Every now and then I like to stop and clarify. For those of you who are new to this blog, or are trying to figure out who I am and what I do: this post is for you. HELLO. MY NAME IS JESS SMART SMILEY & I MAKE RAD PICTURES. Despite what my name might…
A couple of weeks ago I received a package from illustrator Nicole Daddona (creator of Hairphabet, an alphabetical catalog of illustrated hairstyles). Not only did Nicole send me a copy of her fun Halloween zine, Ghost’s Night Out, but she included what she calls a “mail order interview” – a hand-written form for me to fill out and…
DRAWN INTERVIEW: TOP SHELF KID’S CLUB AUTHOR JESS SMART SMILEY Drawn Words blew our minds back in May with their fully-illustrated interview with comics creator Jeffrey Brown, and now they’re at it again, only they’ve significantly lowered their standards by interviewing me. In all honesty, I’m completely floored by the amount of thought and effort…
SLUG Magazine’s Contributing Editor, Ricky Vigil, gave me a call early last week to talk about my soon-to-be-released graphic novel, Upside Down: A Vampire Tale, out this month from Top Shelf Productions. Ricky and I talked about the joy of reading and making comics, my one goal for 2010, as well as making the jump from…
illustration by jess smart smiley, link from swiss-miss.com INTERVIEWER: How important has your sense of optimism been to your career? BRADBURY: I don’t believe in optimism. I believe in optimal behavior. That’s a different thing. If you behave every day of your life to the top of your genetics, what can you do? Test it. Find…
John Hogan of the Graphic Novel Reporter got in touch with me to talk about my upcoming graphic novel, Upside Down: A Vampire Tale (October 2012, Top Shelf Productions). Here’s a snippet of our conversation: “Congratulations on your first graphic novel! What’s the story behind it? Thank you! Upside Down has been a lot of fun to make, and…
From today’s interview with Gavin’s Underground for City Weekly: “Gavin: What’s the process for you when creating a new comic, from first idea to final product? Jess: One fun way to start is to put three characters you’ve made together, and start an idea map (or idea web) and jot down little ideas about each character.…
If you didn’t set foot into a comic shop on Saturday, May 5, then you missed out on comics’ biggest event of the year: Free Comic Book Day! The first Saturday in May is and has been designated as Free Comic Book Day, for the last eleven years. Participating comic shops in North America and…
Drawn Words has taken interviews to a whole new level! Writer Kevin Cortez, and artist Estevan Sanchez have teamed up to make the most in-depth comics-style interview since Top Shelf’s Conversation #1 and #2, by drawing out their interview with comics great, Jeffrey Brown. Read the full interview at Drawn Words.