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Crazy Fast Drawing Skills That are Totally Opposite from ID Sketching

Master artist Kim Jung Gi appears to go beyond having a photographic memory

By Rain Noe - September 18, 2015

in Sketching

Generally speaking, industrial design sketching is fast and loose. You start with a rough idea, put pen or pencil to paper with expressive, fluid marks and start to find the form on the page. Traditional instruction dictates that we draw the entire form, including what the viewer cannot see if it were a photograph; for instance, if sketching a 3/4 shot of a car, you still draw all four sides, even if the far parts will later be obscured by fresh linework. And you typically go from big to small; if sketching sneakers for example, you start with the general shape and sole, and the eyelets for the laces come last.

Those of us trained in this ID style are bound to find Kim Jung Gi's drawing method bewildering. The South Korean artist "has the ability to visualize the drawing before making his marks," according to the bio on his website. What this means is that if drawing a car, for instance, he can start with the headlight, jump to the C-pillar, add the rearview mirror, etc. He does not find the form on the page, but appears to transcribe it from some spiritual source, and no marks are made unless they would be directly visible to the viewer.

If you're not sure what I mean, check out this demonstration, and prepare to have your mind blown:

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Never mind that there's not a single perspective or contour line—did you see the way he bounces around the page, completely detailing one small item, then moving on to another small item on totally different part of the drawing? Who the hell draws like that? Who the hell can draw like that?

This week Kim launches his first solo U.S. exhibition at the Art Whino Gallery in Washington, D.C. For those of you in the New York area, he'll be appearing next month at New York Comic Con in the North Pavilion L4's "Artist Alley."

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Jeremy Lacy

9 years ago

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Thanks for posting this - great inspiration stuff to get my day started. This guy is a genius!

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jared french

9 years ago

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looks cold in that room; full parka ...and the dust mask? This guy is a savant, brain fully mapped. I'll never be able to draw like this. I'll never play in the NBA nor will I ever win the lottery. Some things are near impossible.

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- jared french
  
  jared french
  
  9 years ago
  
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  ...wait: the mask, the speed at which he draws, probably doesn't like the graphite dust? If it was markers, would need an organic cartridge respirator to kill the smell... anyway, that guy's a master. Kudos to the author for using that title.
  
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  - jared french
    
    jared french
    
    9 years ago
    
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    ..or maybe to keep the paper clean, no coughing on it for the expo
    
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Russell Hodin

9 years ago

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This skill seems to be the equivalent of what Nicola Tesla was reportedly able to use to create his experiments. Total 3D mental imaging. In Tesla's case he could supposedly add a fourth dimension, motion (rotation) and could "bench-test" his idea all mentally, before building them. Pretty astounding skill.

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Vin Medugno

9 years ago

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Real time video would be nice... on any particular detail.

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Ramon Yip

9 years ago

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The Youtube comments mentioned faint pencil marks, but I couldn't see anything. Maybe it's my bad laptop monitor. You see anything?

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- Mike Cheung
  
  Ramon Yip
  
  9 years ago
  
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  Don't see a thing. Even at high res and when they zoom in tight, there aren't even perspective guidelines.
  
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- Rain Noe
  
  Ramon Yip
  
  9 years ago
  
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  YouTube commenters are YouTube commenters. The artist in question is renowned for giving live performances and demonstrations, and his memory is famous; if there were pencil lines laid down beforehand, we'd have heard about it by now.
  
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  - Ramon Yip
    
    Rain Noe
    
    9 years ago
    
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    True, true. Same. Watched on hi-def. Not a single line. Either way, I'd rather just believe the guy kicks ass.
    
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