Pictures come alive with this artist 3D paintings - PHOTO

These mind-bending works of art have been so cleverly constructed they allow the artist himself to feature in the picture.Exploiting a particular optical illusion, Ben Heine appears as though he is being held up at gunpoint by one of his own drawings, while in another he walks a tiger on a leash.The 30-year-old, who lives and works in Rochefort, Belgium, uses a technique called anamorphosis which requires the viewer to occupy a very specific vantage point to see it That means the 'anamorphic illusions' appear slightly distorted unless viewed from the exact same perspective in which they were created.He said: 'It was very exciting to create these works because I like new challenges and I like to surprise.'The sketches, done freehand in a single take before being retouched in post-production, are drawn using a mixture of charcoal sticks and graphite pencils and can take up to a week to complete.If there are large dark areas in the composition, the artist can get through 15 pencils and 3 charcoal sticks per piece.'I'm actually using a mix of charcoal sticks for the large shadows and thick dark lines and graphite pencils for the smallest details and soft shadows,' Ben added.'Both materials are carbon based so they still belong to the same medium.'The works form part of the artist's Pencil Vs Camera series, started in 2010, which feature a photograph of sketches held up against a real-life background.However, the series is permanently evolving and in these larger works - the majority of which measure 13.5ft x 10 ft - the artist actually features in the shot.'I wanted to have my sketches large enough to pose with them and become part of the whole composition - to have my full body replacing the hand,' Ben said.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az