READERSVOICE.COM: Do you accumulate too many books and magazines, and if you had to crystallise your book collection to a handful of favorites, which would you keep?

MATTIAS ADOLFSSON: I do not accumulate too many books and almost no magazines. I’m not that good a consumer but I had a hard time getting rid of my Prince Valiant, and Tintin comics and my collection of HP Lovecraft.

RV: Does your blog cause you a lot of pressure, coming up with new sketches all the time, or are you always drawing anyway?

MA: I feel the pressure when I do big commission pieces and have little time for leisure
drawing, but somehow I always find some extra time, while watching the television or waiting for my children.

RV: What years do the pictures in The First In Line come from, and which ones do you like the most?

MA: The images in the book comes from the last five years of drawing but mostly from the later part. I’m not sure which image I like the most, Jens Andersson (the publisher and designer of the book) made the selection. I like an image I did last summer with a lot of boats, though. It reminds me of sunnier days.

RV: What are some of the main things that have affected your art over recent years
and caused any changes?

MA: I got a grant last autumn and it gave me the possibilty to relax a little, making the book has also given me more of a reason to continue drawing.

RV: The preview you give of your book on your website, turning the pages on camera, was a good idea, and the book looks great. How did you set that up?

MA: It was a very simple setup with a tripod and a flip video camera, it only took a couple of minutes to setup and finish. I wanted the customers to be able to see the book (but not quite the whole book) before buying it, like you do in a book shop.

RV: Do you think you’ll always prefer using watercolors on your drawings to something like Photoshop, and why is that?

MA: I worked for so many years in digital media and I can’t get the right feeling doing coloring or art in the computer.

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-Copyright Simon Sandall