Caught without his sketch book during a visit to the German cathedral city of Cologne, Burmese artist Nay Myo Say drew literally on the first thing to hand—a city map.

He liked the result so much that he repeated the technique, not only in other German cities but also during a later visit to the United States.

His “city map” series featured in a “Sketches from the West” exhibition that drew large crowds  to Rangoon’s International Business Center in August.

Munich’s Marienplatz, sketched on a map of the German city.

“At one instance, I had no sketch book with me, and the desire to sketch became so great that I sketched the scenery of that city on that city’s map I had with me,” he said.

“It was an unexpected act and I was so pleased with the result that I did it again on another map. Since that time, it became an occasional practice for me to draw a city scene on that city’s map.”

Nay Myo Say will exhibit a selection of his Burmese work, “Sketches from Myanmar,” at  the Suvannabhumi Gallery in Chiang Mai in December.