Louie Smit has nurtured the world that lives inside her head her whole life. As a writer and an artist, she has brought it to life in multiple spaces and forms. This year, she is ready to open Fistbump the Sky to any curious adventurers.
Louie Smit is a South African writer and illustrator, and the creator of the fantasy world Fistbump the Sky. She publishes encyclopedia chapters, newsletters on Substack, and personalised books. PHOTO: Anke Spies
22b Lower Main Road, Observatory.
If you don’t know to look out for the number on the door frame, you might miss it. Even then, it might be erroneously chalked up to be one of the many hipster coffee spots on the street. If the bartender doesn’t lift a swinging door under the counter, you wouldn’t know to crawl through to the meeting spot in the back.
The smell of caffeine, nicotine, and marijuana hangs heavy in the air.
This is where Louie Smit is nursing her second cup of coffee.
Louie is a South African artist that is currently busy preparing for the mass communication of the world inside her head. Fistbump the Sky is a fantasy world that she created during her childhood. Now, at 33 years old, she is determined to share it with the world.
“I will rather die trying to reach the dream, instead of dying wondering,” says Louie.
A life of multiple adventures across the world has brought her back to her desk, with an open page in front of her.
Louie Smit sketches her original illustrations for the world of Fistbump the Sky on watercolour paper, and uses watered-down acrylic paint and fineliners to bring colour to the artworks. PHOTO: Anke Spies
The making of an artist
“I was basically born with a pencil in my hand,” says Louie. Her upbringing was dotted with various creatives – from artists to musicians – who entertained her with their “wondrous stories about unlocking the spirit to create art”.
Moreover, her mother studied art and later became an art teacher.
Louie describes the appropriate untruths of parents that pretend to like the artworks of their children, and compares this to her mother’s reaction to her own drawings: “She was so incredibly unimpressed.”
Louie Smit’s second chapter in her serialised encyclopedia about the world of Fistbump the Sky, which was made available for free at various bookstores across the Western Cape. This chapter details the famous food from the world of Fistbump. PHOTO: Anke Spies
As an artist, Louie has clearly found her own distinct voice. One very different from her mother’s. She is passive when she says that she is close to her mom, and she doesn’t elaborate on the topic.
“My mom became my idol as well as my rival,” recalls Louie. “If I could impress my mom with my art, I know I’m going the right way. Later on it was like: ‘If I could beat my mom, I would be like, the best artist ever.’ ”
She’s generous with her cigarettes, which she plucks one after another from an embroidered cigarette case.
“Which sucks, because now she’s not even doing art anymore.”
A spread in Louie Smit’s second chapter of her serialised encyclopedias about the fantasy world Fistbump the Sky. This chapter, called “FAMOUS FOOD FOOD from Fistbump the Sky,” presents illustrations and stories about the culinary culture in the world of Fistbump. PHOTO: Anke Spies
Louie studied drama at Stellenbosch University after school. She stopped after two years, and instead started handcrafting personalised books for people.
“I’m interested in how they tell the stories. I’m not interested in being in the stories,” she says. “I can draw, I have the stories, and I can write. So, why not use that?”
“Punching the sky in triumph”
Artistic pursuits have taken Louie many places. After studying graphic design in Berlin, she has done internships in Milan, Amsterdam, Mumbai, and Tokyo. She says her home, however, is in Taiwan, where she spent four years teaching English.
Louie explains that the indie art scene in Taiwan is amazing. However, she’s back in South Africa to gain experience, and, of course, to realise her goal of becoming a successful fantasy author.
Fistbump the Sky is an elaborate depiction of a “deformed cake strapped to a frog’s back as he wanders around the universe, dodging responsibility wherever he goes”. The world seems to be thought out to the very last detail, and readers are taken along a journey of discovery with Louie’s works.
Louie Smit’s original illustrations and acrylic paintings, as well as the planning for the layout of the encyclopedia chapters that she publishes about her fantasy world, Fistbump the Sky. PHOTO: Anke Spies
Inspired by various band names in the 90’s, Fistbump the Sky is presented through personalised books, a newsletter on Substack, and various encyclopedia chapters. Louie does everything herself – she writes the stories, illustrates the scenes and characters, plans out the printed design and even binds the books. She also delivers free copies of the encyclopedia chapters to her favourite bookstores, to be handed out for free.
The map of the world of Fistbump the Sky, illustrated by the author Louie Smit. The map comes as a loose poster inside the published encyclopedia chapters that Smit is creating. PHOTO: Anke Spies
“I want to do something that makes people happy, but I also want to do something that they can enjoy mentally. Whether it’s a story or a movie,” she says as she orders her third cup of coffee. “If it doesn’t wow them, or make them feel connected, then what’s the point?”
This project started in June 2024, but she has wanted to execute it since high school. And she has told her stories about the Fistbump world since primary school.
Her sister, Martine, calls her ideas magical. “I found it slightly difficult to understand all its intricacies, but that’s what makes Fistbump the Sky exciting. You learn and absorb little bits at a time.”
The library card that comes with the published encyclopedia chapters about the world of Fistbump the Sky, a fantasy series written and illustrated by Louie Smit. PHOTO: Anke Spies
Special powers
Louie explains her neurodivergence as being “a couple of brain stuff”. Her best friend, Kunal Khade, says it’s her “special power”. He describes her as hyper-focused, with an “incredible imagination, and incredible way of looking at the world”.
Art has always been Louie’s way of connecting with others. “I have a hard time communicating verbally, and if I talk too much, I get tired,” she says, and adds that her brain functions in pictures.
She knows that Fistbump the Sky is her own world, and she doesn’t know if other people would be interested enough to spend money on it. Worldbuilding is of absolute importance to her, and Fistbump “is logical, but in [her] own way”.
A mini-newspaper about the fictional world of Fistbump the Sky, created by Louie Smit. The “Fistbump Times” will come as an insert in the physical encyclopedia chapters released by Louie. PHOTO: Anke Spies
Still, it’s important that her work has an impact on people. “As soon as I see that people don’t like it, I’ll stop.”
“I want people to be part of the world instead of just reading about it,” she continues. That is why she includes a library card with her encyclopedia chapters, and why she prints the Fistbump Times, a mini-newspaper, to go with the books.
“It’s not like, oh my God, if the books don’t succeed my entire life will end. But I’ll be sad because I want to share it with people, and I want people to be involved.”
Louie Smit, surrounded by her illustrations and paintings that she has made for her fantasy world of Fistbump the Sky. PHOTO: Anke Spies
A Fistbump future
This year, Louie is focused on expanding.
Her following on Substack is growing, and she will soon be opening an online shop to sell physical copies of her encyclopedia chapters.
“It’s an entire world. Why don’t we all be part of it?”