Who are you and what do you do? Mat Williams and I'm an illustrator

Why do you do what you do? Because it's interesting to me - not just the visual side but everything you draw will always have something about it which you can learn about or respond to.  

How do you work? In terms of medium, mainly colouring pencils and a bit of paint. In terms of process I'm pretty slowly to start with, I do quite a bit of researching and a lot of procrastinating but when I get into something I'm like a machine.  

What’s your background? Welsh parents, grew up in Bedfordshire, moved to London and studied at Central Saint Martins, now flitter between London, Bedfordshire and traveling when funds allow. 

What’s integral to the work of an artist? Having you're own way of looking at things. 

What role does the artist have in society? It's not like artists makes the world go round but they certainly enrich it. 

What has been a seminal experience? I've never had a life changing moment, not one that had a instant effect anyway. I got mugged and stabbed once but that wasn't really life changing, it was just pretty shit! 

How has your practice change over time It's probably a bit more considered. I think about things more these days, but I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing!

What art do you most identify with? I like work that conveys an idea or a narrative and I like to see some effort going into things.  

What work do you most enjoying doing? Drawing people, especially faces. 

What’s your strongest memory of your childhood? Sitting down in a cow pat when I was about three. I wrote my autobiography when I was ten (it's a thrilling read) and I titled it 'Boy in a Cow Pat'. 

What themes do you pursue? I like to document ordinary people. I've done a few projects under the heading 'Tourists & Locals' because when I travel I like looking at the differences and similarities between them, they can be quite funny sometimes.  

What’s your scariest experience? Probably Bungee jumping in New Zealand, it was terrifying. 

What’s your favourite art work? I've got two etchings by my friend Noriko Takemori, they're my favourite things I own, if my house was burning down I'd definitely grab them. 

Describe a real-life situation that inspired you? I can't think of a significant one, but I used to see this dog who only had three legs and was blind in one eye and was a bit deaf but he was the happiest little thing. What a trooper. 

What’s your most embarrassing moment? Jumping the wrong way when I did my Bungee Jump (i.e. feet first instead of diving forwards - I flailed like an idiot for about 100 meters prompting the instructor at the top to say to the others "And that's how NOT to bungee")

What jobs have you done other than being an artist? Worked in a Garden centre and as a Barman.  

Why art? Initially it was just because it was what I was best at in school.

What is an artistic outlook on life? Most likely a fanciful one.

What memorable responses have you had to your work? Some guy once wrote about a project I worked on: "What happens when you have too much time on your hands and not a real job? You become Mat Williams, an illustrator from London..." I though perhaps my dad had taken to blogging.

What food, drink, song inspires you? Baking/Ales/Wouldn't it be nice by The Beach Boys

Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it? Yes it is quite. When I'm working I sing - loudly and badly. I also talk to myself, usually with exaggerated accents. I want to get a dog though, at least talking to him won't be quite as tragic as talking to myself.  

What do you dislike about the art world? The overly stuffy parts and the overly trendy parts. 

What do you dislike about your work? I sometimes think it's not cool/edgy/trendy enough. Or maybe it's just me who's not. 

What do you like about your work? I think it's the colours, compositions and textures that I like. But mainly the people I draw, there are some great characters. 

Should art be funded? I think it certainly helps art have a stronger impact on the development of culture. People in the arts should try and create their own opportunities as much as possible however. 

What makes you angry? A lot of things, they're mostly really insignificant though, like the diminishing content of a packet of crisps these days. I remember when the pack came full!  

What research do you do? Varies per project. But I decided recently there are some personal interests that I want to research like Astronomy, Dinosaurs, the stories behind old 'sayings' and the History of the Royal Family to name a few. They're on the bucket list. 

What superpower would you have and why? It's a tricky one as I'm a huge Marvel fan but...maybe i'd have control over all animals so I could have like a huge army of birds or a massive gang of squirrels to do whatever I wanted. And I'd love to have an alpaca as my ride. 

Name something you love, and why. An Old Fashioned, I don't have them much so they're my favourite treat. 

Name something you don’t love, and why. Tomatoes in sandwiches. And you can't just pick them out because they've already made everything soggy. 

What is your dream project? To be paid to go away traveling and draw stuff. 

Name three artists you’d like to be compared to. I don't think I'd be compared to him but my favourite artist is Peter Doig.

Favourite or most inspirational place? In london my favourite places are museums - the V&A, Natural History Museum and the British Museum. Elsewhere it's probably my parents house, it looks over a valley so the view is amazing, it's a nice thing to wake up to in the morning. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Don't be a dick. It's good advice, kindly offered to me by my brother.   

Professionally, what’s your goal? To be so good my name alone is enough to make people weak at the knees.  

What wouldn’t you do without? A world without burritos would be a sad one indeed. 

 www.etch-n-sketch.co.uk 

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All the best
Cure Studio