Meet the flowers in Jeju

Here, Jeju.
I'm trying to capture the sound of flowers walking towards me.

"Flowers, Walking the Road" is a picture book that contains the places I frequently visited and liked while traveling to Jeju three or four times a year for over ten years.
The author said that the scenery of Jeju Island, which he encountered when he was tired of various tasks, left a deep impression on his heart, and that he had long wanted to capture the emotions he felt there and the scenery that lingered in his heart through writing and drawing, and that he had done many practice works with that in mind.
He said that the sight of flowers blooming in Jeju's climate was unfamiliar yet beautiful, and that it naturally inspired him.

This book contains 18 flowers and plants found in 13 different locations on Jeju Island.
The flowers, painted in harmony with the Jeju landscape of the four seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter, will provide readers with many memories, inspiration, and an opportunity to experience aesthetic richness.


Healing Pain from Flowers

Sit for a long time, listening intently, letting the broken time settle down.
Bringing comfort to our time.

The scenery of Jeju Island is a time to pause for a moment from the breathless life and feel my true self.
In it, the author is said to have found solace and healing by sitting quietly, greeting low-lying flowers, looking at the waves, and watching the sunset over the mountain.
In this picture book, such experiences are told from the perspective of a woman.
By capturing the detailed and diverse emotions of love in the four seasons of Jeju Island, the heart stained with anxiety and wounds is gradually healed.


Living as an adult can often be a difficult task.
You can't live by relying on someone else and being held by them. Even if you have to hesitate for a moment, you have to stand on your own two feet and move forward.
If you live like that, a pain of exhaustion will settle in a corner of your heart.
This book looks back on such pain, offers comfort, and helps us move toward healing.

Containing the author's 20 years

Kim Jong-min, author of “Flowers, Walking the Road,” is a picture book artist who has been working as an illustrator for over 20 years.
He also runs a bookstore specializing in picture books, and has been giving lectures on picture books and teaching classes to nurture new writers for over 10 years.
It has been well over 10 years since I first conceived the idea of ​​a picture book featuring Jeju Island as a landscape.
Artist Jongmin Kim, who has established his own domain by considering various techniques, visual design idioms, and trends every time he works, has poured his heart and soul into this picture book.
I put in much more time and effort than I did on other picture book projects, and I am proud to say that it may have been my best at this stage.
I hope that the results of this effort, which involved hand-drawing each picture, scanning it, arranging and adjusting it within the picture book format, and continuously adjusting the saturation, brightness, and texture, will leave a mark on the hearts of many.


Author's Note

Look quietly.
I enjoy the daily routine of seeing flower petals that open and close repeatedly, or that collect dew in the early morning.
They bloom in spring, summer, fall, and even in the cold winter, each with its own temperature.
It seems like there is a second class of its own.
I will wait for my flower by making strong roots one day at a time.

Written interview with the author

Q.
It is said that the recently published 『Flowers, Walking the Road』 was written with Jeju as the background.
How did you come up with the idea to create a picture book set in Jeju? I'm curious about the planning intention behind "Flowers, Walking the Road."

A.
After a hectic work schedule, I wanted to escape the daily grind of Seoul and clear my mind.
So the place I found was Jeju.
I wanted to stop for a moment and feel my whole self.
I found solace and healing in Jeju by sitting quietly, greeting the low-lying flowers, watching the waves, and observing the sunset on the mountain.
I drew pictures and sketched poems to record my time in Jeju.
The sight of flowers adapted to Jeju's unique climate and temperature was both unfamiliar and beautiful to me.
Whenever I looked at the flowers blooming and growing on the shores of Gotjawal or Black Rock, or on the stone walls, poetic inspiration would naturally come to me, and I would find paper and draw and write.

This was the beginning of 『Flowers, Walking the Road』.
Afterwards, as I began to think about publishing and began to plan concretely, I began to create in earnest in the form of a poetry picture book.
Just as I walked along Jeju's flower path, searching for space and meaning in my heart, I hope that this book will provide readers with an opportunity to seek self-maturity and happiness.

Q.
“Flowers, Walking the Road” contains various places in Jeju in all four seasons.
The author doesn't live in Jeju, but to draw picture books like this, he must have visited Jeju often.
How many times have you been to Jeju?

