Episode 77: Direction
Kang Lim’s drawings, “Ujukdo” and “Seoljookdo.”
Seoyeon thought that these two works opened a new era for 21st-century literary paintings.
“Ujukdo is a horizontal painting, and Seoljookdo is a vertical painting. Both depict bamboo, but their charms are entirely different.”
“Ujukdo.” Although it’s a traditional ink painting, its composition is extremely modern.
Heavy rain pouring down on a densely drawn bamboo forest.
The idea of expressing sorrow and desolation through a completely filled canvas without any empty space was astonishing.
Kang Lim’s unique philosophy is evident in the work itself.
“I was really shocked when I saw that… Today, something even more unique came out.”
“Seoljookdo.” Walking along a path through a split bamboo forest… You could meet a large full moon.
The bamboos were piled with white powder, making them protrude from the paper.
“He layered it like shading with ink on an already three-dimensional painting, making it more realistic. He boldly spread ink across the background…”
This work combined the characteristics of colored paintings, where pigments are layered on paper, and ink paintings, where the ink spreads under the paper.
Moreover, Western shading techniques blended seamlessly with Eastern materials.
Kang Lim created something new by harmoniously weaving together contrasting elements.
How could he always be so mystical?
“The fact that he applied such a thick layer of white powder means he has his own secret mixing ratio. He wouldn’t just do it knowing it might fall off…”
Seoyeon felt that time flowed slowly when she was with Kang Lim. No, it felt like it had stopped.
It felt like being in a daydream she had always longed for.
It made her fall into eternal fantasies…
Kang Lim looked at the frozen Seoyeon and spoke.
“The last part was amazing, wasn’t it?”
Seoyeon opened her closed eyes and took a deep breath.
She came out of the dream and spoke.
“Yeah… I think you never realize how amazing the things you do are.”
“Really? Was it that good?”
“Yeah. How did you do it?”
Kang Lim brought out a leftover piece of Korean paper.
When he sprayed water with a sprayer, the water beaded up on the paper.
Because it was partially coated, the water didn’t soak in.
“I pre-sketched it and only coated the parts where the bamboo got snow and where the full moon was. The rest is pure Korean paper, so the ink spread and soaked in everywhere except the coated parts.”
Seoyeon’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.
Now, she really wanted to hear the story.
“Kang Lim, I know that much. Are you really not going to tell me? It’s not even the pigment mixing ratio. I won’t ask about that. It’s a complete miracle.”
Seoyeon grabbed Kang Lim’s sleeve and shook it.
With her sparkling eyes, how could he ignore it?
Well, since he’s not revealing the mixing ratio, this much should be fine.
“You really know everything. You’re the best.”
“Yes. No matter how strongly you coat it, you can’t completely stop the ink from spreading. And the part where clouds cast over the moon, it looked like you paved the way for the ink to spread just that much. It was really like magic.”
Kang Lim took out a plastic bag he had hidden in his pocket.
White powder sparkled.
“The secret is salt!”
“Salt?”
“If you grind salt mixed with alum and rub it on the paper, the ink won’t soak in. It’s similar to how we use masking tape when we do watercolor washes. If you remove only that part later, it remains white.”
“Wow… I never imagined it would be such a simple material.”
“Ha ha. Isn’t it fun?”
“Yes! Then, how did you make the color difference between the full moon and the piled snow? They’re both white, but subtly different.”
Kang Lim rubbed the back of his neck, speaking with a bit of unnecessary modesty.
He was a little moved that she noticed this much.
“Right. I wanted the snow illuminated by the moonlight to look whiter than the distant moon. So I made a difference. If you look closely, the snow on the leaves and the snow on the ground are also different in color.”
“I see. They are very subtly different. Especially the moon, it looks more distant because its brightness is lower…”
“First, I bought unbleached Korean paper.”
“Ah, ivory paper?”
“Yes. So the snow piled on the ground is ivory-colored even though I didn’t paint anything on it.”
“What about the full moon? It’s much brighter than that.”
“I applied a very thin layer of kaolin to the full moon. It’s slightly less bright than white powder made from seashells. Just like how various whites like zinc white or silver white differ in oil painting, Eastern materials are the same.”
“…So you didn’t use just one white material.”
