Interview by Rachel Gottesman

We asked the bloggers to post some questions for Tobias. Here are the questions and his answers!

bortwein: "When do your ideas come to you? Like where or when."

Well, it really depends. To be honest, all the ideas of my prints here seemed to come out of nothing, like when I was just getting ready to go to work, or talking to a friend and suddenly "that's a wild idea!"

But most of the time I have to work hard on it, trying hard on my sketchbook to find something interesting to draw/design. It usually happens on my pc or light table, where I spend most of my time.



Resistance: What is your process? Sketch first? All done on the computer?

It depends. I always work on a main idea. Sometimes it demands that I begin sketching immediately, sometimes my references allow me to do everything on the computer. It really depends, I've already worked with photographs, from sketches to vectors or even simply with vectors on the ideia itself.



For example, my design "work" was drawn in my moleskine and then I edited it on PS and the "Saber-toothed Tiger" was entirely done on computer with reference images.

nickv47: Who's an artist that comes to mind when you think "man I really want to be like that guy/gal?"

Buko, because of the perfection in his work: every detail, colors...everything fits perfectly. He is a great artist. I love Mathiole's work too, his themes, watercolors... very inspiring artwork.

bortwein: Your 2 printed designs at Threadless are both animal themed. Does this make you consider doing more animal designs more often in the future?

Absolutely. I've been inspired by nature in general all my life. Most of my printed design ideas came to me when I was in my dad's farm, so it's part of my life. I love this theme!



shimala: Which of your unprinted designs is your favorite?

Beauty Cannot Be Interrupted

It was a ''breakdown'', I was having a difficult time to create something until that idea appeared and I did it all on computer using PS and references. I think it's very poetic.

bottleHeD: Why don't you use an alias?

Who said that I don't have a bunch of them? :D

bortwein: How many t-shirts do you own?

Oh! Nice question! Let me count them! 1 sec! (two hours later) I own 47! But I wear only 5 or 6 to be honest.



bortwein: if a Threadless staffer would play you in a movie, which one would it be and why?

Charles Festa. He seems crazy enough and - most important - bearded enough to play me!

bortwein: Butter or Bacon, which is better?

Bacon tastes better but... you can put butter on a wider range of food, so I pick butter!

Interview by Rachel Gottesman

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