Greg Smith isn't a city dweller. His daily commute carries him from Alabaster, up I-65 to his downtown Birmingham office. But several years of working in the city center has captured the imagination of this graphic designer, who works for an instructional software company.

The result is #Bham52, a year-long project for which Smith will draw a different Birmingham site weekly.

See #Bham52 sites yourself

Click on the pins below for locations of each place included in our #Bham52 gallery.

The project was partly motivated by New Year's resolutions, but also a desire for Smith to share his work with his children, ages 5 and 10. They know he's a graphic designer, but that doesn't mean anything to a kid, he says. Smith has combined his background in drawing, which was his minor at Delta State University, and love for Birmingham city to illustrate for his children what daddy does.

Smith's cubicle at Innovation Depot is adorned with Birmingham-centric posters designed by Yellowhammer Creative, and he often sports the design firm's T-shirts. Their work, which he describes as old-school and organic, has been inspiring as Smith searches out sites within city limits. Many are places he has photographed on lunch-break walks and drives.

"I don't think of myself as particularly observant," he says, but this project has given him a reason to explore with intention.

After business hours, Smith translates the week's photograph to a drawing. When he was brainstorming the series, Smith briefly considered a 365-day approach, thinking he could share a sketch on social media daily. But further contemplation led Smith in another direction; his detailed drawing style would likely dominate his free time. By focusing on one piece a week, Smith is able to break six to 10 hours of work into manageable chunks.

He also draws whenever and on whatever's available, meaning that artwork often begins on notebook or copy paper. "If inspiration strikes, I want to get that down," he says.

Smith combines ancient and modern techniques, drawing each scene by hand. Once the illustration is complete, Smith photographs it and loads the image into Adobe Illustrator. He uses the program to convert the image to a vector, or digital line drawing, and then digitally paints it. Smith shares the finished work on social media, and each image is available for purchase at fineartamerica.com.

"I love that I can draw something and a few hours later it's there for everyone to see," he says.

Commerce isn't his motive, though; while Smith says he loves the idea of his work hanging in someone's home, he has focused his efforts on the art, social media sharing and identifying each week's scene.

He says, "I'm discovering parts of Birmingham that I didn't know existed."

Where should Smith draw next? Make your suggestions in the comments.

LEARN MORE

View and purchase Greg Smith's #Bham52 images at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/9-greg-smith.html. Prices vary based on format and size.

Follow Smith on Instagram @eiodesign and on Twitter @LordOfTheTweet.