D.G. Smith was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1946. Smith attended Olivet College and Eastern Michigan University, where he graduated with a major in philosophy.

He achieved commercial success early in his career, and by his mid-thirties, was a prolific artist, having earned critical acclaim and exhibited nationally in galleries from coast to coast. An American artist through and through, Smith actively used cacti imagery and desert landscapes to evoke the Western frontier shows he grew up watching. However, Smith is adamant that his subjects were a purely aesthetic choice rather than an academic statement.

“I’m not interested in art as information.” – D.G. Smith 1982

Known for using an airbrush to apply acrylic and watercolour pigments, created flat expanses of colour on the surface of the paper, making his original paintings appear like prints. His interest in prints did not stop there, as he created hand-prints as well as commercial offset lithography throughout his career. Smith valued the practicality of printmaking as a medium with which one could create a work with a high resolution in a minimal amount of time.

After moving to Seattle in 1970, Smith worked in the lithography industry before founding his eponymous paints business, Daniel Smith, which is still a preferred brand for artists worldwide.

Though he retired early in life, Smith is still a devout admirer of beauty and art. He currently lives in the countryside of South Dakota with his wife, where they are able to admire the natural landscape and wildlife of the area.