Pietro Cataudella is an Italian artist who takes urban sketching to the next level. He offers a new perspective of famous landmarks by using his talents to combine his architectural drawings with photos of their real-life surroundings.

His series of half-sketch, half-photograph images, called CityLiveSketch, features 3D sketches that seem to jump from the artist’s sketchbook like pages in a pop-up book. Pietro began his project in 2014 while living in his hometown of Sicily. Since then, he’s traveled all over Europe to create 3D sketches of some of the world’s most iconic buildings.

“[It’s] is a combination of my passions for drawing, photography and travel. The goal is to show beauty in a different way, using only my skills, creativity and imagination,” Pietro told the Daily Mail. “I never studied illustration, architecture or other related disciplines, my works are the result of hard work, passion and desire to improve myself.”

His technique, which evolved from simple sketches into more complex drawings, seamlessly blends different art techniques, creating a 3D effect. He creates each image by drawing only parts of the architectural structures in his travel sketchbook. He then holds up his drawings to the scene, alining it with the real buildings to take a photo. Later he merges them together digitally.

Pietro’s sketched the Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, castles in Gaeta, and the Colosseum in Rome. But his artworks aren’t just confined to Italy. Pietro’s also sketched Tower Bridge in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He sometimes likes to put an original spin on these landmarks, like turning the Leaning Tower of Pisa into a coffee pot.

If you like what you see here, you can view more of the artist’s 3D sketches on Instagram or Facebook.

Source: https://www.travelandleisure.com/culture-design/visual-arts/famous-landmark-sketches-citylivesketch