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Interview

Elias Ericson p3

Swedish comics artist Elias Ericson talks about being contacted by readers who have had similar experiences to those portrayed in his comics...

READERSVOICE.COM: The color is also striking in your work, like in your drawing Under the Seeeeea, and in Espaced. Do you look at a color wheel and use adjacent colors in your pictures, or do you just have an instinctive use of color?

ELIAS ERICSON: I used to use colour wheels and finished colour schemes, but nowadays I usually just go with whatever feels right. I’ve done so many colour studies that colour combinations come naturally for me now.

RV: Do people contact you after reading comics like Up and Down, Under the Cut, or Please Fulfill Me Otherwise Kill Me, and tell you they now realise they suffer from serious depressive illnesses?

EE: Yes! I feel happy that I’m able to help, but sad that there are so many people who feel as terrible as I’ve done through the years. I often get extremely personal messages from people I don’t know, which feels a bit strange, but I really don’t mind. I want to help and I try to reply as well as I can!

RV: Your comics have a good combination of serious subject matter with touches of humor. Was this influenced at all by Morrissey’s songs, some of which have humor with serious topics, or what other humor do you like?

EE: I’m very influenced by Morrissey! Dark and subtle comedy speaks to me. I tend to like humour that touches serious subjects that you kind of have to laugh at to handle, such as aspects of one’s own mental illness, but I also like just scrolling my dashboard on tumblr and laughing at silly jokes.

RV: Do you draw and doodle every day and how do you practise drawing?

EE: I try to draw as often as possible. I usually draw and doodle nearly every day, but I also do a lot of workshops and lectures, which take a lot of my time. I also run a queer club called QueerQaos along with two friends! Basically I have many things going on at the same time.

RV: What are some of your plans for books and other projects?

EE: I’m currently writing a long book about Diana and Charlie, characters that often appear in my comics. I plan on publishing more comic books; I have plenty of material – autobiographical, comics about Diana and Charlie, Espaced – but there hasn’t been time for me to focus on book publishing as I’ve been working hard with workshops and school. Hopefully I’ll get to write, draw and keep running the queer club after school’s over!

-see espacedcomic.tumblr.com and eliasericson.tumblr.com.
-copyright Simon Sandall.