Artist Highlight: Rachel Yumi Chung

The artist behind the artwork in "A Beautiful Year in the Bible"

Rachel Yumi Chung is an artist and illustrator based in Virginia. Rachel paints from the perspective of a world full of whimsy and joy. She desires to use her work to celebrate the beauty that life has to offer. She works mainly in the medium of gouache and watercolors. Her work is deeply informed by her faith, Korean heritage and wonder for life.

We (Sam & Brian) went to visit Yumi at her home in Virginia, where she gave us some insight on her style and experience creating with us.

Sam: First, let's talk about your style, how did you transition into your distinctive style?
Yumi: It was in Korea, actually, where I really found my way of painting and drawing. Before that, I used to do bigger acrylic canvas pieces, more like complete works. But when I started sketchbooking while traveling, I just drew what I was seeing. That’s when my style really started to take shape.

Sam: Oh wow, and when did you start getting into sketchbooking?
Yumi: When I started getting into sketchbooking more consistently, I was traveling in Korea, and I painted a lot of what I saw there. For instance, this wildflower field in the Yongam area—this was actually on the side of the road.

Sam: Do you finish every sketchbook you have?
Yumi:
You know what, I don't finish every single one. But I've finished maybe like three. And they’re full. I have one from Korea that’s really special. It’s like a collection of art pieces. I painted most of my travels in Korea.

Brian: When we first approached you, what were your initial thoughts about working on this project with Alabaster?
Yumi: I was really excited when you first reached out to me. The idea of creating full illustrations based on themes from the Bible, specifically for "A Beautiful Year in the Bible", sparked a lot of ideas in my mind. I started thinking about different colors and how I could depict those themes in each piece.

Brian: Could you describe the scope of what you ended up doing for the project?
Yumi: For this project, I created 52 full illustrations, which was a big undertaking. Each illustration was tied to a theme from the Bible study, and I wanted each one to reflect the theme for that particular week. It really pushed my creativity to come up with 52 unique illustrations.

Yumi: Here’s a sketch and mood board for one of the illustrations from week four. The theme was God's unbreakable promises. I used the idea of a silk thread—strong, yet versatile—to symbolize God’s promise. I incorporated iris flowers, which represent promises, into the illustration. This final piece was made with gouache paint, showing the iris flowers blooming with the silk thread interwoven through them.

Brian: How did you find the collaboration process with Sam and the rest of the team?
Yumi:
Honestly, the collaboration was seamless. We were able to continuously connect and check in. I had a lot of creative freedom, which was refreshing, especially for a project this big.
Sam:
Yeah, it started with a rough art direction or mood board I sent to Yumi. After that, we’ve been meeting weekly for almost a year. Every week for almost a full year, we’d review four to five new sketches and concepts. A lot of the concepts come from Yumi, and I’d provide feedback and direction for consistency. Overall, it was very chill for such a big project.
Yumi:
Yeah, super chill. For such a large project, it was a really relaxed and smooth process.

For more of Yumi's artwork or her Patreon, you can go to https://yumiincolor.com/

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