Boyoun Kim is an illustrator who was born and raised in South Korea and currently works out of her studio in Long Island City (an area of Queens in New York City). She creates bright, graphic illustrations, made in Photoshop and often screen printed. Kim has only been out of school and working for a couple years, but she has already illustrated a children’s book, Yummy in My Tummy and her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Lucky Peach, Fast Company, and many other magazines and newspapers.

MY LIFE:
I live in New York and my studio is in Long Island City. I have been working for two years as an illustrator.

My brother studied fine arts and now he is a web developer. When I was young, I really liked his drawings and comics and always wanted to draw as he did. He encouraged me to draw something.

I studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts. I met many great professors and their classes made me think about illustration more seriously.

MY WORKSPACE:
I used to work at home for a year after I graduated but it was hard to focus on my work. I have a studio in Long Island City now and there are many artists in the building, including painters, photographers, and creative people of other disciplines. It takes only 10 minutes by train or bicycle from home so it is easy to get there. Sometimes I go to the SVA print shop to do printmaking. They have great equipment so it is a nice place to make prints.

HOW I MAKE MY ILLUSTRATIONS:
I come up with ideas and do rough sketches in my sketchbook, and then I draw on Photoshop and do screen printing. If it is a quick turnaround commissioned work, I sketch and finish in Photoshop using some textures that I made.

MY FIRST BIG BREAK:
When I was in Chris Buzelli’s class at SVA, he gave us an assignment for art director SooJin Buzelli. My work was chosen and published on the cover of Plansponsor magazine. It was my first big job as an illustrator.

MY INFLUENCES:
I was influenced by many fine artists, graphic designers, illustrators and photographers. Especially: Gustav Klimt, Paul Klee, Christoph Niemann, Nicholas Blechman, Vladimir Lebedev, Leonard Weisgard, Alex Steinweiss, Blexbolex, George Barbier, Saul Steinberg, and David Hockney.

CREATIVE INSPIRATION:
Vintage children’s books, vintage designs, posters and new art books. Some of my favorite books are: The Summer Noisy Book and The Indoor Noisy Book, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; The Circus and Other Stories, by Samuil Marshak and Vladimir Lebedev; and Steinweiss: The Inventor of the Modern Album Cover.

MY MOST ADMIRED CREATIVE PERSON:
The illustrators Hilary Stebbing and Edward Bawden.

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF WORKING ALONE:
The biggest challenge is to promote my work.

A MEMORABLE ASSIGNMENT FROM THE PAST YEAR:
It was a children’s book, Yummy in My Tummy, published in Korea. It was a new thing for me to do and I had so much fun working on it.

DREAM ASSIGNMENT:
It is always enjoyable to draw food, vegetables, and ingredients, so I would like to illustrate a cookbook.  

MY FAVORITE ART DIRECTOR:
I have liked working with SooJin Buzelli who gave me a huge opportunity to work as an illustrator. When I was a student, I learned how to connect and work with an art director from her. Also, I would like to mention Deanna Donegan at The New Yorker. She has been great to work with and allows me my space for work. Her art directions have made my works better.

SOME OF MY FAVORITE ILLUSTRATORS:
My former professors and amazing illustrators Chris Buzelli, Josh Cochran, Yuko Shimizu, and Marcos Chin. I was lucky to meet them at SVA. Their assignments, feedback and advice were so helpful to improve my work, and they gave me chances to meet many art directors and start my career as an illustrator. I really respect their passion for work.

OTHER WORK:
I make some hand-printed greeting cards, prints, tote bags, and dish towels and sell them. I can make them without any stress and have so much fun doing it.

HOW I PROMOTE MYSELF:
I enter some competitions like American Illustration and the Society of Illustrators. It is a good way and important to promote my work. I try to use Instagram, Behance, Tumblr, and Facebook.

ADVICE FOR SOMEONE STARTING OUT:
Try everything that you want and do your best.

See more Boyoun Kim illustrations, new work, and updates:
Boyoun Kim website
Tumblr
Instagram: @boyounillo
Twitter: @boyounillo