PHOTO: Unbelievable! This is not a photograph.

The images you are about to see may shock or confound you.

When portraiture looks this realistic, it can be hard to accept that what you see is just paint on a canvas, or ink scratches on a page.

Each image takes weeks to produce, and the artists have used an array of materials on paper, from paint to ballpoint pens.

Discover artists from around the world who are recreating humans and animals in their art — and producing strikingly lifelike results — in the gallery above.

Photo: This isn’t real

 Jamie Salmon – The Vancouver-based artist began his career as a commercial artist, making hyper-real bodies for the movie effects industry, and using silicone rubber, resin, fabric and hair.

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