Artist Wanjin GIM is from South Korea and currently works in Seoul. He graduated from the Department of Animation at the Korea National University of Arts and has since taught himself painting. Since 2016, Wanjin has shared his art through Instagram and has developed a significant following.
Wanjin mainly focuses on the human body, imbuing a transcendental quality to his work. He explores how to turn a ‘target’ into a ‘phenomenon’ through the relationship between the figure and the margin.
Dramatic Anatomical Drawings Comprised of Complex Hatched Colors by WanJin Gim
Seoul-based artist WanJin Gim illustrates the form and gesture of the human body using complex hatched layers of color and dramatic lighting. He adds intrigue to poses that could be considered traditional figure drawing studies by adding abstracted lines and watercolor washes that integrate the fragmented body parts into a larger visual field. In an interview with Trending All Day, the artist describes his inspiration and process:
I’m interested in expressing body temperature and skin smell and am studying the relationship between color and energy (Qi) for my work… Currently I usually use oil pastel and colored pencils. They both have limited colors, so I need to overlap them to produce a color that I like. Even if I can’t express the color that I intend to make, I am satisfied with the exceptional effect coming from the imperfectness.
Gim studied animation in university, but began creating in his current style in earnest after coming across the work of painter and draftsman Lucian Freud. He shares his work on Instagram, as well as on his website.
WanJin Gim (previously) continues to amaze with his detailed drawings that show the nuanced colors and textures of bare skin. Most often working on kraft paper, Gim uses cross hatching—a technique most commonly associated with ink drawings or prints—with an array of colors to capture hands, arms, feet, and the occasional cat.
Though simple in subject, Gim’s drawings pulsate with the gestural energy that informs the postures of each carefully rendered limb. You can see more of the Seoul-based artist’s work on Instagram, and find prints of his drawings on Gim’s online store.
View WanJin Gim Paintings