Author: Jess Smart Smiley


  • Here are a few pages from my newest sketchbook. I’m loving the way graphite and brushed ink sit on the Moleskine paper and I’m having a blast exploring some new techniques.

  • What a great idea, right? Make a recipe in comics form (a recipe for anything—food or otherwise) and send it in to be collected in Just Add Ink: A Comic Cook Book. Submissions are due June 15 and you can find the guidelines for making your comic here. The book will also be shown in…

  • THE ILLNESS

    Ugh. I’m sick. I had a hunch as to what’s been causing my body so much trouble, and I made this picture of it. Anyone else ever have this? THE ILLNESS.

  • It’s that time of year again, when every comic book store in North America passes out free comics! Top Shelf Productions has a 24-page issue filled with comics from James Kochalka, Andy Runton, Ray Friesen, Chris Eliopoulos, Christian Slade, and a 4-page story of my very own, featuring Harold the vampire, and his batty friends…

  • [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loxJ3FtCJJA] Who doesn’t love This American Life? Furthermore, who doesn’t love Ira Glass or good storytelling? Fortunately for us, this four part mini-series on storytelling with Ira Glass is available on YouTube. BONUS: There’s also thisย great animation starring a hot dog.

  • We all know Bill Watterson as the writer and artist of our beloved Calvin and Hobbesย comic strip. I remember watching the news at my grandparent’s house in 1995, when it was announced that Bill Watterson had drawn the last strip and wouldn’t be drawing Calvin and Hobbesย anymore. I remember rushing to my copies of Revenge…

  • [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCm7XwfJE34&feature=channel_video_title] I didn’t make these and you could argue that thenaimi’s didn’t either. This machine is called an Egg-Bot and it is able to draw on curved or rounded surfaces (like an egg!).

  • [vimeo http://vimeo.com/22999575] Beautiful promo video for the Toronto Comics Arts Festival this Saturday.

  • The ever-friendly and ever-helpful comics expert, Scott McCloud, has posted a straight-forward tutorial for creating lettering and panel borders using Adobe Illustrator. He makes it simple and easy to understand, and, after reading parts 1 and 2, you’ll no longer have any excuse notย to finish a comic!