What Only Exists in the Mindis a standalone
piece, that Smith painted “off the heels of a
six-painting series, which explains why I wanted
to do something quick.” The i series “was a
project I had been wanting to do for years,” saysSMITH’SWORKQUESTIONSTHEMODERNRELATIONSHIPWITHTHESMARTPHONESMALL SCREEN
TECHNIQUES HOW I MADE
06
ADDING SPARK
I wanted to create something quick, with a visual impact. Something
with a spark. Now the piece is complete as far as painting, I had to add in
details to give it a sense of movement.04
LAYERING UP
In this step I began painting the clouds on the top part of the canvas.
Still, I made sure I was paying attention to the circular flow of the image.05
INTO THE VORTEX
Here I do the same thing as I did with the clouds on the horizon,
lighten them as they get closer to the Sun. The clouds also get smaller,
creating the illusion of the Sun being a vortex.07
COLOURING IN
Here I used a yellow colour gradient over the painting set to Color
Burn at 50% Opacity. I added hints of green to the hills and set it to Multiply
at 50% Opacity, and an orange radial colour gradient in the middle of the
Sun that’s set to Color Dodge. My main focus was to get depth with the
values, and keep the colours desaturated.”08
FINISH AND FLATTEN
Finally I used Curves adjustments to bring
out the deeper tones of the painting, exposing a
higher contrast with the Sun. Then I flattened the
piece and sharpened it with Smart Sharpen.Smith, “and I knew it couldn’t have been
created accurately with just one painting. This
was a six piece series that portrayed different
scenarios of apathy through the use of present
technology in phones.”