Eunbi Kang
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Where did you grow up? At what age did you start thinking about pursuing an artistic career?
I was born in Korea, and lived there until high school. It wasn’t until after I dropped out of school that I seriously thought about making art my profession. What I wanted to do was to create art, but at the age of 16 it felt too late to start. It seemed impossible to study the school curriculum and art at the same time. Eventually, I decided to pursue it as a career, and I made a portfolio and went on to the Art Center College in California.
Did you go to an art school or are you self-taught? How did you develop your skills?
I went to art school but I think my self taught practices had a huge part in developing my skills. I graduated from the Art Center College with a focus in Illustration and Entertainment Arts, which was a good starting point. I like the 3D animation style used for visual development, so I study animation movies and oil paintings to learn how to portray light and shadows.
Have you always been supported in your artistic path or has it been challenging to let your family and friends understand your choice?
My mother was my very first audience and she was always incredibly supportive of my work. It was her who suggested that I pursue art as a career and even today, when I feel insecure, she is always there to help me.
What was the strongest influence you had when you were growing up ( artists, movies, cartoons, comics, etc.. )?
I grew up watching animation movies and series, but never realized there were artists behind these productions. While looking for a major, I came across the artist Celine Kim's graduation work, and decided to follow in her footsteps and apply for the Illustration Department at the Art Center, where she had graduated.
What is your process in creating your art and what are your favorite tools?
For projects where the story is important, like my “Roman Holiday” redesign project, I organize the story plot and draw the key scenes to explain the story as good as I can. I mainly work with Photoshop and use a normal transparent brush most of the time. About 80% of my work is done with that very same brush. I also like to use some of Mathias and Daole's brushes. Check my IG for more info!
What part of the creation process is the most fun and easy and what part is the hardest?
The most enjoyable part is probably choosing the color palettes for my illustrations. Expressing emotions through different combinations of colors, depending on the mood, is difficult but also one of my strengths so is fun at the same time..
What are some of the things you have learned from other artists with whom you have worked or whose work you have seen?
I have learned one of the greatest piece of advice is from Drew Hartel, a favorite artist of mine who was interviewed in a magazine a while ago, while I still was in school. In this interview he mentioned something that really stayed with me: "Don’t paint things, paint light", which completely changed my perspective on how to paint.
Is there something that you have designed that you are most proud of?
At the moment my favorite painting is a witch character I created for my portfolio. In that scene, she’s stepping on a street lamp in a urban environment. My goal as an artist is for my paintings to be as vivid as possible, like a movie scene. I have the feeling that this illustration brought me closer to that goal.
What projects have you worked on in the past and what are you working on at the moment (if you can tell us)?
Although not an animation studio project, I worked on a “Roman Holiday” redesign as my graduation project. Roman Holiday is a black and white film from the 1950s. When I first decided to redesign this film, I thought I could highlight my strength, color. The fact that it is a black-and-white film makes it possible to imagine the colours more freely, but it also meant there was no reference color that could be obtained from the film itself, which was a big challenge.
Do you have a long-term career goal? What would your dream project be?
Right now my dream is to work in pre-production and collaborate with other talented people, learning as much as possible from them. As a longer term goal though, I hope to bring what I learned in the US back to Korea one day, so I can help the next generation of young artist there grow.
What advice would you give to an artist who is dealing with an artist's block? How do you boost your imagination and keep yourself creative?
Imagination and creativity come from the artist's observation and I think good references are all around us. Things like the ever-changing light and shadows, observing people on the street, and gazing at the the sea or the mountains. If you feel like you're stuck with an art piece, or if you need a creative reference, I think it's good to get away from your desk for a while and observe your surroundings. When I create an illustration, I imagine that the scene I’m painting is a scene from an actual movie. When I listen to a particular piece of music that I think goes well with it, it helps me creating a vivid scene in my head.
In your own experience, what would you suggest to someone who is inspired by your work and wants to follow in your footsteps: should they work in one consistent style, or work on many different ones?
If you want to follow in my footsteps, I think the best is to study color and light while observing various types of movies, rather than being tied to a style. Master copying scenes from movies with interesting colors was very helpful for me, and I can’t recommend this exercise enough.
If you had to recommend only one art book (a comic book, graphic novel, children's book, ''how-to'' book, etc. ) to a fellow artist, what would it be and why?
If you are interested in visual developent like me, I’d like to recommend animation concept art books for movies. Among them, my favourite one is possibly concept art book for “Klaus” . A sensational movie by the SPA Studio, which has brought the technology of animation to the next level by expressing its style to look almost 3D (even though it is 2D animation). I love this technique, but the stylization of characters and backgrounds is close to perfection to me. What a masterpiece! The book describes the production and design process of the movie in detail. A must read.
Who are the artists who inspire you the most today and what are some of your favorite designs out there?
It’s so easy to find the work of many great artists and learn about their process and thoughts on social media. There are so many of them, and its impossible really to mention all my favourite ones, but if I have to name a few I'd like to shout out Celine Kim, Aliya Chen, and Rebecca Shieh. They are among my biggest inspiration. I hope that one day, if I’m lucky and I keep working hard enough, I’ll be able to work alongside them.
Finally, where can we see your art online and get in touch with you? How can we buy your creations and support your work?
I post updates about my work on my Instagram page ( instagram.com/ekang9 ) and you can find my high resolution work on my personal website ( eunbikang.com ). I am planning to open a Twitter page at some point, so if you prefer that platform… please stay tuned!
Thank you, Eunbi :)
