SKETCHING HANOK & BEYOND

INHONG PARK DESCRIBES HERSELF AS A “FULL TIME DRAWING ARTIST”, AND WORKS ACROSS MANY DIFFERENT FIELDS – BUT NATURE AND HER LOCAL SURROUNDINGS IS WHERE SHE FINDS HAPPINESS AND INSPIRATION.

BY JANE WINGFIELD

Ireached out to Inhong while she was traveling and camping in the Korean countryside. “Korea is surrounded by the sea on three sides and there are many mountains in the interior,” she says. “For me, liking nature, country camping gives me a break and inspires me. I was born in the city, but when I go to the countryside, I feel comfortable as if I were in my hometown. Kind people, quiet and cute houses, and beautiful scenery”.

Korea has a long history and many interesting traditions, explains Inhong. “There are many centuries-old traditional buildings in downtown Seoul and Incheon. We call the traditional Korean buildings ‘hanok.’” The curved roof hanok is Korea’s architectural heritage. Inhong describes it as having “beautiful curves, colors and a harmony with nature.” The contrast between straight lines and curves, and old and new is especially compelling for sketchers. “There are places where you can enter the hanok, parks, and cafes, so all of them are good places to sketch,” says Inhong.

As an illustrator, she collaborates with many companies, organizations, and public institutions, and as an instructor, gives lectures at schools, libraries, and art galleries. She is currently working on two books – one as a personal project and one for a publishing company. She also runs renhong sketchclub and teaches watercolors and pen wash drawing.

Inhong most often participates with the Seoul chapter. “USk Seoul is very crowded and passionate! If you participate in it, you can interact with many skechers and see various paintings. There are also many chapters in Korea. The distance between cities is not far, so it is easy to move around, so you can come and go often.I have been to USK Incheon, Pohang, Ulsan, Busan, Paju, and Suwon meetings.”

Finding urban sketching

A fashion designer by training, Inhong painted in oil and acrylic, and created many picture diaries. “Sketching has been my daily routine since I was young,” she says. She spent some time working in China after graduating.

“At that time, every day I worked hard and I was lonely.” She found urban sketchers drawing in the streets of Guangzhou in southern China and for the first time drew outside with the group. “USk Guangzhou friends were very passionate and sincere about urban sketching. We got closer to each other through sketching. Even after I returned to Korea, we are still in touch and we decided to meet at Asia Link in Suwon this year.”

Sketching in Korea

Korea is also hosting two major festivals this year. The largest urban sketch event in Korea, Gyeongju Festa is in June. In October Suwon will host Asia Link, an Asia-wide sketching festival. This is the first Asia Link since COVID and there is much anticipation and excitement for its return. Inhong will be teaching at both events.

Portugal memories

Inhong is preparing to publish a book about a trip she took to Portugal. She shared shared one of her favorite memories of Portugal: “I went on a trip to Porto alone in the summer of 2022. At that time, I was walking down an alley where there was no one, and then I met someone sketching alone on the street.” were in my hometown.”

They didn’t recognize each other but when they looked at each other’s sketchbooks they immediately recognized each other’s work. “He was Hugo, an instructor at the symposium. We were already following each other on Instagram. After that, we went around to sketch together and became friends.” Urban sketching really does connect the world; the world becomes closely connected through urban sketching.

INHONG’S TIPS

It’s very difficult to draw everything you see in a sketchbook when you’re doing a urban sketch. Ask yourself what parts do you like, what makes the strongest impression among the things you see. When you do that, the composition, the color, the form, everything will be natural.

I don’t want to cause inconvenience to passers-by when I sketch. Be careful not to get in the way of people walking on the street, not to block the scenery where there is a good view, and not to be noisy in quiet residential areas. What I see beautifully looks beautiful to others, so I have to share it with them. I try to naturally immerse myself in the landscape and sketch without disturbing the local people.

When I sketch by myself, I take a position so that I don’t stand out too much, and I always sketch in a safe place.

그림을 그린다면 구도, 색상, 형태, 모든 것들이 자연스러워 질

것입니다.

저는 스케치할 때 행인들에게 불편을 끼치고

싶지 않습니다. 길을 걷는 사람들에게 방해가

되지 않도록, 전망이 좋은 곳의 풍경은

가로막지 않도록, 조용한 주택가에서는

소란을 피우지 않도록 조심하고 있습니다.

나에게 아름답게 보이는 것은 다른

사람들에게도 아름답게 보이기 때문에

풍경을 가로막지 않고 사람들과 함께 공유

하려고 합니다. 현지인들에게방해가 되지

않고 자연스럽게 풍경에 스며들어 스케치를

하려고 노력합니다. 또 혼자 스케치를 할

때는 너무 돋보이지 않도록 하고 항상 안전한

곳에서 스케치를 하고 있습니다.

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