A.
About 12 years ago, I was very tired from finishing several picture books.
I went on a trip to Jeju Island because I was thinking about starting something new, and it was great.
It was an emotionally refreshing experience.
After that, I went there three or four times a year.
As I went there often, I developed some favorite places, and I started to enjoy the same places with different feelings each season.
I think that places where my heart lingers become more delicately felt and captured in a painting.
The Jeju scenery depicted in the book is a product of such affection.

Q.
I heard that the work for ‘Flowers, Walking the Road’ was done by first drawing the original picture and then digitally retouching it.
Were there any challenges or joys you encountered while working on this picture book? And if there were any differences between this book and your previous work, please share them.


A.
I think it's been over 20 years since I started working on picture books.
While working, I had time to experiment and grow technically.
Many artists are leading the trend with new techniques and materials and talking about various visual expressions, so I personally tried to keep up with new trends and work while thinking more about various visual expressions.

I've been working in this style for about 4 years now.
I started thinking about the harmony between digital and manual work, rather than just doing it manually, and gradually grew by doing several books this way.
I think this is a style work that still needs more effort.
"Flowers, Walking the Road" is a work that has pushed my abilities to their limits, but I feel ashamed that I still need to find a better answer.

The work itself isn't difficult, but finding direction always seems to be a challenge.
Capturing emotion in an image can be a task that requires striking an appropriate balance between saturation, brightness, and texture across multiple scenes, but I also worry that I might miss those subtle, unknown differences.
I often cherish and enjoy scenes where I think I've captured a few subtle differences.

Q.
When you read 『Flowers, Walking the Road』, you get the feeling that a girl or woman becomes the narrator and sings about the process of healing her own pain.
Is there any reason or model that led you to conceive the story of this work?

A.
There is a movie I often watched while planning, storytelling, and directing this work.
These are [Architecture 101] and the Japanese version of [Little Forest].
[Little Forest] made me realize the importance of landscape.
A landscape that makes you feel moments that become more beautiful when you look at it slowly.
It made me keep asking myself fundamental questions about how I should capture the four seasons and what kind of thinking I should have.
[Architecture 101] contains many detailed emotions of love, which inspired me in the story, images, and poetic sentiments.
After watching the two movies over 20 times, I think I've unconsciously drawn the female leads, Ai Hashimoto and Suji, as models for picture books.

Q.
"Flowers, Walking the Road" has now been published. If you had to pick one thing you liked the most and one thing you regretted the most, what would it be?

A.
I am glad that I was given the opportunity to show Jeju, a place I have loved and wanted to capture for over 10 years.
I am so grateful that you trusted my poetry and drawings to the end and incorporated my opinions fully into the design and production.
Personally, what I regret is that there are many more beautiful scenes in Jeju, but I was not able to capture them all.

Q.
I heard that the author didn't originally major in drawing. I'm curious about what led him to start writing picture books.
When and how did you get started? And what does picture books mean to you?

A.
After graduating from the Department of Philosophy, I couldn't give up my dream of becoming a painter, so I transferred to the Department of Western Studies.
That's how I started drawing freely, and as I continued drawing, I realized that my painterly nature was illustration.
So I majored in picture books and started living as a writer.
The picture book I wanted to write is both my dream and my life.

I dream of a meaningful and valuable life through better works.
I also hope that my picture books will be loved by many people and that they will be able to provide financial support.


Q.
I heard that the author runs a bookstore called [Deer Bookstore] and also gives many lectures on picture books.
What kind of place is Deer Bookstore? Also, how many picture book lectures have you given, and what do you focus on most when giving them?


A.
Deer Bookstore is a bookstore specializing in picture books.
In addition to picture books, we also introduce and sell art books and independent publications that cover visual arts.
For me, Deer Bookstore is a small square where I dream of solidarity with writers.
So, we plan to actively promote author exhibitions, training, seminars, etc.
We aim to create a bond between readers and writers through picture book education for the development of writers, meetings between writers and readers, and picture book exhibitions.

Picture book lectures have been held at Dihouse (Picture Book School) for the past 10 years.
Also, I am steadily working on ‘My First Picture Book Drawing’ at KT&G Sangsang Madang Academy.
Through my picture book classes, I help aspiring writers discover their true selves.
I think it's important to express your own individuality in your work.
And it plays a role in helping the artist to see what his gaze is directed towards and what brings him happiness from a formative or emotional perspective.

Q.
Is there anything you would like to say in closing?

A.
thank you
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who worked hard to make “Flowers, Walking the Road” possible.
I am happy.
I hope that only flower paths open for everyone who reads this book.