JC Park

The South Korean concept artist tells Gary evans that his best work was on a project which never saw the light of day…

- Gary Evans

JC Park planned to be an engineer. At least, that’s the career his parents imagined for him. The South Korean didn’t get the grades for engineering college. He eventually completed a major in digital cartooning and began working as an illustrator and concept artist. He’s since built up a huge portfolio of mechs, vehicles and spacecrafts, with designs so intricate, so beautifully engineered, that even his parents must be proud.

JC wanted to work in comics. But when he graduated, a decade ago, the comics industry in South Korea was struggling. Meanwhile, the video games industry was expanding rapidly: PC bangs (LAN gaming centres) were growing in popularity and MMORPGs were attracting tens of millions of players. That was when JC landed a job at one of the country’s best game developers.

“The games industry was growing,” JC says, “because of games like Lineage, an MMORPG made by NCsoft. I sent a basic portfolio to NCsoft and the company invited me in for an interview. I was really lucky.

“Since I was seven years old, I enjoyed doodling for friends or family. When I drew something they were really happy; however, that wasn’t my dream job – it was just a hobby, I thought. I liked arcade games such as Tekken, sci-fi films like The Terminator, and fantasy stuff – Dungeons & Dragons, for example. All these factors encouraged me to work in the games and film industries. There are a lot of talented artists in South Korea, so I was lucky to break into the industry and meet all these skilled people.”

JUST PART OF THE PROCESS