Korean Illustrator JooHee Yoon Introduces Animal Life To Children With ‘The Tiger Who Would Be King’

JooHee Yoon, a recipient of the ADC Young Guns 13 award, is taking the illustrating world by storm.

The Korean illustrator was recognized by the New York Times last week for her children’s book “The Tiger Who Would Be King,” which introduces animal life to young readers, according to The Korea Times.

The book, which is based on a 1956 comic fable by Thurber, is Yoon’s third. It portrays “evocative images of animal life,” not only highlighting the artist’s talent, but also educating children about the animal kingdom.

Aside from her illustrations in her recent book, as well as her other works “Beastly Verse” and “Living Things,” Yoon’s creativity has reportedly appeared on the New Yorker, the Washington Post, Le Monde, Nautilus Magazine and National Public Radio.

Yoon is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. She is reportedly currently a printmaking professor.

When it comes to her printing techniques, Yoon had to dabble in various ones before finding a style that worked for her.

“For the last two years I have been working primarily with toray photolithography and screen printing. They are quite similar in a way, with an image on acetate being transferred onto a surface (a screen for screen printing vs. a plate for toray) when light reacts to a coating of light sensitive chemical. The main difference is that you need a litho or etching press and oil based ink to print using toray plates,” explained Yoon during an interview with the publication Ape On The Moon back in 2011.

“I think I fell in love with this technique because it has certain similarities to screen printing but with a different, more textural look. For me, by working with both techniques, the one influences the other, and at times it can be hard to tell them apart. This past year I’ve also been experimenting with relief printing, linoleum being my choice of material.”

Yoon’s work is focused on “odd characters,” which may be the reason it’s perfect for children’s books.

“[My work] is also concept based, meaning that I try to think of an interesting way to illustrate something; usually that something being very mundane, I try to make it less so with my drawing. Process wise, my work is very heavy on planning since with printmaking there are lots of different stages I have to go through to reach the finished artwork,” stated Yoon.

“It’s extremely time consuming, but I continue to do it anyway as I enjoy working with flat colors and patterns.”