Research
For my artist and designer, I chose to select Jun Takahashi of Undercover and Kim JungGi, an illustrator and painter. These two are artists that both I admire very much and have influenced my personal work as an artist. Jun Takahashi takes a lot of references from olf films and performances when adding graphics and illustrations to his garments. He is known for expressing his rebellious attitude towards society and expresses it through large illustrations that cover most of the garments. Kim JungGi is also known for filling an empty piece of paper with intricate detail with his brush ink pen he always uses. Most of his illustrations are from his pure imagination and photographic memory. His practice of drawing from memory inspires me every day to practice every day and take mental notes of visuals I see.
Process
I wanted to keep the all-over print aesthetic of Jun Takahashi’s and combine the complicated detail of Kim JungKi’s artwork. Jun is known for using photographs than illustrations so it was difficult to find a composition that would fit nicely on the garment. When picking the specific garment, I looked in my closet and chose what was closest to an undercover aesthetic which was a long black trench coat. Kim JungKi has many artworks that have clusters of different characters and scenarios. I wanted to depict myself in many different situations and compose myself in different compositions.
I like to describe myself as someone who is constantly thinking and looking for new ideas. A sketchbook or a piece of paper and a pen is something I have besides me so I drew two of myself in the bottom corners. Also, as much as I enjoy working on paper, I do a lot of my personal projects on my computer. Digital work is something I’m doing more than working on paper so I drew it on top of the illustrations of me drawing to show my priority at the moment.
Final Photos
Artists statement:
Jun Takahashi of Undercover proudly presents a private featuring portraiture of Daniel Um, a student/artist based in New York in collaboration with artist/illustrator Kim JungKi. No stranger to the fashion world, Takahashi keeps his rebellious attitude towards his garment, a long black trench coat. This collaboration will be his first project involving an illustrator for his graphics. Kim Jungi is also no stranger in his own world of illustration. His resume is mainly with the entertainment world such as Marvel, the newly released film Parasite, and games like League of Legends. Daniel Um is an artist at Parsons School of Design also studying illustration. Takahashi wanted to explore his storytelling visuals on garments by portraying a specific character. Kim decided to illustrate Um as not only one person, but multiple versions of him in different moments in his life. Um is characterized as someone who’s constantly thinking of creating something new and explore different ideas. This causes him to be simultaneous when handling multiple projects as one. Although Um is currently in the process of launching his own brand, Takahashi and Kim set a solid foundation for Um to be introduced to the world.
