Hyper Realistic Pencil Drawings

These remarkable pictures are the work of Scottish artist Paul Cadden, who uses graphite pencils to recreate photographs of people and landscapes.

His latest subjects were taken on a trip to China and depict everyday life in Hong Kong and Guangzhou - a huge metropolis located in the south of the country.

The busy cultural capitals of London and Barcelona also feature in Paul's work.

A single drawing can take the Glasgow-based artist anywhere from two to six weeks to finish, depending on the size and complexity of the piece.

The 50-year-old's trip to the Far East was funded by a Chinese businessman who fell in love with his work.

He said: “Mr Jing is a real estate developer who saw my drawings in the Guangzhou Daily Business Newspaper.

“He contacted two galleries who represent me in London and Atlanta and bought everything from my exhibitions.

“He then arranged to meet me in the Dorchester Hotel when he was visiting the UK for the 2012 summer Olympic Games in London.

“During that meeting he invited me to Guangzhou and Hong Kong where he hoped I would find inspiration for my work.”

Paul also spoke about his creative process and what motivates his incredible work.

He said: “The everyday ordinary inspires me to create narrative scenes - the detail of the subject in particular fascinates me.

“I've been drawing for as long as I can remember, my earliest memories of drawing are at school.

“Escapism through art played a big part in my early childhood.”