Mattias Adolfsson

Link to artist's website: http://www.mattiasadolfsson.com/projects

Mattias Adolfsson is an illustrator I have been following for sometime now, his rather busy imagery immediately catching my attention. Today I want to focus upon his sketchbooks as even though I feel that his larger, finished works also look stunning, there's a certain energy and life about his sketchbooks that makes them all the more interesting.

This particular page from his 25-24 sketchbook showcases Adolfsson's talent for detail. The various small details scattered around the piece leaving you to find something different every time you look at the image. This scene depicts a rather busy workstation filled with clutter, trinkets and tools that are scattered across the work bench. Though Adolfsson does add intense amounts of detail into his drawings, he still manages to capture a sense of depth and create a focal point within the piece.

Whilst with most pieces an artist would create build up a focal point by adding more detail to a certain area, Adolfsson uses the negative to this by applying less detail around his focal points. By giving the sketchbook on the work bench more space around it, it draws our eyes to it as it greatly contrasts with the other busy areas in the image. The small highlights of colour in the piece make sure that we don't become too lost in the image and that we can still distinguish what's going on within the drawing.

The vibrant line work and detail that Adolfsson captures in his work is something I would like to experiment with my own artwork. Since joining the Illustration course this year, I feel that I have become much more comfortable with digital media and that I haven't utilised traditional design as much in my projects. I would love to come back to my fine-liner works and intertwine them with future projects.