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In 2001 after finishing his major in oriental painting, Son spent some time at a company where he discovered a new tool he had never seen before. Conservative as oriental painting was, he had never experienced the potential opened up by the pressure sensitive Wacom Intuos3. This so-called pen tablet was the missing link between the art world and the digital world in which he now worked.
Adapting oriental painting to a digital environment was not easy however. Son found that the detail of real brush strokes, the sense of life created by liquid on paper, was missing from his computer screen despite the sophistication of the software. Nevertheless, after endless trial and error, he was able to createmany new pieces using many types of brushes.
Unlike any other digital painting, Son Ji Hoon's work exhibits the harmonious delicacy of both oriental painting and modern art, drawing people bothyoung and old into loving, appreciating and sharing his pieces.
Son is also devoted to cultivating the next generation of artist through university lectures and his exhibitions. He recently completed the book "Stroke's Painter 9" in order to share his experiences with more people. The book focuses on the knowledgehe gained about digital painting through trial and error, and is written not only for graphic professionals but also regular people who like to paint. Meanwhile, his artwork is shared with the world on his website,Bootjil.com. |
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Son Ji Hoon did not expect a perfect imitation of the smoothness that forms the beauty of the oriental brush when he began experimenting with digital painting. He simply wanted to get used to the feel of a new art tool, something might expand his expressive capabilities. Nevertheless, he found himself becoming more and more attracted to the Intuos3 and painting with a pen tablet. As he improved, his digital brush touches came alive with the vividness of traditional oriental brush strokes.
It is perhaps going to far to say that Son's digital version of oriental painting has surpassed centuries of traditional brush, ink and paper, but the quality is striking and he believes that pen tablets are an excellent alternative for overcoming some of the shortcomings of traditional painting in today's modern world.
As opposed to traditional painting in which the oversensitivity of oriental brushes and ink can frustrate even the most practiced artist, digital painting with a tablet, a PC and the right software introduces simplicity without sacrificing the joy of creation. In addition, artists can easily experiment with a wide variety of tools in digital form encouraging new combinations and new artistic styles. Artist can also experiment with the textures of different types of paper, not just Chinese drawing paper but canvas and other types of paper as well. The possibilities for new artistic styles are vast in the digital world. |
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When and how did you begin creating oriental paintings digitally? |
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| I was no different from other artists in that I was always thinking about new ways to put some twist onto previous methods and techniques in my pieces. I coincidentally came across a Wacom pen tablet when I was working at a company in 2001. Back then, creating pure art digitally was unprecedented so it took a great deal of difficulty for me to get used to using pen tablets. As I began painting drafts with my tablet though, I grew to form a firm belief that digital painting, as a genre, has more positive aspects than negatives. |
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What are the positive aspects about using pen tablets to create digitaloriental paintings?
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| Using a tablet does, in fact, deteriorate my senses compared to my previous work style. But there are so many other positive things to compensate for the few drawbacks. An artist's brush stroking skills, given a sufficient amount of practice, will lead to results that are not worse thantraditional brushes or other tools. Also, there is no difficulty in integrating the strengths of both oriental and western paintings to create a whole new piece because pen tablets make integration easier. |
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Do you still work with traditional art tools?
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| The work distribution ratio of my previous work method to the digital method is about 6 to 4. I have recently been experimenting with printing my digital pieces on various types of papers in preparation for an exhibition. Silk, Chinese drawing paper and specialized paper are some of types of paper I've been using. |
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What is the response when you first introduce pen tablets to your students at college lectures? |
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| These students, prospective oriental painting artists, respond very differently compared to when I first started using Wacom tablets. Many of them have had experience using pen tablets and they learn at a faster pace in terms of absorbing new techniques.
While the technical parts of using a pen tablet are important, I want them to also focus on spreading the idea of digital oriental painting as a pure art by discovering creative techniques. As the future is in their hands, I'm looking forward to seeing digital oriental painting become fully acknowledged as another artistic genre. |
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