”
“Iujin : As a child, I used to draw a lot, but I stopped right before highschool. Why? Unfortunately, my well-intentioned parents convinced me that I have no future doing art so I ended up attending and economic highschool and similar University. Not going to lie, I was quite good at math, but I felt miserable and I couldn’t fit in that world. I quit the job I had at the time, dropped out of University, and decided to invest time in what I love doing: drawing. I wanted to make drawing my way of earning a living.”
“Omule : Can you remember some of your earliest influences?”
“Iujin : When I was in middle school, I was my art teacher’s favourite student. She was working on a project, making illustrations for a book. She gave me the chance to help her out and illustrate some of the songs titles. The book was meant to teach children how to play the piano. I ended up with my name on the book, wich was a huge deal for a 15-years old kid.”
“Omule : Whick of your projects has been most important to developing your personal style?”
“Iujin : Definitely my personal projects, mostly character design and portraits, I believe it’s so much fun to work on faces and expressions.”
“Omule : Would you say that keeping things simple is your strongest skill?”
“Iujin : Not my strongest skill, it’s a struggle to keep things simple but I’m constantly working on that as I want to be as efficient as possible.”
“Omule : Which illustrators or artists working today do you admire the most?”
“Iujin : Hard to pick and choose, but these are some of them: Saddo, Jess Polanshek, Chris Hong, Janice Sung, Zach Hsieh, Alina Dorokhovich, Irene Malakhova, Stavros Damos.”
“Omule : What criteria do you use to critique your work?”
“Iujin : I don’t think I have a criteria, besides my own vision and thoughts. I usually spend a significant amount of time analyzing lighting, shadows, proportions, perspective and constantly thinking about what could I have done better. It is draining because I am almost ruthless with myself, but I am sure it’s exactly what made me grow as an artist.”
“Omule : How much attention do you pay to the feedback of others on your work?”
“Iujin : Probably not enough. The Impressionist master, Edgar Degas said “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see”. People’s feedback is an important piece in this whole mechanism, but it can be tricky, too much positive feedback can easily lift your feet from the ground, while negative feedback can really affect your confidence. I’m always open to feedback and take constructive criticism, but at the same time, I know why I’ve made those choices with my work, and I can stand my ground.”
