Image Credits: @cigarettesmightkillyou
The little things really do matter for artist Joshua Smith. An Australia-based artist, Smith been running an art gallery while simultaneously maintaining a career as a stencil artist for 16 years. These days, though, he's been creating the Urban Landscapes miniature series.Smith switched to shrinking the world down almost a year ago. “I wanted to think outside the box so the first building I created was a very basic 3D building that I then applied stencils to. From here the miniature aspect completely took over and I pushed full steam ahead from a miniature perspective while the stencils took a backseat,” Smith tells The Creators Project.In his miniatures, Smith aims to recreate the gritty, overpowering atmosphere of urban decay of the cities, like a decrepit back alley filled with rust, rubbish, and graffiti. “Visually it is a lot more interesting than a clean alleyway or building because it has a series of layers to it which all tell a story,” Smith explains.His models are reminiscent of New York, San Francisco, and Melbourne. Grime, moss, discarded cigarette butts, chewed gum on the sidewalk, old graffiti tags, and other intricate details define Sam’s hyper-realistic crafted world.The obsessively detailed scenes are usually made of cardboard and medium density fiberboard—a product made by breaking down hard or softwood residuals into wood fibers. In addition to realism, the artist wishes to bring the reality of his world closer to the sensations felt in big cities. Therefore, Smith’s works feature completely decked-out interiors with working lights, security alarms with motion detectors, and leaning bottom floors, to recreate, for example, the illusion of San Francisco’s industrial streets.The process usually takes between a few days and a month. Depending on what he's building, a dumpster can take 3-4 days, while a shipping container takes a week, and a building, anywhere from a week to a month. See more pictures of Smith’s recent work with his comments below:Click here to see more of Joshua Smith’s work.Related:Miniature Artists Explain Why They Love Making Tiny WorldsWatch: Crafting Miniature CeramicsThis Miniature Midcentury Modern Furniture Will Make You Wish for a Tiny 60s Apartment
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