From Sketch to Abu Dhabi Skyline: How I Create a City Artwork

October 16, 2026

Creating a city artwork isn't simply a matter of drawing a collection of buildings.

Before I put pencil to paper — or iPad! — I spend time researching the architecture I want to include. Not just how a building looks, but what it was designed for, its history, the architects behind it, the ideas that influenced it and, sometimes, the people who have lived or worked there.

With my European city artworks, this research often takes me deep into the history of a place. Abu Dhabi was different. It is a relatively young city that has transformed at an extraordinary pace over the past 70 years, so there is a much stronger sense of looking towards the future.

That contrast between heritage and modernity became one of the things I found most interesting about creating the artwork.

Finding the composition

Once I have a sense of the buildings I want to work with, I start very roughly blocking out their shapes and experimenting with how they might sit together on the page.

This is probably one of my favourite parts of the process.

I'm passionate about bringing old and new together. I love the juxtaposition — and I think it reflects something interesting about the world we live in. While so much of architecture is racing towards technology, innovation and futuristic design, there is still something incredibly satisfying about traditional craftsmanship and the detail created by hand.

Although my artwork is contemporary, the way I create it is quite old school. I work with an enormous amount of fine detail, and my painting style is much closer to fine art than abstract art.

For my Abu Dhabi artwork, some buildings quickly emerged as the key elements: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Aldar Headquarters, Etihad Towers, Louvre Abu Dhabi and an old fort structure.

My initial sketches are very loose and rough, establishing how the different architectural styles can flow together, how they interconnect and their placement on the canvas before I start investing time in the detail.

Initial sketch for Abu Dhabi cityscape artwork

Abu Dhabi skyline artwork development sketch

In the end, I decided on a combination of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Aldar Headquarters and Etihad Towers — and visually they couldn't be more different.

The mosque is full of domes, arches, curves and intricate patterns. Aldar Headquarters is almost entirely about its extraordinary circular form, while Etihad Towers introduces strong vertical lines and a much greater sense of height.

The challenge was to make these very different architectural forms feel as though they belonged together.

I start by considering the scale, proportion, perspective and spacing of each building, but I'm also thinking about something less tangible: where I want the eye to travel through the artwork.

Sometimes the composition comes together almost immediately. Other times it feels more like solving a puzzle. A building might need to move, become larger or smaller, or sit at a slightly different angle. And sometimes something that looks perfect on its own simply doesn't work once it is placed alongside everything else.

Finding the balance between old and new

Abu Dhabi presented a particularly interesting challenge because the architecture spans such different styles and periods.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque brings a strong sense of heritage, with its white marble, domes, arches and intricate geometric and floral patterns.

Aldar Headquarters is almost the complete opposite — a striking circular glass structure that feels distinctly contemporary.

And then there are Etihad Towers, with their reflective façades and strong vertical forms.

Rather than trying to make these buildings look similar, I wanted to use their differences.

Detailed sketch of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Detailed sketch of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and two of five Etihad Towers

Detailed sketch of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Etihad Towers and the addition of Aldar HQ

The curves of the mosque and Aldar Headquarters help soften the vertical lines of Etihad Towers, while the height of the towers draws the eye upwards and gives the composition a stronger sense of movement.

This is where the artwork starts to become more than a collection of landmarks. I'm trying to create a visual relationship between them.

Building the architectural details

Once I'm happy with the basic composition, I can start developing each building.

This is where the artwork really begins to become recognisably Abu Dhabi.

For Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the domes, arches and repeated patterns provide an enormous amount of detail to work with.

Aldar Headquarters is very different. Its distinctive circular silhouette does much of the work, while the cross-hatched glass façade introduces another layer of pattern.

Etihad Towers is more about proportion and repetition — the relationship between the individual towers and the strong vertical lines created by their façades.

I don't want every detail to have the same visual weight. Some elements need to stand out, while others are there to give the buildings enough character and realism to sit convincingly within the overall composition.

Choosing the colours

Colour is just as important as the architecture.

Abu Dhabi has a very recognisable visual palette, but I didn't want the artwork to become a literal representation of the city.

The pale whites and softer tones of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque provide one starting point, while the glass buildings introduce cooler and darker tones.

As the artwork developed, warmer bronze, brown and gold tones became more important, particularly when I introduced Bab Al Qasr into the second edition.

I use colour to help connect the individual buildings, so that despite their very different architectural styles, they still feel like part of one cohesive artwork.

From the original artwork to the second edition

The original composition was built around Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Aldar Headquarters and Etihad Towers.

Then something unexpected happened.

While I was selling my artwork at a Christmas market, an Etihad employee saw the piece and asked whether I could add an Etihad airplane.

I loved the idea immediately.

An airplane would bring movement into a composition that was otherwise dominated by architecture. It also felt particularly appropriate for Abu Dhabi — an international city with connections reaching far beyond the UAE.

But adding the airplane wasn't as simple as dropping a plane into the existing artwork.

The composition needed to change.

Adding Bab Al Qasr

To make the new airplane work within the composition, I introduced another architectural element: Bab Al Qasr.

This gave me another opportunity to play with the contrast between contemporary and Arabian-influenced architecture.

The hotel's glass façade and vertical curves work alongside Etihad Towers, while its warmer architectural details complement the tones of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

It also helped create more depth within the composition and gave me another shape to work into the overall balance.

Creating movement with the Etihad airplane

The aircraft became much more than an extra detail.

It changed the way the artwork is read.

The buildings create a largely vertical and static composition, while the aircraft introduces movement across the skyline. It also adds a sense of connection beyond Abu Dhabi itself — a reminder that this is a city that is closely connected to the rest of the world.

I wanted the airplane to feel integrated into the artwork rather than simply placed above the buildings, so its size, position and angle all had to be carefully considered in relation to the architecture below.

Knowing when the artwork is finished

One of the hardest parts of creating a city artwork is knowing when to stop.

There is always another detail that could be added or another element that could be adjusted. But adding more doesn't necessarily make an artwork better.

At some point, the composition needs to feel balanced and the individual elements need to work together rather than compete for attention.

For me, the finished piece needs to feel recognisably connected to the city without becoming a literal architectural diagram.

It should have enough detail to reward a closer look, but still work as a piece of wall art from across a room.

From a sketch to a visual story of Abu Dhabi

The finished Abu Dhabi artwork looks very different from those first rough lines on the page, but the basic idea is still there.

The sketch establishes the structure.

The architecture gives the artwork its identity.

Colour brings the separate elements together.

And the later addition of Bab Al Qasr and the Etihad airplane created a second interpretation of the original composition.

What started as a few simple shapes eventually became two different views of Abu Dhabi — both built around the same idea of bringing together the city's distinctive architecture in one piece of city art.

And perhaps that's what I enjoy most about creating city artwork: taking the buildings that make a place instantly recognisable and finding a new way to see them together.