Meet Kyuri Cho | Illustration, Animation background designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyuri Cho and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyuri, why did you pursue a creative career?
There’s something in common in my favorite content: A happy ending! I’ve seen many people take the word “reality” as a negative meaning. I hope people can dream of a happy ending in that “reality.” I wish to be a part of the animation industry to make that real, because I have always dreamed of a happy ending ever since I watch feature animations. It hasn’t been long for me to pursue a creative career. But I’ve always been thinking the same thing: that people should dream of “a happy ending,” even while I was just an audience of musical or animation works. I think about the same thing when I listen to my favorite songs. Just as my favorite songs make my day bright, I believe my works could be a part of my audience’s life, brightening their day.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My short-term goal right now is to be a part of an animation studio as a background designer. I am also thinking about how to find my unique character as an artist these days. I have many personalities, such as Korean nationality, still dreaming of fairy tales, and obsessed with pink. I have many things to describe myself. I’m Korean, still dreaming of fairy tales, and obsessed with pink. As a creator, I’ve been looking for and studying how to combine all these things to make my own unique style. Also, it would be amazing if I could make a Disney princess series with my favorite Korean myth and stories!! I still have a long way to go, but I want to try at my own pace in the future. I want to keep my eyes on myself to see where I will settle down.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

My favorite spot in my city LA is Old Pasadena, located in Pasadena. My old roommate helped me a lot and introduced interesting spots there when I first moved to Pasadena. I feel I am still living in those memories from my past. I still remember every nook and cranny of there, like the Ramen place called Tatsunoya , Blick Studio, an art and craft supply store that I used to buy my supplies for my classes, a restaurant called Gyu-Kaku, Gelato place, a hat shop with pretty designs and classic interior that’s gone now and small local cafe that I used to work with my friends. When my close friend from Korea visited me, I brought her to all these places, and she loved them!

After the pandemic, I could spot good Boba places and new local coffee shops when I got back there. You should try hanging out here with a cup of bubble tea in your hand.

But my most recommended local place is Superba, located near Fillmore Metro station near my school Art Center College of design. They have avocado toast, mocha latte, and cafe latte that never disappoint me and definitely make my day. A bite of toast from there after being done for the 5-hour long class was my favorite of school days.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

The history of my creative career as an artist has not been really long. Like many other kids, I started drawing when I was little. I still keep my art piece that made me win in an art contest in the corner of my room. But then, throughout my life, I dreamed of becoming a ballerina, scientist, Patissier, and even a musical actress. It was my parents who helped me to choose this creative career. They knew what my first and the most interest among all of these was.

I quit the choir which I’ve been to for a long time, as I started to attend the art academy to prepare for college. I somehow enrolled in the Art Center College of Design, the art school located in Pasadena. But I didn’t know what I exactly wanted to do as an artist until the junior semester of my college year. Fairytale illustrator? Since I really liked watching animation films since I was young, maybe the animation field? But what kind? I also liked Japanese anime and characters, so maybe character design?

I was wandering around the school without knowing what I wanted to do. But during my second semester of Junior year, I was excited to take two classes. One of them was a background design class which is mandatory to take, and the other course was ‘Color and Story,’  many people created wonderful artworks in that course. This course chose only a few students and hung their works in the school gallery every semester, and I really wanted to be one of them. Of course, the start was very rough because I hadn’t done anything similar before. But I really tried hard with a full of challenging spirit, and the two instructors from each course helped and cheered me up a lot. So I could make it, hanging my pieces from both of those courses. It was one of the tremendous accomplishments I made, even though I’d been so exhausted during the rest of the year(it was December.)

As I mentioned earlier, I thought I wanted to be a character artist because I like anime and love drawing fanart of my favorite game. (Still, this experience is upside down in my world.) But as I get more experience, I’ve built my own view. Many people appreciate the character design but not much for the set or background design. But I believe, sometimes, the latter is more important because you could naturally express a character’s personality with it, and it requires a lot of effort. So when I play a game or watch a movie or animation, I try to pay more attention to it and appreciate them.

Website: Kyurichodraws.com

Instagram: Kyuriartist

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyuri-cho-1610351b2/

Twitter: Kyurichodraws

Image Credits
All image credit to Kyuri cho(myself!)