Danwon Kim Hong-do,
a famous Korean painter
has built original paintings in all
fields from portraits of kings
to landscape paintings, portrait
paintings, Buddhist paintings, etc.
as he was a versatile painter.
But above all, the painting
that made him popular was a painting
of folk’s life in the past.
He demonstrated the life and sadness
of ordinary people in the works
and not only informed the king of
the people’s lives, but even today,
gave a glimpse of the situation
at that time to many people.
The artist @Nokhong,
who was selected in the Hall of Fame
in January, is showing the lives of
various people by having appearances
you can see around you
in everyday life.
The artist's works are full of
landscapes containing people
and their lives.
The appearances of various places
and people are painted in calm
and soft colors.
It is common to face, but the daily
life that can be easily ignored is
expressed in pictures while it
boasts a special charm.
In addition, attractive characters
and landscapes in imagination
and media catches our eyes
as they are the artist's
unique expressions.
We have to find out how these works
are made through an interview
with the artist.
Then, let’s start the interview
with the artist.
Q1. @PENUP
Hi artist, this is the PENUP team.
First of all, congratulations
on being selected as the first
Hall of Fame in 2021.
Please briefly introduce yourself
and comment on the selection.
A1. @Nokhong
First of all,
I sincerely thank the PENUP team
for choosing me to be the first
Hall of Fame in 2021.
I still can't believe it.
Please enjoy your hard work
in creative activities
over the past year.
I will accept it as an encouragement
to work hard in the future.
To introduce myself, Nokhong means
green and red, which is taken from
a famous Chinese poem that sang
about the beauty of nature.
This ID reminds me that I am part of
nature. I like to learn new things
and am curious and adventurous.
I am a Korean resident in Washington,
DC, USA, and currently working
as a consultant and translator.
Q2. @PENUP
Your first work was posted
in November 2018.
How did you come to know PENUP
and how did you get
to post your work?
A2. @Nokhong
Around Thanksgiving in 2018,
I needed to get a new phone.
I was looking for a phone
with good camera performance
and note features, and it was
the Samsung Galaxy Note 9
that satisfies these
two conditions perfectly.
After purchasing Note 9,
I first encountered PENUP
while looking at its features.
I was like “What is this?”
then I colored it experimentally
and uploaded it. I've been fond of
drawing since I was a kid, but I had
the inconvenience of having
to carry drawing tools to draw,
and I couldn't paint
because I was busy working.
But PENUP gave me
a sketchbook and various
drawing tools in my hand.
Back then, I was busy preparing
for some exams, but PENUP was
the best way to relieve my stress.
The effects of a pen with a crunchy
pencil-like sound, a transparent
watercolor brush, and a deeply
blended oil painting brush were
amazing and amazing. It was a time
of discovery, and I used to paint
and post occasionally.
The awareness of the existence
of the community seems
to have come a lot later.
Q3. @PENUP
From appearances of people
to stories in dramas and myths.
I was able to see works
from various perspectives.
I'm curious to see which devices and
apps are used to make these works.
A3. @Nokhong
The devices and apps I use to draw
are Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and PENUP.
Q4. @PENUP
The appearance of people living
in ordinary everyday life
attracted attention.
I am curious about
who they are and how you
started drawing these works.
A4. @Nokhong
I'm very interested in people
and their behavior.
Ordinary daily life means
that it has become common among
people, but if a person from
the past rides a time machine
and travels back in time
to the present, the appearance of
people addicted to mobile phones
will look very strange.
The customs in the genre paintings
of the Danwon Kim Hong-do mentioned
earlier must have been a normal
routine at the time, but not at all
from our perspective.
So, the many things you encounter
while walking on the street
excite your interest.
Among the people in my paintings
are me, my relatives, friends,
and strangers on the subway,
on the bus, or on the street.
People's expressions and actions
are diverse and each radiates
a different energy of life.
It feels beautiful and mysterious,
so I try to capture it.
Q5. @PENUP
Not only the people, but also
the places attracted attention.
We felt like you were drawing
a scene you encountered
while moving.
We are curious about what part of
these works inspired you.
A5. @Nokhong
Some places appearing in the drawing
are real places, and some are mixed
with real places and imagination.
According to the social distancing
policy due to COVID-19 pandemic,
customers in front of grocery stores
in long lines are the places
I actually waited in line.
At the time, it got a strong
impression from the woman standing
2 meters in front of me with
a shriveled look and a little
anxious and I thought I wanted
to put it in my drawing.
Looking at the picture again,
it seems that she is not wearing
a mask, so it is a landscape
before the expansion of wearing-mask
obligation around the world.
I decided to do a potluck picnic
on the beach with a few penple
I was close to at the time,
and I drew it first. I drew it
by referring to pictures of
Korean beaches, and it was
a picture that gave me a lot of
fun in the collaboration.
Q6. @PENUP
We were able to see landscape
paintings with unique feelings,
not everyday scenery.
We are curious about how you came
to draw such works.
Also, we wonder the intention of
the works and the hidden stories.
A6. @Nokhong
Such paintings are not generally
conceived and drawn in advance,
but seem to be realized
by drawing a line on a blank
screen or painting color.
