Illustrator Spotlight: Eunji Jung

Aug 1, 2018

On the first of each month in 2018, we feature an illustrator who won or placed in our Kidlit411 banner contest, and we switch our website banner and Facebook page cover image. Today we present Eunji Jung and her work.

Tell us about yourself and how you came to illustrate for children.

Hi! My name is Eunji Jung, and I'm an illustrator/designer. I was born in South Korea and have been living in Canada since 2008. I graduated in graphic design from Humber College in Toronto, Ontario in 2013 and worked as a graphic designer for 5 years.

Currently, I live in Steinbach, Manitoba and work as a freelance illustrator.

As a little child, I had many imaginary friends inside my own fantasy world, and a huge curiosity for nature. I used to make my own stories and passionately drew them on sketchbooks. I always knew making art would be my dream and never had a hard time thinking about what I want to do when I grow up.

As I grew older, I studied graphic design and enjoyed working as a graphic designer, but I always knew my true passion is creating art for children. It reminds me of a child’s innocence and my own childhood imaginations which makes me nostalgic and warm. I started preparing my portfolio for the market about two years ago, and now I am a professional illustrator.

Congrats on your entry in the Kidlit411 banner contest! How did you go about approaching this assignment?

I love creating animal characters. As soon as I saw the contest, I decided to submit it. First, I had to think about what atmosphere the banner should deliver. I felt that it should portray positivity and feelings of happiness, as well as showcase diversity delivered in a cute style in order to be appealing to people in the Kidlit industry.

I spent a lot of time searching reference images of different birds. I then gave each one distinct personalities, shapes, and colours. Eye contact is very important in order to make the characters connect with each other and make people engaged to the scene as well.

You also work as a freelance designer and illustrator working in other formats than children's books. How do those assignments differ from children's illustration, and does that work influence or affect your children's illustration work?

I have a strong graphic design background, and there are so many things you need to consider when you work as a graphic designer such as hierarchy, layout, typography, composition, colours, target audience, etc. I would say illustration is a subcategory of graphic design, and as such, these elements actually apply to illustrations in the exact same way. The illustrations are products that have to be delivered to the end user, and you have to make them sellable and marketable. My years of experience working as a graphic designer helped my illustration work process a lot. But illustrations require even more of an artistic sense, storytelling technique and drawing skills.

Please walk us through your illustration process

1. Thumbnails

I start by drawing lots of thumbnail sketches. I mostly decide composition and layout at this stage.

2. Researching

I search for references on various platforms such as Pinterest, Google Image, Instagram, Magazine, stock images, etc., and study textures and shapes.

3. Sketching

Sketch for the actual work begins. This stage is the most energy consuming part because I have to concentrate to get the right shapes and shades.

4. Colouring.

When I do traditional paintings, watercolour and coloured pencils are the medium I use. (I do both traditional painting and digital painting. For digital paintings, I use Adobe Photoshop, iPad Pro with the drawing app called Procreate, and sometimes Adobe Illustrator.)

5. Editing & Final touch.

I scan the finished piece and edit size, adjust colours, enhance contrast, and add my signature and watermark if needed.

What projects are you working on now?

I am currently working on covers of elementary school textbooks for a publisher in South Korea. Also, I am preparing for an upcoming art gallery exhibition in January 2019. If there is time left beyond that, I work on my personal projects.

What is one thing most people don't know about you?

I was terrible at watercolour painting when I was in high school. My art teacher even laughed at the way I painted because she thought it was ridiculous. That hurt my teenage spirit and I promised that I would never do watercolour painting again.

But after a decade, I was working as a graphic designer and mostly used computers to create artwork. It was burning me out and I decided it was time to try something new. So I tried watercolour painting for the first time since high school and instantly realized how much I enjoyed it-- no matter what the teacher said. After practicing for a few months, watercolour became my favourite medium for making art. Most of my hand painted artwork now are in watercolour!

Where can people find you online?

My official portfolio site is eunjijung.com

Instagram - @foodiecherrypie

Etsy shop - https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/EunjiJungArt

Society6 - https://society6.com/funkyatelier

Eunji Jung is an illustrator/designer. She came to Canada from South Korea in 2008, studied graphic design at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario and graduated in 2013. Since then she worked as both an in-house and freelance graphic designer for 5 years. Currently, she lives in Steinbach, Manitoba. Types of work that she does include graphics and illustrations for commercial and marketing purposes such as children’s books, surface designs, packaging, promotional materials, editorial etc. She has her first solo exhibition held in Morden, Manitoba, in May 2018. She specializes in drawing children-related subject matters in a pensive and whimsical mood, and capturing the innocent emotions and imaginary worlds.