For this New Yorker cover I wanted to represent one facet of modern day Seoul. The traditionally conservative country has become more inclusive recently with the younger generations taking over. I chose the theme of “Seoul: Dare to be Different,” to reflect their current growth as a community.

One K-Pop girl group, Pink Fantasy, has a member, Daewang, who’s never revealed her face. The reason for this is heavily speculated. Some suggest it’s a part of the group’s concept and that once they finish that story arc she’ll be unmasked, while others believe it’s the artist’s choice herself. Some believe she isn’t ready to have her face plastered everywhere and be judged for her appearance. Regardless of the true meaning, this is the first time this has occurred in the South Korean pop industry. She is daring to be different.

As she is the main focus of the cover, I spent most of my time vectorizing her. I had many layers to get her to look realistic, but still somewhat simple. Because she was wearing see-through strips of fabric and overall her clothes showed a lot of movement, I had to add a lot of shadows and highlights to convey the different pieces of fabric. I left the rest of the elements simple so the detailed vector of Daewang would stand out more. The city line is similar to the one you would see in Seoul which is why I chose it. I pulled the pink/blue color pallet from the beautiful sunsets you can see in South Korea.