Kim Jung Gi at Kaigai Manga Festa 2018
Watch legendary illustrator Kim Jung Gi at work as he creates a Godzilla-inspired masterpiece at Tokyo International Comic Festival (Kaigai Manga Festa) 2018, part of Comitia 126, held at Tokyo Big Sight on Sunday 25 November 2018. Mac, our Founder, Lead Guide and avid Kim Jung Gi fan, tells us more!
Kim Jung Gi is quite simply one of the best graphic artists in the world. He has the incredible ability to draw without any visual aids. Everything is laid out in his head. His attention to the most infinitesimal details is jaw dropping. Whatever the pose or angle, his illustrations are top notch. You cannot get tired of looking at his art because of just how detailed and inspiring it is.
He was born in 1975 in Goyang-Si in the Kyongki-Do province of South Korea. He was 19 when he entered Fine Arts School, where he majored in ‘Art & Design’. He studied for 3 years at Dong-Eui University in Busan. Nowadays, when he isn’t managing AniChanga, his drawing school in Seoul, or working for Korean advertising companies, he travels around the world for comic festivals, live drawing shows, to meet fans and find inspiration!
Kim Jung Gi is also in the Guinness Book of World Records, holding the ‘Longest drawing by an individual for Fisheye Art’ illustration title!
Fans got a taste of that at the Kaigai Manga Fest held as part of COMITIA 126, during which he held a live drawing show at the event, which was as incredible as ever.
Kim Jung Gi’s new 2018 Sketch Collection was available at the show. I own several of his other sketchbooks – beautiful hardback tomes full of his work from the previous few years. Having met Kim Jung Gi at NYCC in 2016, I jumped at the chance to get one in my own backyard! Jung Gi sketches in each book you buy. Usually he does not take requests, however I asked him if we wouldn’t mind drawing something inspired by Tokyo, given the Maction Planet motto ‘We are Tokyo’.
Watch the video to find out the result! Thank you to Kim Jung Gi, his team and the organisers of COMITIA 126 and Kaigai Manga Festa 2018!
For more Otaku video action from that day, check out the walkthrough Mac did of the entire COMITIA 126 showfloor!
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