Friend and future collaborator JT Rogstad has started an interview blog and I’m the first subject. We talk about CF, Adrian Tomine, creator process, creator-character relationships and more. Here is an excerpt:

JT: okay. one of the things i always find to be the strongest in your work is how you capture posture. you seem like a very good observer of how people present themselves down to the specifics of gesture, sitting position, etc. can you talk a little about that and how maybe that might relate to the way you (visually) describe action and movement?

BL: i think part of it - something i realized the other day - is i am an observer of observers. it's sort of narcissistic. i like the observer and i think it's worthwhile watching him/her. so a lot of my characters are not really participating in any action - they're on the sidelines, content with enjoying everything cathartically. i did this whole drawing zine where each page i drew my body as it was positioned at that moment. i was in this phase where i was drawing naked on the floor a lot, and i liked the way i looked in that action. i'm not a very action-oriented person - all my energy i channel inward. so i guess it's those moments where things happen for me - when i'm sitting or standing or lying down - that real things happen. so when i capture these physical acts, they're often lacking in any external force. when i did those salvia comics, i loved the idea of showing someone's physical state while they're going through this intense internal change. it's also funny because in comics the tendency is to show all that subjective stuff, but by leaving it out you can shift the focus to its absence.