Italian artist Emanuele Dascanio is willing to spend however much time it takes to create hyperrealistic pencil drawings that share the same amount of detail as high-resolution photography.

The artist uses a combination of charcoal and graphite that gives him precision controls. As for his style, he illuminates the subjects with a single light source – a technique that gives a sort of renaissance feel to his drawings. Not a big surprise considering that during his schooling he was taught the renaissance oil painting techniques of the old masters like Italian painter Gianluca Corona.

The most time he has ever spent on one drawing was a staggering 780 hours. Insane? Maybe. But maybe you have to have a touch of that in order to try to compete with a camera. And really, if you didn’t know, could you say that these are not photographs?

More info: facebook (h/t: boredpanda)