For Master Jeon, whose grandfather ran a traditional village school (Seodang) and whose father made fine-detail brushes, this path may have been his destiny. As the eldest son in a large family during a time when everyone struggled to make ends meet, he had to work from a very young age.

At the age of sixteen, he became an apprentice to his father's friend, the greatest brush artisan of the time. Gradually, word of his skill began to spread. Artisans from Seoul traveled all the way down to Gwangju just to find him. The quiet but undeniable path of a master had opened before him.

Having made brushes for over 60 years, his insistence on quality borders on a sacred mission. In his relentless quest to create the finest brush, he meticulously studied and compared the characteristics of goat hair from various parts of the body. The master also shared that the absolute best material is the hair of a 1- to 1.5-year-old male goat that has endured the harsh winter.

Unlike in China or Japan, where brush production is typically highly specialized and divided among different workers for each stage, a traditional brush maker in South Korea handles the entire process completely alone. From selecting and cleaning the hair to binding it to the bamboo, a single artisan bears the weight of every intricate step.

For our sake, he demonstrated a small fraction of the process: organizing the brush hair. After gathering the carefully selected goat hair into the shape of a brush, he repeatedly combed through it, picking out any unaligned strands. Amazingly, when first gathering the hair, he wet the brush and used his own lips to align the tip. Indeed, every brush that passes through the master's hands is a masterpiece infused not only with his touch but with his breath and lips.

Once the hair is sorted, the brush is directly put to the test. Depending on its intended use—whether for traditional folk painting (Minhwa), Hangul (Korean alphabet), or Hanja (Chinese characters)—the master tests it multiple times. He then carefully arranges the hair to create a brush optimized for the person who will use it. When I asked if he had any interest in selling these exquisite brushes online, he replied that he hopes people will, whenever possible, visit his workshop to try the brushes firsthand before buying them. While a very small number are sold online, he believes the most important thing is for a person to find the brush that truly fits them. It is the heart of a true artisan who wishes for his creations to fully serve their purpose long after they are handed over. His uncompromising attitude left me speechless once again. Refusing to compromise on a single grueling step, even as cheap imports encroach upon the market—this is his way of protecting the traditional brushes of South Korea.