Anyone who has seen the Instagram series Random Acts of Drawness knows that Brady Smith can draw just about anything. In addition to being a first-class speed drawer, he’s written and illustrated three picture books, an interactive activity/sketchbook, and a graphic novel series.

He’s also a fine artist who’s had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, Houston, and New York and painted over half a dozen large-scale murals in LA, Salt Lake City, and Austin. 

Brady spoke to us about his work and process from his studio in Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife, Tiffani Thiessen, their two kids, four dogs, and eleven chickens.

Michelle Lin: Brady, you’ve been drawing since you were a kid and you’re a working fine artist and actor. In 2019, you did something you’d never done before. You and your wife wrote a picture book called You’re Missing It! How did that come about?

Brady Smith: My mom was an elementary school librarian and she always wanted me to do a children’s book or a picture book. I always had ideas here and there, but I never felt like I had an idea that really had “oomph,” if you will.

So I was pushing our son, who was about a year and a half or two years old at the time, on the swing in the yard and I was looking at my phone. One hand holding the phone, one hand pushing the kid, and my wife opened up the window and screamed at me—very sweetly—from the kitchen, “You’re missing it!” because I was looking at my phone. That was a lightbulb moment. I went into my studio, I jotted down some ideas and then I ended up writing the book. I presented it to my beautiful wife, who is always very honest with me, and she said something like “Oh my gosh. This is actually really great. I love it.” 

ML: How close is the published version to that original version you showed your wife?

BS: Very, very, very different. My idea was much more fantastical and the book that came out was much more real life—the argument being that you don’t have to get super fantastical because the kids’ imaginations are already there. So I rewrote the entire story. You have to be open to notes as an artist because there are times when it can make what you’re working on better. There are times when it can’t, but I was open to it and I was super happy with how it turned out. 

ML: You illustrated You’re Missing It! and your second book, I’m Getting a Shark!, by drawing with ink on paper and filling in the outlines with watercolor, but you did your most recent one, Bug Sandwich, with Procreate. How was that process different?

BS: I had to teach myself this whole digital artwork thing because I had always drawn by hand, and I still do. [My graphic novel series, Louie and Bear], each of those books was drawn by hand on 8.5” x 11” typing paper with a pen. I have the originals and that means something to me, but you evolve and learn new techniques. I chalk up digital techniques as one of those, and I feel like it made the process a little bit faster.

When I do the art, when I’m finished, I have to ship it off to the publisher. The publisher ships it off to be scanned, and then they send the scans back and we do a color proof and make sure we like everything how it is. Then they print it, and then we get it. 

When I did it digitally, we did not have to send it off for color proofs. We didn’t have to mail anything. We could just email it in high res. And to be honest, as much as I love the work looking like it was painted and drawn by hand, it’s a little bit nerve wracking when you take 32 pieces of art, bind them up in a box, and then ship them off with your fingers and toes crossed hoping that they make it there and back.

Plus, I draw with the iPencil anyway, so it’s still drawing. It’s just drawing on a different surface, but the beauty of that is you can make the corrections with the snap of a finger. The very first book I did, I drew 32 pages and then there was a last minute note. I had to go back and redraw all 32 pages because it wasn’t something I could just select and delete and redo.

ML: How does writing and illustrating a book compare to the large-scale murals you paint?

Bs: The fun thing about those murals is it’s art improv at its finest. I have an idea of the colors I’m going to use because I have to buy the paint, but everything else is completely improv. I just kind of get up there and go for it, and when I step back I’m as surprised as anybody. I don’t have that luxury when I’m writing books. I have to have a beginning, middle, and end because that’s basically how story works. 

I did a mural in Austin last month—it was like Survivor, but with paint brushes. It was 107 degrees. I had to be in a lift with metal bars and that type of heat, any time you touch the bars, it was like listening to bacon frying in the pan. But man, it was all worth it. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever painted in my life. It was over 2000 square feet, and it was all done with a four-inch brush. It was challenging at best, but I’m so proud of it.

ML: Where do you find inspiration for your work?

BS: I think everyday life is always the inspiration. I don’t know what else there really is. You could be inspired by other stories and other pieces of art, but I chalk that up again to just being aware and present. 

I’m always inspired by people’s work. What I love about pop art and abstract art—all this colorful, vibrant, fun, silly art, like the Keith Harings and the Basquiats and the Picassos and all these other artists—I like to take what I see and, for lack of a better word, “Bradyfy” it and make it my own. That to me is what’s fun because there are no rules. You can do what you want and what you’re doing is intimate and specific to you. That’s what’s in my bandwidth as of late, and appreciating whatever I create, whether I’m happy with it or not. 

I also heard this one saying that I absolutely loved. If you’re going to draw, don’t have an eraser around, not even within reach, because you will spend more time correcting what you did than creating something. So those two things are what inspire me as of late. Less self-correcting, more creating and just being in the moment and seeing what happens. 

ML: What does your practice look like? How often are you in the studio or writing? 

Bs: I do it every day. I read a book by Stephen King over the holidays called On Writing and he basically said, rain or shine, he sits down for three hours and writes. At the end of the day, whether he likes or doesn’t like what he’s written, he still dedicated himself to that practice, to sitting down with the craft. I try to do that too. It won’t be sitting down for a consecutive three hours, but I will punch in. I’ll go to the gym, walk the dog, drive the kids around, eat lunch. In between, I will knock out 20 minutes here, 45 minutes there, so on and so forth. Days where I’m painting, I consider that work time as well, so it just depends. 

ML: Louie and Bear just came out in paperback on August 1. What does that mean to you?

BS: [The paperback versions] are super exciting to me. It’s a whole new moment for Louie and Bear. They’ve got a brand new cover on them. I love Louie and Bear so dang much. I know this sounds kind of silly, but when you write characters and you work with these characters day in and day out for hours and hours and hours, days and days, months and months at a time, you care about these characters. I love Louie and Bear. I want them to live super long, happy literary lives. Get into more adventures and muck it up out there in the world. 

ML: Anything else coming up for you?

BS: I have another children’s book that’s probably going to come out in a couple of years and I’m actually working on my next graphic novel series right now, which I’m incredibly excited about because it’s a totally different vibe and something different than I’ve ever done. Before I was on the phone with you and as soon as I’m off I have to literally get off the diving board and jump right back into these pages.

ML: I’ll let you get back to those pages then. Thank you so much for joining us, Brady!

You can view more of Brady’s art at www.bradysmith.com and lots of family shenanigans on his Instagram account, @bradysmithhere

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Images courtesy of Brady Smith.