Artist of the week: Kwonny

Many artists I know have told me that they found their style by copying other artists first. Not forever, and not blindly, but long enough to understand how drawings are built, how marks are made, and how confidence develops on the page. Before anyone arrives at something that feels “original”, they usually spend a long time learning by imitation.

That’s the reason we run Artist of the Week features inside the Korp Academy. Each one is built around choosing an artist whose work has something valuable to teach, studying their style, and then spending the week attempting to recreate their work using marker pens. The goal isn’t to produce perfect copies, but to understand how layers, texture, and structure work in real drawings, and how confident-looking images are created through repetition and practice.

In February 2026, we focused on the work of Kwonny, an artist known for bold characters, strong shapes, and layered textures that feel expressive without being overly polished. Her work sits in a space where instinct, rhythm, and mark making matter more than neatness, which makes it ideal for this kind of hands-on learning.

Rather than just talking about her style, members worked through a series of live sessions and tutorials where we attempted to recreate her drawings using marker pens, particularly Posca. By drawing along in real time and following the structure of her work, people could see how forms were built up gradually and how texture was created through repeated marks rather than careful outlining.

One of the biggest takeaways from this feature was how well Posca pens suit this kind of approach. Because they’re opaque and easy to layer, you can build up colour and texture as you go, respond to what’s already on the page, and keep moving forward without stopping to plan every detail. That makes them perfect for practising a loose, confident style like Kwonny’s.

Working this way also changes how you think about mistakes. When you’re layering marks and rebuilding areas as you go, small errors stop feeling like failures. They become part of the drawing. You adjust, draw over them, and carry on. That process helps people break out of perfectionism and start trusting their instincts.

One of my favourite parts of this week was working with loose layers and repeated marks using Posca pens. There’s something almost meditative about it. You get into a rhythm, building texture and form without overthinking, and suddenly you’ve been drawing for far longer than you expected. It has a slightly zentangle-like feel, but without the pressure to be precise or symmetrical. You’re free to explore and respond as you go.

That’s a big part of what we try to encourage inside the Academy. You don’t get better by analysing every line in advance. You get better by drawing, making mistakes, and finishing things. When you make lots of marks, you build confidence. When you finish lots of drawings, you build momentum. When you stop worrying about perfection, you start learning properly.

- Korp