 The cartoonist Sairo has released a new collection titled "Sairo Travel Journal." The book includes his most cherished works, since his first collection, "Mupungdae," was published in 1975. Sairo is 63, and his real name is Lee Yong-myeong.
¡°The selected works are not superfluous," Sairo explained. "They say something in just one picture. It is the world that I have pursued all my life as a cartoonist.¡±
Sairo¡¯s cartoons do not have titles. He only draws objects and backgrounds that are absolutely necessary and the rest is blank. In his words, ¡°If comics are prose, then cartoons are poems.¡±
In his recent collection, he also speaks of his life as a cartoonist. In three essays - "My Cartoon Story," "Debut Days" and "Episode" - he talks of how he fell in love with cartoons and how he drew cartoons in college as a well-paying side job. He also relates hardships in his career, especially when his parents told him to "throw away an indefinite future and get a job." His pen name, which means "in the middle," shows just how much he worried when facing two different paths in life.
¡°Cartoons are charming, but there is not enough room for them," he said. "Realistic restrictions may dishearten my juniors, but I hope my cartoon book gives them courage."
(Kim Tae-hun, scoop87@chosun.com )
|
