There is an almost impalpable delicacy in the illustrations of Jungho Lee, a Korean artist known on Instagram as @jungho.el. His works seem—suspended between dream and reality—immersed in a pervasive calm.

Jungho’s illustrations are made of soft hues, gentle lines, and minimal compositions that speak directly to the subconscious. Solitary figures read on unmade beds, under the rain, on staircases leading to the unknown, in houses that seem to float in nothingness or in the quietest nature. The characters lack defined faces, yet convey powerful emotions: melancholy, intimacy, contemplation.

This is not the first time we’ve talked about him. Back in 2016, on Collater.al we covered his “dreamy illustrations for book lovers,” focusing in particular on his use of the color blue as a narrative key. That enveloping and mysterious blue, capable of evoking silence, depth, and introspection, was the dominant element in an imagery made of dreams and solitude. His works from that time seemed almost like visual metaphors, images suspended between the real and the conceptual, where the book was often more symbol than object.

Today, however, the evolution of his work is clear. Blue hasn’t disappeared, but it has stepped back from the spotlight, becoming a subtle presence—almost an echo. The palette has expanded, making room for warmer, pastel, even dusty tones, transforming the atmosphere from surreal to deeply human. The compositions are more intimate, less metaphorical, and more narrative.

The figures are still almost always isolated, but they no longer seem lost: they inhabit the space, listen to it, immerse themselves in it. And the book itself, a recurring element in his imagery, is no longer just a symbol of escape but becomes a physical and mental space—almost an emotional architecture.

Jungho Lee builds inner worlds, but he does so with a lightness that invites you to stay inside those images, to be wrapped in silence, to discover that perhaps, at times, we need to get lost in a drawn page just as much as in a written one. And if in 2016 his blue took us elsewhere, today new shades tell even more complex and moving stories.