An artist who cannot afford to travel is using Google street view to visit stunning locations around the world and capture them in oil paintings.

For the past year, wannabe globetrotter Bill Guffey has spent hundreds of hours travelling thousands of virtual miles to visit places he will never be able to get to in person.

Work commitments and running a family have sadly meant the 45-year-old graphic designer and dad-of-two may never be able to reach his favourite destinations in reality. But using the internet giant’s mapping tool, with which web-surfers can visit locations across the globe, painter Bill, from Burkesville, Kentucky has been able to capture icon landscapes far from home.

Says Bill: “Street view has really changed everything for me because it means I can go to all of those places I am in love with, sit and paint them as if I am really there.”

CLICK HERE to check out a gallery of Guffey’s global street paintings.