We reached out to Cameron to learn more about her creative process and who she is beyond her art. She shared that, in addition to reading and writing comics, she enjoys hip-hop, spending time with her mom, and being outdoors. "I work full-time in a prefab shop, so it’s kind of cool because my job gets me outside. Then I can take a break from that when I get a chance and work on my comics. Of course, I wish I could do comics as my full-time job, but I am satisfied with this at least. I’m grateful to have a job."
When asked how she came up with the idea for Leelia Comics, Cameron explained that the inspiration for Leelia originally came from a Neopet she had years ago. "I wrote her in a comic or two then, but didn’t stick with it. Over a few years, I would pick it up and put it down when it came to making comics, but I never shared any of it on social media."
Soon, Cameron began creating comics in earnest and sharing them widely on social media. "My mom and I, during that time, would bounce ideas back and forth as we refined the details. It took a couple of months of nonstop working to try to get the art style and details just how we like them.
The hardest part was coming up with Leelia’s co-star. We tried a lot of ideas, but none felt right. Finally, while I was up late on Christmas Eve, I thought of putting my adult self as Brown Haired Human, and then we were ready to start posting."
"I think, above everything else, I want Leelia to be simple, relatable, and hopefully, funny," Cameron told us when asked what feeling she wants her audience to take away from her comics. "Just a simple comic to let you forget about real life and make your day a little better. No politics, no deep opinions, and no real-world references."
Cameron has two main ways of coming up with ideas: she either breaks down an interesting event or takes something mundane and tries to make it funny. "I’m an odd combination of an incurable goofball and a chronic worrier, so in any given scenario my mind vacillates between 'what’s the most entertaining thing that could happen right now' and 'what’s the worst possible thing that could go wrong.' Often, the two overlap…And those are my favorite comic ideas."
When asked about the most rewarding part of creating Leelia Comics, Cameron revealed that she simply enjoys watching Leelia grow. "She’s like this thing I’ve created, and I’m just standing by the sidelines, watching her. The more people who enjoy my comics, the bigger and more 'real' Leelia gets…It feels almost like she’s a person by herself, and I’m just watching her and taking care of her…Almost like a daughter, in that sense.
I think, in the beginning, Leelia was more of your average happy-go-lucky little girl, but as it’s gone on, I’ve tried to give her a mischievous side too. I think that’s what surprised me the most: all the different things that she can get up to! I actually want to evolve all of the comics someday…to get into more specifics, like location and worldbuilding. But for right now, between working and just life, it’s hard to have time for as much stuff as I think of. Someday I’d like to let her evolve even more, though."
