Creating a Graphic Novel : Art – Food – Photography

Born in Korea but currently living in Los Angeles, H Michael Cho has provided an amazing showcase of his work. His sketch work on the Sentinel is fantastic, not too mention the colouring on both pieces. In the next post, I will also be showcasing his Brimstone work so keep watching this space!

Valkyrie :

Sentinel :


Sentinel Sketch :


Thanks for your time to answer some questions. So what got you started in this field?

I used to love Mangas(not anymore), not only reading them but also trying to recreate characters in a worst scribbling ways. Then I took it seriously, and decided to make my dream to become an artist myself who can inspire others like I was inspired.

How would you describe your artwork?

They are kind of like formulas to me. I always try to figure out what’s the most efficient way to produce art pieces by trying to set my own step-by-step “rules,” when I know that it’s not the right attitude for creative occupations, but it’s fun and exciting when I look at a piece that has more parts that I like then I hate, which although happens rarely. Some people says they “vision” the outcome of the artworks before starting them, but unfortunately, I don’t have that talent, so I try really hard to stay safe until the point I actually see the outcomes.

I know what you mean, some people can see the final product even before they start. Then it’s more transcribing that image onto the correct medium. How did you develop your skills?

In terms of skills, I’m self educated. Most of the things I do aren’t something I learned from schools or trainings. Opposed to that, I took relatively an extensive course of educations. I went to Seoul Art High-school majoring fine-art, School of Visual Art majoring animation, and The University of the Arts majoring illustration. What the schools taught me wasn’t skills at all, but they taught me how to educate, inspire, and motivate myself, which I believe is far far more valuable than mere skills.

Quick question on your showcase pieces. How did you colour them?

I used to love using Photoshop with custom brushes, but later on, I leaned towards to Corel Painter (mainly because I am able to sketch as I can with pencils, while I can’t in Photoshop). Regardless of those who say that digital art is kinda cheating, myself being able to work both in traditional and digital, I personally feel digital art is much much more hard to handle, since it has so many and versatile possibilities, it’s hard enough to actually FINISH a piece, cause there is no such thing.

Who would you consider your artistic influences?

Of course from some of the great minds like Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Frank Frazetta, Justin Sweet, etc…
But these questions always trick me because lucky for me, I’m living in an age where I’m a click away from awesome artworks everywhere on the internet.

Thanks again for the interview and the amazing work.

For more of his work, visit http://hmichaelcho.com
or email mail [at] hmichaelcho.com