Old drawings and story

This post was written on March 25, 2019!

I personally still find it funny now! My English skills have improved a bit since then, I've reposted it after correcting some awkward sentences and adding a little more detail. What was added in 2025 is underlined.

Let's start the trip down memory lane~!

First of all, the GIF above is my old study notes on marine life.

It's just a copy drawing of a biology/science guidebook.

Now we can easily find this kind of material, but back then it was hard and most of the professional materials were in English. And it was a bit expensive to buy with my allowance... So I borrowed it from the library and wrote down the important things in my notebook.

When I was a student in Korea, there was a very popular learning method called spoon-fed education, one of the important things was memorization. And one of the easiest ways to memorize things is to write them down.

Thinking back now, I'm not sure if it was effective, but it probably helped somehow 😅

I've moved around quite a bit. Every time I moved, most of my old paintings got thrown away. And my old digital photos got lost in accidents. But I still have a lot of paintings left, and I've chosen a few of them.

1996 (7 years old)

It seems like a depiction of the traditional fairy tale of the 'Hare’s Liver'.

My mother said that I was easy to raise as a child. She said that when she gave me paper, pencils, and scissors, I would play quietly in my room by myself for hours.

1999 (9 years old)

It was 100 points!

Teacher: I'm taking off 3 points because it was roughly drawn.

Please draw more hard in the future!

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I think it was probably a picture of 'Simchong'. There was a traditional fairy tale book about filial piety. Thinking back now, it must have been shocking when I was young because it was a story about human sacrifice 😅

2005

I lost most of the drawings I made in middle school. Digital technology seems to last forever, but it seems easier to lose.

Japanese culture was allowed to be exported to Korea in the 90s. That's when I started watching Japanese animation and comics. I think I became an otaku around this time 😎

Before that, drawing was just a hobby, and I didn't know what I wanted to be. However I wanted to major in art because the act of drawing was more fun than studying. Before that, my parents had high expectations for my studies 😂 And they were strongly against my going into art major. But I'm stubborn, lol, so in the end my parents allowed me to draw 😆

2006

I decided to major in art in high school.

I fell in love with Hollywood movies at that time. And I started listening to Britpop. - On the other hand, I lost all interest in Japanese anime 😂

I wanted to go to the US to study and become an art director. I spent all my allowance and went to the movies almost every day. And there was an aquarium next to the movie theater. Sometimes I watch movies two or three times a day... In the remaining time, I went to the aquarium and drew a lot of fish.

2007

My mom got a guppy from a friend. We did not know about fish at all, so we raised them in a big, flat pot. (My mom's friend raised them that way too.)

I have a habit of digging into one thing, and that's when I started learning about fish and aquariums.

It completely changed my life.

During this period, I had a lot of concerns about my art style. There was quite a bit of psychological pressure here. I tried to find my own art style. I used various drawing materials...

I had a sign on my bed that said, “If you sleep one less hour, you can draw one more hour.” 😂

2008

I was interested in Korean traditional painting.

Pregnant fish means good luck.

I met four corydoras adolfoi this time (Three of them still alive!)

That was probably the time when I was most crazy about fish, and no matter who I met, all I talked about was fish. so even my parents advised me please don't talk about fish outside.

(Acrylic Gouache and watercolor)

(pencil and watercolor)

My shrimp tank.

I miss them.

pastel

This was based on the idea that fish could be on land like puppies. It was a fall day, but it was really hot like midsummer, and my mom helped me take the photo. It was for my art college portfolio, but I failed the first exam, so it was never used. 😂 

During this time, I wanted fish and shrimp-related products but I had no way of getting them, so I started making things by hand.

I drew them one by one by shrimp with acrylic🤣

I needed some pocket money, so I made something like this and sold it to the fish community. I don't remember how much I sold it for, but it was probably around $10.

Now I run a POD platform store. Sometimes editing and updating the shop takes a long time and sometimes it doesn't sell at all, but I try to update almost everything because I think there must be someone out there in the world who wants this kind of product like I do.

2009

This was a character concept art portfolio for a job at an animation company. At the time, I think I mostly used gouache and pastel for the drawings.

I joined an animation company in 2009 and drew almost a thousand hand drawings in half a year. It was my first job towards my dream and I was so excited.

I didn't think about rights, money, or contracts..

Now I can't upload any of this because of copyright issues. I tried to resolve this issue, but the last thing I heard was that the boss was in jail and it was best not to contact her. - - Now that I think about it, I don't think it has any legal effect because I didn't write the contract myself. But now, I already have a lot of portfolios, and I don't want to leave even the slightest possibility of getting tired 😉

I was able to learn a lot about reality. It was something I had to experience sooner or later. Maybe it was fortunate that I was able to experience it sooner. I think my illusions about the industry were shattered at that time 😭

Because of this experience, I started taking lectures related to art law. I also learned how to create contracts.

Like most people who care about animals, I started to worry about environmental pollution. I guess it was around this time that I started thinking about what message to convey with my drawings.

People were shocked when they saw a sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose. But they still want to use plastic straws instead of paper ones.

And animals that are not popular don't get attention even if they are in a more difficult situation.

I realized that the public doesn't want to see uncomfortable things.

But if people love sea turtles more than plastic straws, it can change. This problem is so difficult... I keep thinking about it over and over again. What can I do?

It's a story about the drawings I had in the past and the thoughts I had at that time. These things came together to make me who I am today 🤭