History
Puuung is an illustrator and animator based in South Korea. She believes that love emits light from small things and comes in ways that we can easily overlook in our daily lives. Thus, she captures these little moments of love, bringing them to life through her illustrations and animations since January 2014.
Illustration
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 2020, she made her books more accessible internationally by publishing paperback and Kindle editions in English on Amazon.
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.
Animation
Puuung debuted her animation on YouTube in January 2017 and began regular uploads in January 2018, documenting the daily lives of her two main characters over about a year, which she designated as season 1.
In the summer of 2017, she developed a backstory showing how these characters met and fell in love, which she released as seasons 2, 3, and 4, spanning from January 2019 to February 2021. She has also produced several special animation series in between.