(Here are Korean artist Youmin Park’s thoughts after a commission she made for F/W.)

When I got the brief for Areum, and Kitsune told me to illustrate Areum having fun, I realised that this project would be literally fun to produce.
The illustration must have Korean background and Areum had to enjoy with Korean elements in it. Soon as I heard this, I remembered Insadong, Korean traditional fine art/craft street (and actually one of my favourite spots in Seoul), and thought to illustrate
Areum having fun there. Korean traditional masks are one of the famous elements Insadong street have. The paper cup she’s holding in the illustration is filled with Topokki and Korean fries. Korea is also famous with street food,
especially Topokki, which is a spicy rice cake. By the time when I conceptualise the illustration, I was actually hungry and craved Topokki, lol.

I think this illustration gave me a good opportunity to promote a part of Korean scene in visual way to readers. It also challenged me to illustrate character in Japanes format because my general drawing style is more toward American comics (actually it’s mixed in between).
This commission is the first time to illustrate comic characters with Korean culture/elements in my freelance career and I had so much fun drawing and colouring Areum. This comics have unique characters with vast diversity in: not only Korean but also other countries.
I love exploring various cultures and ethnicity into comic format and am looking forward to see how these comic series goes. For people who are planning to visit Korea, come to Insadong and see what Areum would enjoyed!