Hilarious slice-of-life autobiographical webcomics about marriage, travel and cats by cartoonist Matt Smith!
Today's comic originally appeared in the Camosun College Student Paper the Nexus. Check out Deadpool reading Smith vs Smith:
Cartoonist Joan Steacy, my life drawing teaching, brings in cosplayers as our models.
It's been a lot of fun (and super helpful) learning to draw in a more realistic way. Hopefully the practice shows in Smith vs Smith, even though the comics are more stylized. You can check out more of my cosplay life drawing if you follow @smithvssmithcomics on Instagram.
Have you heard about the mini comic I created for Movember? The mini comic features 30 cartoon moustaches and all proceeds for the mini comic will go to the Movember Foundation, the global charity focused on men's health. Please consider donating (you get a comic!) and telling your friends about it. Here is an example of the moustachy goodness you'll be getting:
Burt Reynolds Moustache
This week's comic was a challenge in several ways. I'm not sure if it shows, but since starting Comic School, I've been trying to work on my figure drawing and draw better hands (check out Smith vs Smith Comics on Instagram to see more examples of my life drawing). I also forced myself to use the Pentel Brush Pen for this entire comic, something I've been avoiding because it's new and scary and different and weird and takes longer and requires a deft hand. I prefer to grind into my paper with tough markers, but I'm glad I took the chance and stuck to the brush pen for this comic.
The other challenge was how to depict smell. I drew Emma smelling something before, but for some reason the nose twitch wasn't working this time.
I had a similar problem a few months ago with drawing a slow action when I had Emma creep backwards up the stairs. Once again, I sought help. I turned to my fellow students from the Comics: Art in Relationships Kadenze course (who recently put out a FREE Sci Fi anthology featuring a Smith vs Smith comic) and some classmates from the Camosun College Comics & Graphic Novels Program. Having their feedback has been extremely helpful over the last few months.
This comic concludes a story arc that began over a month ago with Hungry. Eagle-eye readers may have noticed the aspect ratio of the comic changing a bit. We have the tall and skinny First Day and Eye Lashes and we have the short and fat, almost square aspect ratio for Vegetarian Lasagna and Catchoo. This is because at Comics School we have been making pages at the correct size for common comic books. However, I've also been publishing Smith vs Smith in the Camosun College Newspaper, the Nexus, which has been asking for almost square comics. Today's page was created over a month ago, but chronologically, it comes at the end, so it is still tall and skinny even though it follows a long run of short square comics. From here on out, expect consistency.
I don't know if you're following @SmithvsSmithComics on Instagram, but if you aren't, you're missing out on my month length Movember cartoon moustache drawings.
The Movember Foundation is the only global charity focused solely on men's health, so this Movember I got on board. I drew 30 cartoon moustaches and created a mini comic. All proceeds will go to the Movember Foundation. Find out more on my Movember Fundraising Page.
Make sure you check out the amazing Comic Chameleon App where you can now read every published Smith vs Smith comic! So cool being featured on the app with some of my webcomic heroes like the Perry Bible Fellowship, Nedroid and Nhoj.
This is the second time I've played around with shadows. It's an old gag I remember from Mad Magazine by Sergio Aragonés.
I try to avoid serialization in the webcomic, especially with Smith vs Smith being published every other week in the Camosun College Nexus paper (if you're in Victoria, grab your copy tomorrow to get an extra does of Smith vs Smith this week!), but this week's comic is undeniably a direct sequel to last week's Vegan Lasagna. This really continues a storyline that started a few weeks ago with Hungry. This storyline will wrap up next week with a comic I actually drew weeks ago, but I keep adding more pages before the finale.
This week's comic was originally created for my upcoming graphic novel, You're Stuck With Me Now, but I didn't have an organic place for it. See the original below:
This comic continues an accidental storyline about eating which began a few weeks ago with Hungry. Or did it begin with my bad breath a week before that with Sigh? Or did it begin a week before THAT when Emma made me breakfast in First Day? You should probably read them all and make your own mind up. While you're at it, why not take a stroll down memory lane and read ALL 63 Smith vs Smith comics? Did you know this is the 63rd Smith vs Smith comic posted? Go read them all and double check my numbers!
And if you want to read Smith vs Smith from the start, why not read Smith vs Smith on the Comics Chameleon App? Comics Chameleon is an app that shares over 100 of the best webcomics on the web and from now on, Smith vs Smith will have a home on the app! It's never been easier to read Smith vs Smith on the toilet!
This week's comic was originally published in the Camosun College's Nexus Student Paper.
Two comics & graphic novels students enjoying smith vs smith in the nexus newspaper.
For those who are interested in the process of Smith vs Smith comics, I am sharing the original pencils below so you can see how they compare to the finished comic.
I tried this comic two years ago and originally saw it as a page in my upcoming graphic novel, You're Stuck With Me Now. Here is the original, unpublished version:
I never thought I'd have a cat, let alone two cats. Mostly they are adorable, but sometimes they can be... less than adorable. Since September, I've been in Camosun's Comics and Graphic Novels program and so far we've done all our comics with pen and paper. To shake things up, I decided to draw a comic totally digitally for the first time in a while. Let me know if you have a preference between digital or analogue comics in the comments section!
If you know a cat person who would enjoy this week's comic, please share Smith vs Smith with them!
Have a great week,
Matt Smith!
This comic originally appeared in the Camosun College Nexus Newspaper. Even more exciting, guess who illustrated the cover?
october 19 2016 issue of nexus
Big thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy of "Three Crushes" my 24 Hour Comic! If you haven't read it yet, you can get your copy now! I created the whole 24 page comic in (less than) 24 hours a few weekends ago. It's chock full of gut-wrenching stories of middle school heart break. Fun for everyone!
This week's page was originally an assignment from my life drawing teaching, cartoonist Joan Steacy. Joan tasked us with taking a pose from life drawing and turning it into a "splash page" (one image for a full comic page). I love turning assignments into Smith vs Smith comics, so while my classmates created scenes of samurais fighting monsters, I drew a scene featuring Emma and the cats!
Let me know what you think of the single panel splash page experiment in the comments!
- Matt Smith!
Huge thanks to everyone who has read my 24 Hour Comic, "Three Crushes." It was created two weekends ago in (less than) 24 hours. If you haven't read the true humiliating stories of a young Matt Smith looking for love in Middle School, go check it out now! Then let me know what you think about it! If you aren't already following @smithvssmithcomics on Instagram, do it now and you can see some of the process over the 24 hours.
The comic originally appeared in the Camosun College Nexus Newspaper. It's really cool to be featured in print. If you're in Victoria, grab a copy!
After leaving Kuwait and spending two months in Scotland, Emma and I are finally in Canada! This page is the first page I've done for my Comics and Graphic Novels Course. This past weekend I also participated in the 24 Hour Comics Challenge. To find out more, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter and follow SmithvsSmithComics on Instagram!
This is the second Smith vs Smith comic to appear in the Camsoun College Nexus paper.
Here is my Comics and Graphic Novels classmate Rashad Cash reading the latest issue of the Nexus.
It's really cool to see my comics in actual print. Totally different than seeing them on screen! If you are in Victoria, a new Nexus comes out every other Wednesday.
I've been away all weekend attending a course on publishing and marketing (more on that later), so finishing this comic is a little last minute. In fact, I JUST noticed that there was no shadow on the last Matt's arm. What a foolish mistake THAT would have been!
Last week was my first week of comic school and yesterday Emma started her art school. It's been an exciting week! I've already had a comic published in the Camosun College Newspaper, the Nexus. It's pretty cool!
This comic concludes Emma and my summer in Scotland. Back in June, Emma and I said goodbye to Kuwait and moved in with her parents for two months. I've done a comic already about the Scottish weather this summer.
I'm not comfortable with using colour in my comics yet, but I couldn't work out how to show a sunny day in grayscale. It jumps out, creating a strong contrast with the first two panels, but I'm not sure yet. Any feedback on the use of colour would be helpful!
Luckily, today I start the Comics and Graphic Novels course at Camosun College so I'm hoping that I will gain confidence in using colour and in my drawing abilities overall. I'm so excited to finally start this course after 11 months of waiting!
Originally, I planned to release this comic as two different strips. I was worried about being behind on comics as Emma and I were moving. Below you can see the original sketches.
Originally, the second half was going to lampoon how everyone reacted to the heat, but the day we left Scotland was a really nice day (in stark contrast to the first day we arrived) and this way it serves as a conclusion to our summer.
Below you can see an earlier version of the first half of the page.
I shared it with some people and made some changes based on their suggestion. In the final version, the sky is lighter in the second panel, so my day is "brightened" by the ice cream. I also like how the "camera" starts in a full body shot in the first panel, "zooms" in to a medium shot, drawing more attention to the ice cream. In the third panel, the "camera" "zooms" in to a close up, continuing the camera movement, before pulling WAY back to a cityscape shot to see the plane taking off, leaving Scotland and closing this chapter.
Emma and I actually had a great summer in Scotland and there were many other funny stories that happened. I am hoping to collect the last few comics and draw some new ones and release another mini comic (so stay tuned)!
Emma and I are back in Canada, but there are a few more comics about our Scottish summer I want to post. We've been busy catching up with my side of the family, moving into our new apartment and getting ready for school to start in a week, but I managed to complete another comic! See you in a week!
In real time, Emma and I are back in Canada, getting ready for going back to school in a few weeks. I will run a few more comics about our summer in Scotland, and then I will probably collect them all with some brand new pages and release a mini comic all about our Scottish Summer. Stay tuned!
When you've lived for years in a dry country, you sometimes overdo it when you have access to real alcohol.
This comic, like "Summer Hike" started with a sketch in "The Blank" comic book.
There's a lot more backstory in the first panel, referring to the night before with family friends who we never meet. One of my unofficial rules for "Smith vs. Smith" is that I want to keep the comic focused on Emma, myself and/or the cats and the relationships between the four of us. Part of the reason is to keep all these pages standalone (another "rule"). This is because most people admit to reading the comics from most recent to oldest, in "reverse" order when they first discover the site (which bugs me because that way the art gets worse as your read on). There are of course exceptions to both these "rules," but you get the idea.
So, I eliminated the backstory, starting in the middle of the story.
This is the inked page that I scanned for the comic. I wanted to repeat poses in the middle panel, so I left it blank originally, planning on copying and pasting figures from the first or last panel in Photoshop. You can also see that I only drew us sitting at the table. This was done for two reasons. One, it mimicked the agony of a hangover when you wish you could fast forward to when you are no longer hungover, or rewind to before the hangover, but you are stuck in the moment. It also allowed me to again mimic film language, with a slow push in of the "camera" as I slowly realize something is on Emma's mind.
I played around with the sizes of the characters in each panel, perfecting the change in size until I was happy.
I once again shared the comic with some friends and on a Facebook group. They pointed out that Emma didn't look hungover enough, so I redrew her completely in the first panel. Then I added the grays and shadows.
(There's a reason the panels go from skinny to wide to skinny, and it has to do with the narration captions, but I want to see if anyone picks up on it...)
On a personal note, today Emma and I fly to Canada. We will soon be starting our back-to-school year, with Emma attending art school and myself enrolled in Canada's only Comics and Graphic Novels course. We are both unbelievably excited! I can't wait for these comics to get even better!
- Matt Smith!
For the last two weeks, I've been adding behind-the-scenes commentary to the weekly comic. Last week's comic ended up being a huge process, so I hoped this week's comic would be simple. It was not.
Like last week's "A Summer Hike," this week's comic started as a quick page in a page of "The Blank."
I wanted to work on my figure drawing and character poses, so I enlisted my sister-in-law and had her take photos of Emma and in similar poses to my sketch page. Then I digitally inked over the reference photos.
Film is my first love, and I always wish my comics were more cinematic. So I took the opportunity to use some film language along with the comic language. The comic ends on a reverse of the first panel. Where we started with Emma downstairs looking at me on the stairs and asking me to turn around and go back up, in the last few panels, I am on the ground, looking up at Emma on the stairs asking her to come back down. In film, when characters swap from left to right, it is called "crossing the line." In this case, the fifth panel is the turning point, when the balance of power shifts and the direction of the scene changes. I highlighted the crossing of the line by drawing us in white silhouette against a black panel.
The page above has good poses, but the realistic proportions look incongruous with the rest of "Smith vs. Smith." Realistic heads are much smaller than I draw them. And we both look... much wider than I like. I have drawn entire pages completely digitally before, but I keep coming back to inking by hand, so I printed this version of the page, and hand drew over certain panels.
The version of the page above is a Frankenstein's monster of hand drawings and digital. This is the version of the page I showed to a few friends and shared on a Facebook group. Overwhelmingly, people had issues with the last panel. Showing movement in static comics is a challenge, but showing subtle, slow movement is especially challenging. Based on some suggestions, I moved Emma further up the stairs and out of the frame. Angie Coe, a talented cartoonist from the Facebook group (she also does relationship comics so if you like my comics you should check her stuff out) actually drew me a quick sketch to suggest an alternate pose for the last panel.
Art by Angie Coe. Used with permission.
The new pose makes the action broader and therefore, clearer. I also liked Angie's suggestion that Emma's hand stays where it is, like an anchor. For the final version of the page, I kept my pose the same during the last two panels, only changing my expression. This forces the reader's eye to search for the differences between panels more, allowing the change in Emma's position to stand out more.
This "simple" page took far more time than I would have expected. If you've made it this far, please leave a comment and let me know what you think and please share with anyone you think has ever been in a similar conversation!
It is shocking how much time and effort went into this page! First, I drew two quick versions in "The Blank," a gift from my friend Ed Moline. "The Blank" is a blank comic book that is becoming a helpful way to get my ideas down on paper. I like it more than typing out my comics like a script because for me, the writing and drawing process is so closely linked in cartooning.
The first version of this page, drawn in "The Blank." Looking back, I miss the progression of pants, coat zipper, hoodie in the first few panels.
I re-ordered the panels. I like the idea of ending with a soggy sandwich, as if that is the worse thing to happen all day, but the panels needed to build to the "punchline" of the fog ruining our victorious photograph.
The second version of the page in "The Blank."
In the second version of the page, the first few panels are all close ups, intending to mimic "getting ready" movie montages and build interest until the reveal of me in my winter coat. This is an extension of something I've tried to do in comics like "Late Night Feeding" and "Manual Labour." I like how in this page there is no text until the reveal of me in my winter coat (something that was eventually lost because I just couldn't find a better place for the opening caption).
From here, I moved on to thumbnails. I just finished re-reading all 24 issues of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillip's FANTASTIC "Sleeper" series and their zig-zag panel layouts stuck with me (they also showed me how to draw rain on my sandwich). I am hesitant to use overly creative page layouts, preferring to stick to more basic pages, unless the story calls for it. However, I've also become obsessed with how a cartoonist can guide a reader's eye and I felt that a winding climb would be a good opportunity to experiment with a meandering page layout. I decided to try something different (after all, part of this webcomic is about experimentation). This decision would nearly be the death of me...
Before I drew anything, I had Emma take some reference photographs with me.
With these and other reference photos, I began to draw.
This is the first version of the page, closest to my thumbnails. I've included Emma much earlier in the story at this point. Originally, I was going to draw us walking up the hill in the upper left (just below the boot) and then walking down the hill after the panel of us at the peak. I didn't get that far when I realized the page wasn't working. I spent a few hours moving the panels and captions around.
I was happier with this version (though disappointed that I couldn't push the layout as far as I originally envisioned).
I stared at it, showed it to Emma and sent it to some friends. I had to admit the first caption had to come at the top of the page and the final caption felt like there was more to the story, making this page feel incomplete. I made the appropriate changes, thus creating the page you see above.
Then, I decided to spend even MORE time with this (far too) in-depth behind-the-scenes post. Please let me know if you found this fascinating. If enough people dig the behind-the-scenes stuff, I'll keep writing more. If you've read this far to the bottom, thanks for reading and have a great week!
Matt Smith!
matt@smithvssmith.com
The last few comics have been about Emma and my summer in Scotland, but this week I felt it was time to show what the cats have been up to. Usually, Neo and Thor spend their summer in a (shockingly expensive) cat hotel, but as Emma and I are moving to Canada, this summer they get to travel. We were worried about their first plane ride, but they handled their British Airways flight quite well (Emma and I had to settle for a KLM flight, but I'm glad the cats were comfy...).
Our main concern with bringing the cats to Emma's parents' house was the family dog, Maisie. Neo is skittish, but Thor, the smallest pet in the house, is now in charge. The three of them seem to be getting along, which was a huge relief.
This comic is a bit of a spiritual sequel to the wordless cat comics "Late Night Feeding" and "Thor's Yawn."
This week's comic took much longer than the normal weekly comics take. I really wanted to improve my animal drawing, and since it is a (mostly) silent panel, I wanted to draw the pets in some really animated and exaggerated poses. I originally intended to do more with the backgrounds, letting the pets run across the background through multiple panels, but I could only use two panels in each row because the action is so horizontal. I'm trying to use more black in my comics, but when one of your main characters is a black shaggy cockapoo, the pets got lost in the backgrounds. After staring at the comic for a while, I decided to go back and lighten the background to let the pets POP more. Let me know what you think of the experiments in the comments. And if this comic amused you at all, please share with your friends. Have a great week,
Matt Smith!
Powered by Squarespace