“Yes. I used pure white powder only for the snow on the leaves. To make it sparkle under the moonlight.”
“Oh my goodness…”
Kang Lim looked at Seoyeon, who was surprised, and opened his mouth.
There was one more thing she needed to discover.
With her eyes wide open, she asked with a bright expression.
“What else is there?”
“…Is there something more?”
“Of course. Even the competition judges might not notice this. Look closely.”
“……”
Seoyeon was silent.
Silence filled the residency.
No matter how much she looked, she couldn’t figure out what was hidden.
Thinking she had to endure her curiosity until the exhibition day frustrated Seoyeon.
Waiting until after the competition announcement and when it would be hung in the Arts Center…
That would take almost half a year.
Kang Lim approached the pondering Seoyeon.
“I’ll tell you alone.”
A ticklish voice whispered into Seoyeon’s ear.
Seoyeon burst into laughter at the brilliant idea.
Her eyes folded into a crescent shape.
Seohee couldn’t stay still for a moment, moving restlessly.
Her nails were so chewed up that they had hangnails.
“Teacher, I can pass, right?”
Today was the last tutoring day before the exam…
She seemed very nervous.
“Honestly, some students from Korea Art Middle School don’t get into Korea Art High School. It would be so embarrassing if that happened. They keep teasing you. Wah.”
“It’s okay.”
Kang Lim was checking Seohee’s overall report card.
Art admissions include 60% of academic grades with attendance and 40% of practical exams combined.
For music or physical education, some places have more than 80% practical exams, but art heavily considers grades.
In contemporary art, skill is important, but so are ideas.
Of course, it’s unclear if ideas come from report cards…
Most teachers think that smart students have good ideas.
Kang Lim handed the report card back to Seohee and spoke.
“With your grades in the 1st to 2nd tier, passing is a given. So stop biting your nails. You’ll hurt yourself.”
“But I’m still anxious!”
“I’ll give you the essence one last time. Bring the drawings you’ve done.”
Seohee quickly ran to her drawing locker and brought out all her sketch and watercolor works.
When she piled up the Canson sheets on the desk, dust floated up softly.
The years of hard work were evident.
“Wow, seeing it all like this, there’s a lot!”
“Indeed… You really worked hard.”
Kang Lim smiled as he slowly examined the drawings.
Seohee, who endured intense assignments for two short months and followed well, was commendable.
She now perfectly maintained perspective, which she used to get wrong a bit at first.
Once she understood the importance of local color, she accurately reproduced the colors of objects.
Seohee was now a monstrous middle schooler with perfect form and completeness.
“Now, there’s just one last thing to fill.”
Kang Lim’s goal was not just to pass.
It was to enter as the top student.
“Seohee, give me a pencil.”
“Here it is, Master.”
Kang Lim fixed Seohee’s drawing on the drawing board.
It was a still life sketch featuring a black plastic bag, a squid, a wine bottle, and ramen.
Seohee chose a large plastic bag as the main subject and placed the wine bottle as a secondary subject at the left corner.
“Seohee, you’re great, but your sense of composition is slightly lacking.”
“Is the composition not good?”
“Yes. Actually, it’s not bad; it’s just ordinary.”
“Then how should I change it?”
“In this drawing, other students would choose the same composition. Most students place tall objects like bottles or cups at the edge of the foreground.”
“Right. Because it’s a secondary subject!”
“Yes. It’s a chronic habit of entrance exams.”
Kang Lim sharpened a blunt eraser with a cutter knife.
Then he erased the bottom part of the black plastic bag.
To make the transparent wine bottle lie down.
He erased the cylindrical shape by adjusting the strength and filled in a light shadow where the bottle touched the ground.
A shiny wine bottle was drawn in an instant.
Without any elaborate depiction.
“Wow! Teacher, you’re like a magician. A con artist!”
“…That’s a compliment, right?”
“Of course! Now I just need to draw the white wine label?”
“Yes. By placing objects with contrasting colors like this, you can effectively highlight their textures.”
Seohee compared the wine bottle drawn by Kang Lim with the one she had drawn.
Drawing a transparent wine bottle on a white background made the color easily dull with just a little depiction. But not depicting it made it look incomplete.
However, placing a black object behind the wine bottle made it easy to bring out the texture with just a few touches and shadows.
