Although I was not much of a people sketching person during the college years at RISD, I do more of that now- now is a time when I am finally away from trivial matters deriving from unorganized passion, which stemmed from choosing to be passionate but not having plans or more importantly, unrequited calling or vocation to back up the passion.With a clearer mind, visions are much more lucid and in the clear; and surprisingly, I now observe and draw fellow human souls much better. 

Mostly the odd creations awkwardly walk me by on the trains of the Number 2 line (“2호선”), or the Central line (“중앙선”).  On our own morning and night strolls, they go on their ways and I go on mine, as I end up musing on their little off-ness and the possible stories that may be behind their quirkinesss. As I recollect my memories of this transitioning characters, their oddness does not just pass me by, but instead, their weirdness will be remembered and cherished with fondness on this new day as I will be settling Graciously. 

Warning said, this is the succinct story, truncated to the mere facts. Walking back from school to the Central Line, I saw this quaint, but friendly middle aged man who smiled back (Who ever does that in Korea? Unless they themselves are from the US) when our eyes met.

How often during the winter does one see a man wearing sleeveless and holding a kitten, underneath his wings ? Seriously, he might as well as have had an aura or a halo of cats moving around on the top of his head.

Taking that thought further into account, I played a bit with the aura/halo thing when I drew him based off memories, just like all the other drawings from the category of “Drawings of Characters.”

For the halo/aura, since it was a figment of my own silly imaginations, I recalled upon some of the rich knowledge I had started to accumulate by working at the National Museum of Korea.

Vaguely imagined, with references to the David stature by Michelangelo.

As a kid growing up in Seoul, there was a locally aired animation series that told traditional local stories  through these speaking vegetable, Sprit-Man (“Do Sa” 도사). These narrative episodes series were odd and quirky as I recalled them, and my old memories were right– it is pretty weird.

Indeed, it was more than odd that a vegetable like a Radish would be chosen as a speaking spirit “thing” person–  so yet again, here is another image of the pair of speaking rhythmic duo, the Beets. (Get it?)

Ha.

Ha ha.

Ha ha ha.

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*On a breezy evening, on my way to my classes at the graduate studies at Kyung-Hee, on the Central Line Station, this oddly hair pieced man got off (November 2011?). He was a modern day Radish Guru, who was carrying a bunch of cultivated radishes and beets in his plastic shopping bag. How’s that for a metaphysical dramatic play of words?

(My Very Own) Madame Bijou happened to be on line 2, which is pretty much the “normal-as-it-could-be” subway ride. Usually on this side, there are not so many odd people.

However, on this day, I stood right in front of Mme Bijou, whose age was difficult to decipher though she was sitting like a queen in the reserved section for the  ”elderly/disabled/pregnant.” I have named her Mme. Bijou, because she reminded me specifically of the Mme. Bijou briefly mentioned in the movie, Titanic; the day after the night when Rose (Kate Winslet) has been rescued by Jack Dawson.  (Leonardo Dicaprio)

On this particular day, as they are taking their walk on the ship, Jack shows his eclectic sketches of les Parisiennes, and one of them was Mme. Bijou. Much like her– not just in her exterior looks– (my very own) Mme. Bijou mirrors that eerie aura, a spirit that is quite bedizened and tawdry.

Dressed in hues of green, she had more than three butterfly clips dangling lost in her great messy nest of a hair,  on which she wore a hat that she put on with her two hands that had two watches on each of her wrists… She was certainly green with envy for these insects with two pairs of wings.

Perhaps she thought that with the right amount of time past, someday maybe she will have drowned herself with enough loads of butterfly accessories, flowers, and green; and then she would magically enlighten herself in the matter of how to be free like a butterfly once the time of her life has flown away from her?

Ça bien, Madame, mais seulement pour vous.

This was one of my most favorite imagery– until I encountered this particular cuddly odd couple on the Central Line (중앙선). Again, it was the Central Line that had this odd couple.

You see, this is really pretty as a painting, when it is not so personal in a public space with real people. A painting of something makes it less physically real in the sense it is just canvas and paint, but Public Display of Affection on the subway, from 2 middle school boys, is quite a shocker. I would have ignored them and even not considered them for my next drawings in this blog, but then they kept crawling into each other’s lap, really digging in there, and really getting into my space on the subway; I must add, it was not crowded at all. In addition, they kept glancing over at me, more than once, looking up and down and whispering really loudly in each other’s ears. Yes, that is really sweet of them isn’t it? Notice the sarcasm in this previous statement.

In light of that sarcasm, I must continue with making one more comment; may this couple forever be happy with one another– together, their annoying qualities are mirror perfect of each other.

Just how short and pudgy and cute is that?

This particular doe-eyed man in his early 20s, with curly hair and quite the forehead, appeared to be trying very hard to come off as dandy; perhaps the suit was not working and I wanted to scream out loud, “perhaps dude, if you were a girl, it could have worked”; but then again, in retrospect, I could not be sure on that. Something still just seems off with him. Off. Off.  Offfffffffffffffff. 

the Chic artist grandpa, from the Central Line of the Seoul Metro System: