Many of you know Tracy Butler the author and artist of Lackadaisy. I had a wonderful privilege to interview her through skype on Thursday night. Amazingingly enough, she was a very kind person...not that I was expecting her to be mean. 
1. You didn't attend art school, was there a reason why? Would you encourage other's to attend or do you believe that with enough passion and practice, one can become a great artist without going to an art school?
Tracy- I didn't go because of my parents were a little objective to that. They had the visual imagery of a starving artist and didn't think there was a career for artist’s out there. At the time, I was 17 going into college and I didn't have money to pay for it and since my parents paid my way through, they suggested I major in Biology but I liked it. I think any artist would benefit from the art school but I have seen some people go into the art school and coming out and going into something completely different. I would recommend research before going into art school because not all places will help you get jobs. Some just go over software and that's not what you need, you need a real foundation in art.
2. What do your parents think now that you got a job in art?
Tracy- Now my parents have came around to see that I can actually make a living from art. It's not like they had anything against art as a career its just they didn't think I would be able to make a living. I given them my stuff but they try to buy things but I stop them. I didn't gradate from college because someone found my website and I couldn't pass the opportunity and moved to St Louis. My mom didn't like it but so far I haven't regretted it.
3. What made you want to start Lackadaisy?
Tracy- I have been living on St. Louis for about 8 years and ended up buying a house that was built around the early 1900's so that ended up with me researching about the city, the caves that ran underneath the city and so fourth. I was listening to a lot of jazz music and had my cartoon cat characters since high school and just piled them all up together and it seemed they had a development. That's how Lackadaisy came into play.
4. How much research did you have to do for your Lackadaisy graphic novel before you actually started it?
Tracy- I spent about, 5 or 6 months of hardcore development before I actually started the comic. That was including comic layouts, the era, style of clothing, cards and so fourth. Its sort of a ongoing research including the guns and phones. It's been going since 2006. I have had people lecture me on some of the models of the cars and gun's I use in the comic. When someone pointed out the wrong gun for that time period, I would sometimes go back and change the picture but sometimes I just want to keep it.
5. Which Lackadaisy charter do you enjoy drawing?
Tracy-If I am in a goofy mood, I enjoy drawing rocky. Victor for sour moods. I like drawing Mitzys hair and her dramatic droopy eyes. It usually depends on my mood really.
6. Where do you get your inspirations from?
Tracy- Kind of all over the place. I don't look for it, just pick it up as I wonder about the day. This or that will inspire me as do watching tv, listening to music, and so on.
7. I was in San Diego this past summer and at a small comic book store, there was your comic at the front of the store and one of the worker's behind the desk highly encouraged me to buy your book. Did you ever imagine your book would be all over the country?
Tracy- No! I am still kind of bull dovered. Recently someone showed me an image of a store in South Africa that had my comic. I was also sent images of my comic in Iceland. Its mind boggeling. I got a chance to go to Italy late 2008 for a comic invention and I saw it in a display in a store. After all the years of work I put into it, it's satisfying to see it all over the world.
8. Deviant Art, why do you post there, and not sell your books? You could get more money if you didn't put all the pages up on DA and just previews.
Tracy- I don't mind they see it and not pay for it, but it's it's own reward and I enjoy working on it. It can be stressful when I post because I don't know how people will react to it but it's rewarding that people will read it. The other thing is that, it's exposure. I think if I just published it and not having the pages out on DA, no one would have know about it and I think a lot of artists do that. They get fan base online and you will get some people to pay for your items. I think it's helped the comic more than anything. A lot of games are going the same direction because it's free to play and people will get into your game and a small percentage will pay, it's enough to pay for the ongoing project.
9. Did you think you would go into the game Industry?
Tracy- I never thought I would be in the game industry and I played it when I was younger but not that I am in it, I don't have time to play video games. But I never thought that I would be doing that some day. Looking back, its a little bizarre.
There you have it! The 30 minute long interview with Tracy! My roommate Caitlin had also asked interview question's and I have a copy of her's but for the sake of time and also effort, I did not post them. My question's were more targeted towards her graphic novel than her as a person and her art interest's. Why would I ask her the same question's that my roommate would ask?
Please go support Tracy Butler! If you already read her comic, read it again! 
She works so hard everyday.
She works so hard everyday. RANDOM FACT: Most of her character's are based off cat's she, a family member or a friend has owned. Some were lined up with their personalities!
