By Kwon Mee-yoo
A variety of colors highlight the unique composition and texture shown in Tak Young-kyung’s paintings.
These drawings may resemble other abstract work, but the tool is different — instead of a brush, the artist used a computer to create them.
Tak, 72, is a pioneer in digital fine art in Korea. Previously fine art painter he fell in love with the new technology in mid-1990s.
“In 1994, when I first learned to use a Macintosh, the Corel Painter version was only 0.2. It was slow, but I could see that the tools were designed well,” he said.
“For instance, there were various kinds of brushes in the program, such as an oil painting brush, watercolor brush, as well as pencil, charcoal, crayon and many more tools. If I were to use all these materials, I would have to go to the market to get them, but I had access to all of them on my computer.”
He established the Korea DigiArt Association and held 14 private exhibitions of his works.
An ongoing exhibition at the art gallery Road to the Museum near Anguk Station displays 43 works by Tak — all abstract, figurative and semi-figurative.
The works were drawn through Corel Painter ver. 11. “The program has developed rapidly. I can blend colors and express light and shade on my monitor. It is more serious now,” he said.
In fact, the paintings do have brush marks and texture.
Since he mainly works on abstract paintings, the theme of his works are flow, communion and change. He said his pieces have become much simpler compared to previous ones.
“I consider the world in relationships and try to find flow among those,” Tak said. “Fine art is expressing such thoughts in a beautiful way.”
It takes him about one to two hours to complete an A4 size piece, but he needs much more time to find inspiration.
“Since I paint abstract art, I think over and over again until I come up with the composition and colors of the painting. It could take days or weeks,” the painter said.
He added that saving time is another merit of digital art. “If you paint in oils, you have to wait days for it to dry. However, with this method, it can be done in a jiffy,” Tak said.
Sometimes, he retouches digital paintings with oil paint to give it more depth.
“Some artists reject the new tools, their minds restrained to the analog way. However, I think digital fine art should be understood as a genre of art,” Tak said.
“There is a wrong perception that computer can only used for design, but fine art is also possible through computer technology.”
Tak said paintings encompass three elements — balance, unity and transition. “So when you have all three in a composed way, that is art,” he added.
Art critic Shin Hang-sup described Tak’s works as pursuing creating digital images, rather than imitating the analog way. “It is an abstract art form making use of distinct textures different from existing paintings,” Shin said.
The exhibition runs through June 6. For more information, call (02) 738-9199.