How did you decide to become a drawer / cartoonist?
It was a hobby when I was young (I was born in 1961) and slowly became a profession.

Was it a difficult choice to make? Why?
It was difficult. I studied architecture for some years, and worked in an architect-office. In about 1990 the office was closed. I had lost interest in studying and decided to try to make a living drawing comics and illustrations. It’s fun and easy to draw… but much harder is to make a living out of it.

Did you go to a school for drawers or cartoonists?
No… but I had basic art classes during my architecture studies. And there were no cartoonist schools in Finland at that time.

How do people consider comic strip in Finland?
Most people in Finland would answer Donald Duck, if asked to name a comic strip. There is variety from hard-cover albums to newspaper strips, but most of them don’t sell very well. Finnish strips Viivi & Wagner and B.Virtanen are popular and thats great of course.

What comic strip/artists did have a major influence on your work?
Asterix (Goscinny & Uderzo), Tintin (Herge), Gaston Lagaffe (Franquin) and Donald Duck (Carl Barks). Many others, too.

Do you still read comic strip? Which ones?
I keep returning to the classics that I mentioned in last question. There are many good comics that i like for different reasons, but mostly i like humour.

How could you present your work to our readers?
I draw big-nosed characters and try to be funny. My web-page (In finnish) can be found in www.saunalahti.fi/tkokkila

Has your work been translated yet?
Some stories have been published in Germany and Estonia during the years. No such plans at the moment. Many of my comics are based on Finnish language and impossible to translate.

What are your current and future projects?
I have moved more to illustration and made less comics in last years, but I have several plans and projects that may or may not start in future. A paying customer is hard to find.

Do you think that internet is the future medium for comic strip?
Yes. Newspapers, comics and etc. will eventually move to computers, but not in near future. And new material is needed there as much as in paper-printing. I just hope comics won’t completely turn to cheap animations in that process. Comics are more than just animations that dont move.

Do you still work with a pencil and a paper or have you replaced them by a computer?
I use both. Mostly i draw on paper, scan the art, maybe colour it with computer, and send it to the printer in e-mail.