Choe Jung-gyun received systematic instruction in the fundamentals of art two or three times a week from Kim Sok-ryong, a neighbor who headed the painting department at Pyongyang University of Fine Arts and had taught there since its founding in 1947.

Under his teacher's strict and detailed guidance, he learned to sketch with a finely sharpened E pencil, described in the source as soft, rather than the B pencil he had previously used.

During his first ten years at the Railway Art Studio, he mainly painted copies for outdoor display. Moving between oil painting, Chosonhwa and watercolor without a clear focus, he struggled to produce work that gained recognition.

Despite limited formal training, he began entering national and specialized exhibitions every year in the 1980s. Advice and encouragement from artists and critics helped him find and develop his own style.

He later gained a reputation for a sensitive eye for color and bold, rapid execution that captured the changing appearances of everyday reality.