Believe It Or Not, These are Pencil Drawings and Not Photos

Diego Fazio, a 22-year-old artist in Italy who also goes by DiegoKoi online, is known for his "precise lines and Oriental techniques," according to his DeviantArt page. But just how precise and technical his work can be is best exemplified by how realistic his drawings appear.

Take this one.

(Image: DiegoKoi via Facebook)

One might be tempted to argue and say the above image is photograph, but Fazio created it entirely with pencil. Here's the piece, which would be considered photorealistic, while still in the works.

(Image: DiegoKoi via Facebook)

The artist's work began gaining recent traction after being posted on Buzzfeed.

According to DeviantArt (translated by Google), Fazio was first a tattoo artist but eventually left to focus on drawing bodies, instead of drawing on them. Fazio's "hundreds of shades" are said to lead him "to create contrasts that touch the soul of the one who observes his works."

Fazio has been awarded several honors for his work over the last few years. Below are a few more of his drawings.

(Image: DiegoKoi via Facebook)

(Image: DiegoKoi via Facebook)

(Image: DiegoKoi via Facebook)

Learn more about the artist on his DeviantArt page here or see more images of his on Facebook here. Check out Fazio's blog here.

If you liked this story, check out these photorealistic paintings TheBlaze featured by Pedro Campos.

(H/T Gizmodo)