In the case of the great soul,
I wanted to paint a mysterious
blueish purple and then draw
a little human facing
a big challenge.
There are mysterious treasures
in the huge forest,
but there are also dangers
such as beasts and vipers.
It is a matter of choice whether
to take such a risk and venture
into a treasure hunt.
In the picture, the woman has
already entered the jungle
by herself and has hopes
that she will be guided by a great
soul (or god) to complete her
adventure successfully.
The sparrow and scarecrow is
a drawing of a beautiful sunset
that I sat down by a window dyed
with sunset light as I wanted
to express it.
Originally, I only drew the sky,
but it was so plain and not fun
so I drew a field, and added
a scarecrow again.
Then I remembered the song
"Sparrows and Scarecrows".
I think it should say
that it is just a picture drawn
with the flow of consciousness.
Q7. @PENUP
Traditional clothes, including
hanbok, and scenes from myths
and videos were expressed
in your drawings.
We are curious about the motivation
for drawing such works and their
appeals to you as an artist.
A7. @Nokhong
I am very interested
in world history and culture,
legends and myths.
When I was young, I fell in love
with Greek/Roman, Nordic
and Egyptian myths.
I got to read Indian mythology
relatively recently.
And if my PENUP friends draw
such paintings and give them
detailed explanations, I enjoy
the paintings and read them
really well (thanks to my friends).
I am also interested
in sharing our culture,
history, and legends and myths.
It is also fun to express
our beautiful and unique culture
with drawings, as well as to share
and talk about them with friends.
I believe that PENUP is an ideal
place for artist friends from all
over the world to get to know
each other through a common hobby of
painting, understand diversity
and build friendships.
Q8. @PENUP
You are actively reposting
on the works of various penple
and doing PENUP activities.
We are curious about how
the relationship with them has
an effect on your work.
A8. @Nokhong
First of all,
there are so many beautiful,
creative, and inspiring works
at PENUP as well as many souls
as beautiful as the paintings.
ENUP is like a deep sea.
No matter how deeply you go,
there are always many beautiful,
amazing, and valuable works.
Thousands of artists with incredible
talent and imagination are hidden
to give you the joy of exploration.
My PENUP activities became active
one year after I started PENUP,
when the penple liked my paintings,
wrote comments, and made repostings.
Thanks to the penple, it seems
that I have become a PENUP
delinquent(?) and enjoy the honor of
being in the Hall of Fame today.
I think comments and repostings
are a way to express
how much I value and appreciate
the drawings of penple.
These activities open a window
for communication with penple
and seem to be an opportunity
to build relationships.
In addition, I think that
the exchange with artists of
works that stimulate the soul
with excellent expression
techniques, originality,
and pure sensibility not only uplift
the soul, but also improve drawing
skills and expand the limits of
individual thinking about paintings.
Q9. @PENUP
We were also able to see works
drawn with various people
and their emotions in one sketch.
We are curious about how this
kind of work came about.
Do you have a future work plan
or a material you would like
to challenge?
A9. @Nokhong
Currently, there are many more
personalized challenges
and collaborations within the PENUP
community compared to the ones
officially held by PENUP.
Recently,
I have been joining mostly
collaborations and there are
various topics such as
Oh, I need makeup, (Oh, I need makeup,
can you put some?(by Jazz),
Dress me up (Dress me up
(by Diana, SummerKaz etc.),
Decorate your bag (by Branka), etc.
Anyone can draw a sketch and invite
anyone to the collaboration.
Then, the friends who read the post
will respond to the request
and start painting and posting.
Interested penple usually respond
to challenges regardless of
age or gender.
I also sent an invitation
to the lucky bag joint project
for the first time at the end of
the year, and it will be held
until February 11th,
before New Year's Day.
Regarding the future work,
last year a friend suggested
writing a fairy tale book
and drawing an illustration,
and I have a dream to make a pretty
fairy tale book one day,
so I want to experiment
with more various techniques.
Q10. @PENUP
Last question.
If you have any improvements
or messages you want to share
with us while using PENUP,
please share them with us.
A10. @Nokhong
First of all,
thank you very much for making
such a wonderful app.
Regarding the features of PENUP,
I don’t have any complaints
thanks to continuous improvement
over the years.
However, because of my tendency
to personally explain drawings
a lot, it would be great if you
can increase the number of
characters in descriptions
and comments for drawings.
It would be nice if there was
a feature that could fix about
1 piece at the top.
Regarding community management,
I would like you to immediately
block child sexual harassers
so that penple can come to PENUP
with ease, and switch to a unique
ID policy for intellectual property
protection and security.
I sincerely thank everyone
who has contributed to the PENUP app
and community management.
I wish the health and happiness of
the PENUP management team, and also
wish PENUP to establish itself
as the world's leading painting app.
How was the interview with @Nokhong?
They said Danwon Kim Hong-do learned
the various techniques including
western painting that was not famous
at that time and did not give up
in learning and challenging to draw.
The artist also challenges various
works that go beyond imagination
from daily life, and was introducing
something new to us.
Why don’t we all think about our
own materials from the small things
around us to our imaginations
in the new year and also express
them in drawings?
It seems to be a fun drawing life
to complete different works
through this approach.
Also, we hope PENUP
to be full of challenges
with the works of all of you.
