Rocketman: A Flight of Fancy

In my latest studio experiment, I explored the intersection of imagination, satire, and traditional aesthetics by creating a painting of Kim Jong Un in a Korean folk-art style. This piece was painted entirely from imagination using Saint Petersburg tempera paints, a medium I’ve grown increasingly fond of for its matte texture and expressive potential. 

Materials and Technique

For this piece, I used Saint Petersburg tempera paints, which offer a unique balance of opacity and vibrancy. Tempera’s fast-drying nature allowed me to work in distinct, layered strokes, echoing the graphic simplicity and bold colors found in traditional Korean minhwa (folk art). The medium also helped preserve crisp edges and flat color fields—perfect for a concept built on clarity and symbolic imagery.

There’s definitely a different feel to these. On the face of it, they work like acrylics – you mix and clean up with water. However, they seem to dry a little more quickly. However, the biggest difference is that they dry completely flat and matt; a bit like gouache. They can’t be reactivated with water like gouache though, so once they’re down and dried, they’re unmoveable just like acrylics. This mattness makes them absolutely ideal for reproducttion. They scan really well because there’s no reflection at all (as there can be with acrylics). On top of that, these Saint Petersburg paints are top quality – very pigment dense. If you’re in Dublin (or online indeed), you can get them at The Crafty Studio in Phibsborough.

Folk-art styles have long inspired me because of their honesty, boldness, and storytelling power. They rely less on realism and more on visual symbolism, making them an ideal vehicle for surreal or imaginative narratives. This painting is a playful nod to that spirit: a blend of tradition, invention, and contemporary iconography.

Final Thoughts

This painting was a joy to create, offering a balance of humor, symbolism, and technical experimentation. Whether viewed as satire, surrealism, or simply folk-inspired fantasy, I hope it sparks curiosity and conversation.

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