About Puuung
Puuung is a digital artist based in South Korea who has created illustrations and animations since 2014, reminding people that love can be found in small things. Her work has resonated with fans worldwide, and her social media following has now exceeded 8 million and continues to grow steadily.
Illustrations
Puuung's work gained international recognition when her illustrations were featured in various media worldwide in 2015. She generally starts her illustrations with pencil sketches on paper, finishing them with a digital coloring process. Some works are entirely digital. Recently, she has produced fewer illustrations, focusing more on animation, yet she remains actively engaged in both fields.
- April 2015: Featured in Bored Panda, DeMilked, and Pulptastic with illustrations highlighting everyday love.
- May 2015: The Huffington Post and BuzzFeed showcased her heartwarming drawings.
- June 2015: HelloGiggles highlighted her stunning illustrations of love.
Puuung self-published a limited series of books in 2014, offering them to a dedicated fanbase. Her first official book was published in South Korea in 2016, and since then, she has released nine books, which have been translated and available in eight countries: South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Turkey, Japan, Brazil, China, and the Philippines. A successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in June 2015 enabled her to produce limited edition books and postcards, distributed globally.
In August 2016, her work was featured in the Korean drama "W," a moment that thrilled her as she watched actors Han Hyo-Joo and Lee Jong-Seok interacting with her publication. She often recalls how vividly that experience brought back the emotions of the time.
In January 2022, Puuung began selling her art in digital formats, allowing enthusiasts to own and appreciate her original works. This marked her entry into the burgeoning field of digital art.
Animatioins
Puuung debuted her first short animation on YouTube in January 2017, utilizing her background in animation. Feeling that simply sharing her illustrations on social media wasn't enough to fully express her creativity, she decided to create animations that captured the small, everyday moments of a couple's life. Based on this concept, she began to regularly produce and upload animations starting in January 2018, focusing on the simple daily lives of two characters. This series was designated as season 1 and continued for about a year.
Following this, Puuung developed a storyline that delved into how these two characters met and fell in love. She released this backstory as seasons 2, 3, and 4, spanning from January 2019 to February 2021.
However, because animation production is a time-consuming process, her upload schedule on YouTube was inevitably slower compared to other types of content, which became a significant challenge for her on the platform. Despite this, she remained committed to her work, investing more than two years in creating and releasing animations on YouTube. There were times when she felt disappointed that the view counts didn't meet her expectations, but the unwavering support from her fans kept her motivated and encouraged her to continue without giving up.
This challenge was somewhat alleviated in 2023 when she began to focus on short-form content for social media. Starting in January 2023, Puuung consistently released her animations in a short-form format, which led to much higher view counts and a significant increase in her global popularity. By August 2024, her combined follower count across major channels had surpassed 8 million, greatly expanding her reach and allowing her work to connect with a broader audience around the world.