The young artists of Kookmin University are paving a new path in the field known as ‘comics.’ That is the story of Artist comics ‘El Dorado.’ Characterized by its special composition as the comics of artists, this is a seasonal magazine and starting from the first issue in 2013 through the winter issue, artists are exerting utmost efforts for the preparation of their third issue. Why do young artists who engage in different fields of arts express their stories in comics? Let’s listen to their stories.

How did you start ‘El Dorado?’
While sharing stories on comics with people close to me who loved comics, we simply thought it would be fun to have such magazine. Therefore, our goal was to come up with complete comics and not just short comics drawn whenever having some spare time. Since those who prepared the first issue just loved comics and did not professionally drew comics, our first goal was to complete the comics. We accomplished the initial goal and then the winter issue was prepared. Gradually, the magazine was distributed and we started to communicate with people who got interested in our magazine. As other artists were gathered, the size of our team got bigger. Ranging from professional experts to webtoon assistants, our members are becoming diversified including artists from other universities as well as foreigners. Since we started our magazine simply because we liked comics, none of our members thought that this project could get as big as this.

El Dorado to us
First of all, it expands the depth of expression by an artist. To a person engaged in fine arts, oriental paintings, music, or dancing, the things that are desired to be expressed can be diversified and broadened through a genre called comics. On the other hand, comics is a genre that is easily accessed and loved by anyone; thus, it is also possible to introduce the activities of an artist. By introducing the profile and other artworks of an artist besides comics, it serves as a means of communication between the artworks and people. Lastly, I personally think that the grand objective is from the background of the arts today as it is getting strained and ranked although it is an area to be freely expressed. Therefore, I expect this organization to achieve freedom of artistry by shattering this boundary in the art circle. I plan to make a freer organization with such expectation. In simple terms, I hope that it serves the role of a playground where any artist can freely express and enjoy without being limited by ranks or hierarchical order.

About the artists and comics
Je-seung Oh - Ten Billion Years of Solitude
It is black comedy that satires social issues through the acts of characters under unrealistic phenomenon. For example in the first issue, it was conceptualized with an idea that excessively used TV and internet might truly interfere in human relationships. Thus, the story of heroes and heroines that fought against a media monster is expressed with special humor in the comics.

Jae-ik Yi - Dev
It is a story of devils with mental problems. By giving a mental problem that is opposite to a devil’s quality, devils sometimes fight or team up with each other to devise a plot. In case of the devil of ice, for example, the image of ice is seen as cold and indifferent in various media but anger-control problem was granted as a special quality, whereas the devil of fire is expressed as a character with cold sociopath unlike the image of fire. Thus by simply twisting the other side of a certain quality, this comic intends to reveal the hidden aspect.

Da-won Park – Igu and Me
It is a story of an iguana president who runs an animal café and his employees. Having a certain event, they start to solve various cases. The greatest quality of the picture is its different picture style and nature of each character. Starting with a cool iguana, characters like the heroes of Marvel Comics, pretty girls like those in Japanese comics, and characters with different styles depending on situation, this comics contains characters with strong personalities. The biggest objective of this comics is to show a new attempt to break the limit that asked to maintain a certain picture style.

Min-Seung Park – Anything besides comics
He is taking in charge of everything besides comics, such as advertisement, supplement, or magazine cover. Since it is the design aspect, idea is important and due to this, he gets inspired not from fixed resources but from things that are being seen in the surroundings. For example, the impression from yesterday’s movie or drama is used to set a main frame for the design work while focusing on the stories shared in the gathering with friends. Especially in a paid advertisement, he has to directly design an entire page until the client is satisfied; thus, he asks help from the people around him.

About drawing of comics
It varies depending on the artists. Since the artists express their personality through the stories and picture styles being used, the way to conceptualize a story as well as the method of expression are different. There are some artists who only work through manual drawing while others use a computer. There are artists who use a tool like a camera to create a photo-toon like comics. For manual work, drawings were scanned and finished using Photoshop and at that time, grey tone is removed to create distinctive contrast between white and black. Conceptualization of a story is mainly from the conversation with the people in the surroundings.

If there are difficulties…
Since it is an independent art magazine, financial issue is the biggest problem. The expense is shared by 1/n among the participants. For this reason, it is difficult to realize colored prints. Since colored print needs twice the amount of the current capital, we are unable to work for more dynamic expression in the comics. Until recently, we were not interested in commercialization of arts but now, we are thinking it would be okay if we can show our artworks to more people and promote better quality work to the viewers. Owing to such reasons, we have a new objective of commercializing the arts through a magazine that reflects the artists’ soul.

Other difficulty would be the lack of time as the artists draw comics while promoting their individual artworks. Ever since starting the comics, it has been the continuation of busy life. However, it is joyful effort rather than difficulty as we all enjoy working. Maybe we are stressed out when the comics are not controlled in the way we think it should be. It is said that the effort for the creation of comics is more demanding than the time consumed for comics. Nonetheless, we think that such challenges are also a part of the pleasure that we get from comics.

What is the most rewarding experience?
The distribution of our magazine mostly promoted through art galleries and alternative space related to arts. Sometimes, I visit an art gallery due to my personal artwork and see our magazine displayed in the gallery. Nothing can compare to the joy that I feel at such instance, and it is also a moment I decide to ‘work hard.’ In addition, the connection of ‘Critic-al’ that has stepped into the spotlight in the art circle is another reward. To speak of ‘Critic-al,’ it is a homepage where various issues of art circle can be read and a comment can be written. There is a story about the unpaid salary of an artist as well as discussion between veteran and young artists. Such has aroused an echo in the art circle. Through such connection, we are able to post content in ‘Critic-al’ whenever we publish an issue so our comics are posted in ‘Critic-al’ one by one. Although we do not take the initiative in good deed for the art circle through this activity, I am sure that we were able to provide a good foothold to support such good activity of ‘Critic-al.’
Is there any message you want to share?
Actually, such activities are welcomed in the art circle. The dynamic art activities of young artists using a new method receive high praises from critics and reviewers in the art world. For this reason, I want to exert more efforts in my field of expertise. Also, I expect that the challenges that we face serve as motivation to other artists and to the public as well. We released the spring issue in April. We feel confident that it will present better quality comics compared to that of the first and winter issues. I sincerely ask for your interest in the spring issue and if you want to communicate with us through various channels such as advertisement, connection, and so on, please feel free to call. We are open to everyone!

The greatest artists were once a beginner. – Farmer’s Digest
It is true that the picture style is a little rough as those are the comics of amateurs; thus, some may think that the organization or layout of the magazine is inadequate compared to other professional magazines when seeing their comics. However, their progress that visualizes not only the goal but also the scale and objective of comics pursues a unique art style that others have never attempted. No one knows as to what extent such attempt will affect the field of arts and it is hard to estimate their potential. However as the saying of Farmer’s Digest, they have the potential to become the greatest artists. For this reason, it seems to be most important to observe and encourage their forward steps as we approach the future.