Kim Jung Gi was only 47 years old. An incredibly talented illustrator. He wielded his brush pen with aplomb, majesty and had an incredible ability to create entire universes out of thin air with the simplest of strokes. I truly believe he was a genius.
Just listen and watch him explain his process. His voice, and commitment to craft and detail is unparalleled:
“[Kim] was a truly phenomenal talent whose pen and brush wizardry captivated and inspired millions of fans around the world,” Lee tweeted. “While he drew some incredible comics, it was his live drawing & his sketchbooks about his life, travels and dreams which spoke to me most. It was downright eerie and spellbinding to see someone with a near photographic memory bring an illustration to life with the style and flair that only Jung Gi could deliver.”
He will be sorely missed. We may never see anyone with his level of mastery ever again. ????
Looking at our collective bookshelf at our apartment, Leah (@dumcurator) and I collect a wide array of books, and mediums of the written word. From audiobooks to comic books. We snag em up when we can.
Between the spines of Stephen King novels and Brian K. Vaughn trades — lie some incredible female writers and illustrators. Hell, our dog is named after Mary Shelley’s legendary cautionary tale, Frankenstein.
My favorite comic as of writing, is probably Saga, and notably not because of Vaughn’s writing this time (although friends and LOST fans know just how much I love that man). I enjoy Saga for the story, sure — but really, I love the series because of Fiona Staples.
I bring up Fiona because I love her style and work. I previously quoted a story about Dave Dorman. For brevity’s sake, Dorman had published a controversial critique of Staples cover — but it turns out his wife wrote the post. Despite the criticism (penned by either Dave or his wife), it’s still without merit. The cover in question is from Volume 1, is amazing. Take a look:
Cool, right?
So, why am I bringing all this up? Well, this week has been teeming with amazing work on Twitter. Work from hundreds, if not thousands of wonderful female artists that deserve the spotlight. I’m of course talking about #VisibleWomen. Fiona didn’t start this hashtag movement (more on that in a bit), but it serves as a segue into why we need more #VisibleWomen (in all creative industries).
A sampling of some of my favorite artists so far (in no particular order):
Hi #VisibleWomen 🙂 I'm Agathe, an animation student, interested in visdev, design and illustration. I love colour, gouache and books (really into #HisDarkMaterials atm)
An amazing collection no doubt. The textures, techniques, and approaches are all so refreshing and lovely. Variety is what makes the creative industry so fantastic. Suppressing that variety (i.e. malicious criticisms and sexism), needs to stop.
Best part? Milkfed put together a spreadsheet of artists looking for work so anyone in the comic industry looking for fresh talent knows where to look:
