This is my project series for my digital illustration class at CSUCI (Spring 2024). Four projects were required and I decided to illustrate the four members of BLACKPINK, a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. Cited as the "biggest girl group in the world", they are considered the most successful Korean girl group internationally. They are stylistically associated with the "girl crush" concept in K-pop—exploring themes of self-confidence and female empowerment.
For my final presentation I decided to put all 4 illustrations together to make it look like an album cover. Each individual illustration is 12x15 inches at 300 ppi (3600 x 4500 px). I used Adobe Fresco exclusively and kept it monochromatic. I did play around with some color, but ultimately decided to stick to red, only varying the opacity to create gradients within the artwork creating a "pinkish" color palette which I felt worked for this subject matter. These drawings were done simply using the pencil tool, with the only other brush being the halftone brush used for the hair.
It is still a work in progress as I still have to touch up on a lot of details. Overall, I am happy with the results as I wanted it to look somewhat realistic but far from an actual photograph.
Project 01: This is Rosé, she is the main vocalist of the group and her representative animal is a squirrel. One of her nicknames is "Vocal Goddess" because Rosé often sings the chorus of many of BLACKPINK’s songs. As for "Chipmunk Rosie", that nickname comes from Rosé’s cheek, which, according to fans, resemble the cuteness of a chipmunk.
Project 02: This is Jisoo, she is also a lead vocalist and considered the visual of the group. Her representative animal is a bunny. Sooya, Unni or JisooUnni are nicknames often used by BLACKPINK’s members to refer to Jisoo, who is the oldest member of the band. Jisoo is known to really love Pikachu. You can find her wearing Pikachu attire or simply holding onto her Pikachu merch.
Project 03: This is Jennie, she does vocals as well, but is more known as the main rapper of the group. Her representative animal is a bear and she even has a dog named ‘Kuma’ which means ‘bear’ in Japanese. Her nickname is "Human Gucci" for her expensive taste in outfits. Furthermore, when Jennie became an ambassador for Chanel in June 2018, her nickname changed to “Human Chanel.”
Project 04: Last but least is Lisa, who is the maknae(youngest) of the group. Lisa's role is also that of a main rapper, lead dancer and a sub vocalist. Her representative animal is a chick. One of her many nicknames is "Thai Goddess", which comes from her being the only Thai member of BLACKPINK as she was born and raised in Thailand and moved to Korea in 2011. Because of her dancing skills, she is known as "Dance Machine" within the group.
