. ▁Like ▁Ho pper ' s , ▁Sm art ' s ▁paint ings ▁have ▁been ▁compared ▁to ▁post - war ▁Italian ▁movie ▁still s ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 5 0 s ▁and ▁si xt ies ▁– ▁where ▁beauty ▁is ▁poet ically ▁captured ▁in ▁the ▁' hum d rum ' ▁Italian ▁cities . ▁Alex ▁Col ville ▁painted ▁des olate ▁landscape ▁settings ▁with ▁lon ely ▁characters , ▁and ▁used ▁much ▁the ▁same ▁geometric ▁under pin ning ▁and ▁bold ▁colours . ▁ ▁Te chni que ▁ ▁Sm art ▁regarded ▁being ▁able ▁to ▁draw ▁the ▁human ▁being ▁as ▁the ▁single ▁most ▁important ▁att ain ment ▁of ▁any ▁artist . ▁When ▁asked ▁why ▁none ▁of ▁the ▁people ▁in ▁his ▁pictures ▁are ▁ever ▁painted ▁sm iling , ▁he ▁said ▁that ▁he ▁could ▁not ▁draw ▁sm iles ▁well . ▁Un like ▁many ▁primarily ▁landscape ▁artists , ▁he ▁could ▁paint ▁both ▁the ▁human ▁form ▁and ▁the ▁human ▁face , ▁as ▁can ▁be ▁seen ▁in ▁his ▁self - port rait ▁work . ▁He ▁regarded ▁abstract ▁pain ters ▁as ▁people ▁who ▁never ▁lear nt ▁to ▁draw . ▁Sm art ▁mostly ▁painted ▁with ▁oil , ▁ac ry lic ▁and ▁water col ours , ▁generally ▁using ▁the ▁bold ▁primary ▁colours ▁– ▁yellow , ▁blue ▁and ▁red ▁– ▁and ▁dark ▁gre ys ▁for ▁his ▁sk ies . ▁This ▁created ▁an ▁unusual ▁effect ▁in ▁his ▁works ▁as ▁the ▁for egr ounds ▁of ▁his ▁paint ings ▁are ▁fully ▁lit ▁despite ▁the ▁dark ▁sky . ▁His ▁process ▁of ▁painting ▁was ▁a ▁long ▁and ▁ar du ous ▁one ,