“Composition is really a subtle difference. But… that subtle difference makes a painting stand out.”
“Wow! That’s profound!”
“……”
Kang Lim placed another drawing on the drawing board.
It was a still life featuring a soft stuffed toy, a soju bottle, a hammer, and snacks.
“This drawing is the same.”
Kang Lim sketched a hammer on the upper part of the stuffed toy’s leg.
He overlapped sharp lines by standing the pencil.
With strong contrast shading, the texture of the metal hammer appeared.
Conversely, he gently rubbed the leg of the stuffed toy under the hammer with a blending stump.
Because of the heavy metal, the soft cotton part looked sunken.
“Wow! The hammer looks much harder and the stuffed toy looks softer. The hammer I drew was just lying on a hard snack box.”
“Right. Always think about the texture and material and arrange the composition to maximize them. This applies to both sketches and watercolors.”
“I understand! A lively composition!”
“Yes. I can tell you this because your depiction skills are good. In the exam room, don’t get nervous and do it as you usually do.”
Seohee spoke with an excited expression.
“Then I’ll shout out a slogan with determination! Since it’s our last class today.”
“What…?”
Seohee opened the window and clenched her fist.
With a determined expression.
She opened her mouth wide and shouted loudly.
“I am the student of the genius teacher Kang Lim! I will definitely pass!”
The whole room echoed, and it felt like the eardrums were shaking.
She has a commanding presence. With this kind of voice, she’ll scare the other exam students…
“I am the student of the genius teacher Kang Lim! I will definitely pass!”
Kang Lim felt somewhat proud. After all, she was his first student.
It reminded him of his exam days.
But… she kept shouting repeatedly, making him feel embarrassed.
“Seohee, stop it. It sounds like I made you do it.”
“I am the student of the genius teacher Kang Lim…”
At that moment, Seohee’s door opened, and Ryeo Miyeon peeked her head in.
“Let’s eat some fruit while we do this.”
“……”
Buam-dong, located between Mount Bukak and Mount Inwang.
Even in the heart of Seoul, the air is exceptionally clean, allowing one to fully experience the charm of nature.
Kang Lim walked along the winding alleyways, encountering old-fashioned mills and barbershops.
Some might call it rustic, but it’s a truly heartwarming neighborhood.
However, unlike the peaceful village, his mind was full of worries.
‘Ah, what should I do about the Heyum solo exhibition…’
After passing a slightly sloping downhill path, a large stone building came into view.
A beautiful art museum designed by architect Woo Kyuseung, the Whanki Museum.
Students gathered in front of the entrance. Among them was Goo Haeyoung.
Kang Lim hurriedly moved when he spotted the professor.
“Hey, you’re on time for once?”
“Indeed.”
Lee Hyunseong and Shin Taemin greeted him.
Kang Lim asked Lee Hyunseong.
“Did you check in?”
“No, not yet. You’re really lucky.”
“Not as much as you.”
Kang Lim glanced at Goo Haeyoung.
He was currently checking the newly arrived students.
In art school, classes are often held in museums.
However, it’s usually only when viewing the professor’s solo exhibition.
Goo Haeyoung was unique in this aspect as well.
‘Maybe… Professor Goo Haeyoung likes the Whanki Museum? Well, I heard this building is considered the best-designed museum among architects…’
As if reading Kang Lim’s thoughts, Goo Haeyoung spoke.
The students all focused on his voice.
“This class assignment is to view the exhibition and summarize which part of the curator’s planning was good. A good exhibition perfectly aligns the building’s structure, lighting, and artwork. Feel the life and world of Kim Whanki’s works, and analyze how these interact with the space. Draw a floor plan or write an essay… the format is free. We’ll meet back at school in 4 hours.”
The students murmured.
Even for a 5-credit class, usually, they’d be sent home after a museum visit.
He was a strict professor. He didn’t waste a single hour…
Goo Haeyoung smirked at the students’ sad faces.
“How to stage an artwork. This is something artists must learn. Nowadays, some artists also serve as curators.”
“……”
“It’s very important, yet most university students first think about exhibition staging during their graduation exhibition. They shouldn’t go out into society without knowing it properly. You can learn practically helpful things from this opportunity, so everyone, buy your tickets and go in.”
“Yes-!”
Kang Lim and the students all moved into the building.
