구미호

Zoey Tiefenthaler "구미호"

14.5 x 10”, Micron Pens, Acrylic Paint, 2020

(IDEA) First explain what your idea is. How did you get the idea and how did it evolve? Inspirations from life experiences? Another Artwork?

The idea and inspiration for this drawing came from my love for fantastical creatures, one of those being the “Nine-Tailed Fox”. There are multiple variations of the Nine-Tailed Fox, and I decided to go with the Korean version of the Nine-Tailed Fox, which is known as the "구미호" [gu-mi-ho]. The core folklore of the Nine-Tailed Fox is mostly the same in many Asian countries, that story basically being about a fox who has lived for centuries and is thus able to increase its number of tails as they grew older. This fox would eventually turn into a 구미호, a human who would usually take the appearance of a young and beautiful girl or woman. And according to various Korean folklore, the woman would have to depend on humans to maintain their immortality by eating a man’s heart of liver and ingesting it for a thousand day period. Although, other folklore says that the woman could remain permanently human if they eat a human liver per day for a thousand days, otherwise they would turn into bubbles.

(PROCESS) Explain your process. What tools and techniques did you use?

The process of this artwork consisted of creating a baseline sketch for the artwork, referencing off of that to draw out the final image, and inking the figures, and adding color to the background. Once I fully sketched out the final image, I began inking the image with Micron Pens. This process took the most amount of time to complete since I wanted to add texture and thickness to the ink to have it pop more [Also, just to mention, the reason I didn't draw in all 9 tails and instead drew in 7 was that I didn't want the drawing to look so cluttered and crowded, leaving less space for any blank space]. Once I finally finished with my inking, I used some red acrylic paint to draw in the blood-like flow of the background and the added splattering effect on the paper. I also went ahead and used a spare piece of paper that I had to write out the word “구미호” with some added splattering. This whole process, in total, took about 3-4 weeks to sketch and complete.

(SYMBOLISM & ICONOGRAPHY) What does the artwork mean? What do you want your audience to think about? Is there any symbolic imagery in the work?

The symbolism of this drawing represents the deception of beauty and how we may look at beautiful things and people at a first glance. With the 구미호, especially, who uses their beauty to lure men to their deaths, correlates with themes of actions of manipulation and seduction. I wanted to make sure to emphasize that theme but also warn the viewer of this manipulation with the splattering effect on the paper, which represents that of the blood of dead men who have fallen for the 구미호’s trickery.

(ARTISTIC GROWTH) What was most difficult for you? How did you overcome the struggles? What would you change if you started over?

The thing that was the most difficult to accomplish for me was the meticulous and repeated use of pen when adding detail to the 구미호’s hair and dress, especially when I wanted to give off the right look and texture so that it didn’t look so flat. It’s not like it was extremely difficult to accomplish, but it did require me having to repeatedly go back, look at the progressing image, and see if I needed to add any more lines on the dress, any more hatching, etc. If I were to start over, I believe the thing that I would’ve done differently was the background and parts of the figure’s posing. The background, while it provides some contrast, is also a bit flat, and doesn’t provide much other than a pop of color. I do think that if I were to have added in a hand on the 구미호, it would have looked better than just conveniently hiding the two hands (unless there’s hidden symbolism behind this!? Hiding bloody hands = hidden symbolic imagery?!?)

(VISUAL VOICE) What style of art is this? (Realistic, Abstract, Surreal, Non-Objective?). What makes it unique to your own personal style? What do you love about it?

The style of this drawing is a mix of an Abstract style with a sprinkle of Realism. What I believe makes this drawing unique is the turnout of the inking process and the expression on the figure’s face and posture. What I love about this drawing is how the inking work turned out with the texture and the boldness of the 구미호’s eyes.

Additional Images Below: