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.
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.
The exhibit included two works by Evans; both were photorealistic oil paintings of an identical view of his red tile-roofed white stucco home[7][8] − one in the morning light and the other in the late afternoon.
[9] Christopher Knight wrote for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner that Evans's work showed "acuity of observation" and "a remarkably fluent handling of paint".
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.
[3] In 1986 and 1987, Evans collaborated with theater director George Coates to create scenic projections for Actual Sho, a theatrical production that opened at Stuttgart, Germany, and was also presented at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Jose, California.
[13][14] 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.
[4] His best known fine art work is New York In the Light of Memory, a panoramic representation of the view from the South Tower of the World Trade Center prior to the attacks on September 11, 2001.
The New York Times art critic Roberta Smith wrote that, in Evans's panorama, "the progression of shifting perspectives comes to a close with an exhilarating yet painful moment of illusion created by the painter".
[18] 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.
Sowore writes:[19] The large canvas includes within it 150 smaller paintings, drawings and text panels arranged in concentric elliptical tracks that follow the flow of petroleum from an offshore drilling platform in Nigeria to a gas station in the U.S.