Christopher Leith Evans

Christopher Leith Evans (born 1954), commonly credited as Christopher Evans or Chris Evans, is an American painter, matte artist, and visual effects art director for major motion pictures. Evans's paintings are characterized by a highly realistic representation of landscape, architecture, and the human figure. He has created more than 100 matte paintings for films such as E.T., Return of the Jedi, Star Trek II, III, and IV, as well as Titanic and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Evans was awarded a Primetime Emmy in 1985 for The Ewok Adventure and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1988 for Willow.

Before, during and after his career in film, Evans created many works of fine art and exhibited his work in several solo, group and public exhibitions. His first was in a 1980 group exhibition, "L.A. As Seen by L.A. Artists", at the Municipal Art Gallery in Los Angeles. New York In the Light of Memory, a 360-degree view of Manhattan from the South Tower of the World Trade Center prior to the September 11 attacks, was exhibited at New-York Historical Society. His work can also be found at the Duke University Museum of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art and Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Early life and education Christopher Leith Evans was born in 1954 in Bremerton, Washington, to Virginia Joan and Alan Edward Evans. As a child, Evans was encouraged by his parents to express himself through drawing and painting. He grew up in Bay Shore, New York, and attended Bay Shore High School

While his family members supported his artistic endeavors as a youngster, when Evans applied to college he was encouraged to seek an education that would prepare him for a more practical career. He began classes at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as an art history major, but continued to paint in his free time. When he showed his work to his art history professors, Evans was encouraged by one to change his major area of study to art. In 1979, he received a travel and study grant from the Ford Foundation

Career After graduate school, Evans pursued a career as a painter; he had a studio in a small garage in Los Angeles. − one in the morning light and the other in the late afternoon. Christopher Knight wrote for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner that Evans's work showed "acuity of observation" and "a remarkably fluent handling of paint".

Soon after, he watched the film The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Impressed by the film's portrayal of the Cloud City, he submitted samples of his work to George Lucas's company, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), and was offered a position as an apprentice matte painter. Evans first project at ILM was on the 1981 film Dragonslayer for which he created about 20 background paintings. He not only served as an artist on projects but also as a consultant from the beginning of the project during script writing and advising the director and storyboard artist as production progressed. At ILM, Evans created more than 100 matte paintings for films such as E.T., The Dark Crystal, Star Trek II, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Starman, The NeverEnding Story, Star Trek III, Enemy Mine, The Ewok Adventure, Ewoks II, Star Trek IV, Cocoon, and The Golden Child. Paul Hertelendy of the San Jose Mercury News particularly attributed the visual success of the production to Evans, Charles Rose and Jeff Hunt, who together are credited for the scenic and lighting projection design. The visuals included op art, computer art, trompe-l'œil, film projections,

After leaving ILM, Evans began working as a freelancer for companies such as Walt Disney Studios and National Geographic. The Green Mile and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Evans told Newsday in 2004 that a background painting of the he made for Titanic was the last oil painting used as matte for a feature film and a stained-glass window he created for Young Sherlock Holmes was the first computer generated image used as a background.

In 2001, Evans moved back to Bayshore and became interested in painters of the Hudson River School art movement with whom he says he shares "an awe and reverence for nature". The hand-painted spherical work which offers a 360-degree view of Manhattan was exhibited in 2002 at New-York Historical Society as part of a presentation of artifacts, photographs and paintings about the September 11 attacks. One of the first paintings in this series is Riches of the Delta. Omoyele Sowore, a Nigerian human rights activist, described the painting as the "'Riches and Pains' of humanity in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. Sowore writes:

Evans had three solo exhibitions at the Fischbach Gallery in New York City: Open Space (2007), Verdant Refuge (2010), and Equilibrium (2014). 1988 Academy Awards Best Visual Effects Willow