Book Review: Omphalos: Kim Jung Gi Sketchbook

Images in this review may be NSFW

Omphalos is Kim Jung Gi's 2015 sketchbook.

Unlike the earlier 2007 & 2011 and 2013 sketch collections, this book doesn't have any year associated with it.

Omphalos means "navel" in Greek. I guess that's why there's the belly button on the cover.

This is a 336-page hardcover with skin-tone leatherette cover that feels really nice. When the book arrived, it was in a perfectly-sized cardboard packaging bubble-wrapped inside another thick shipping box. For the price of the book, the shipping had better be good and fast, and it is.

The paper used is 120gsm non glossy which is fantastic. Corners are rounded off. Binding is great.

The official retail price for the book is US $120 or Euro $110. That's not including shipping.

Shipping is going to be expensive. This book is heavy, like 2.3kg.

Anyway, this book is going to be sold at several places online. Over the last few years, it seems a few online stores have appeared to sell Kim Jung Gi's books. Even Amazon's selling them through some third party sellers. So the price and shipping may differ slightly depending on where you're getting the book from.

The book will be coming out at the end of June 2015.

You can get the book at

• Asia & other countries E-mail : superani58@gmail.com
• Korea www.superani.com
• China www.kimjunggi.cn
• Europe www.kimjunggi.net
• America www.kimjunggius.com
• Japan www.kimjunggi-jp.com
• Australia www.pendara.com.au/store/superani

Inside Omphalos

Omphalos is a collection of erotic art by Kim Jung Gi.

I know some readers have complained about the explicit nature of some sketches in his earlier sketchbooks. Well, this book represents the extreme. On a scale of 10, this would rank as 10 out of 10 in terms of explicitness.

To me, the book blurs the line between art and porn. That should give you an idea of the content inside because I don't really want to describe it.

Because the book has so many explicit images, I had a difficult time finding pages that are safe to show you. All the preview images are considered safe. There might be a stray nipple or two but for the most part, I've not included any sexual scenes.

If you want to check out the uncensored preview pages, just follow the online store links above.

This is certainly a book you don't want lying around the house accidentally.

Unlike other reviews, I'll not be including any flip-through video for all the reasons mentioned above.

Oh, the art. Kim Jung Gi's technical prowess is legendary of course. His understanding of anatomy is incredible, including his favourite tigers and wolves. I don't supposed he got any models to pose for the hundreds of explicit scenes drawn. Overall, I just find the work rate and the line art truly awe-inspiring.

There are a handful of duplicated art from the earlier sketchbooks but the bulk are new content.

Now I have to think of a safe place to hide this book.

Satisfying thick sketchbooks.