Bryanna ‘Bry” Marie is an Arizona-based artist who specializes in painting on coins, preferably pennies. She’s only been doing it for four years, but looking at the tiny details she’s able to reproduce on such tiny canvases, you’d think she’s been doing it her whole life.

Painting is the only thing Bry Marie has loved doing ever since she was a child, but she only started painting on coins four years ago, as a challenge she set for herself. She had always loved using oil paints on copper, but she wanted to see if she had the steady hand required to paint tiny details on a very small surface, so she chose the penny. After finishing her first miniature painting, she felt a sense of accomplishment she had never had with her previous works, so she decided to paint with oils on coins exclusively.

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A Japanese artist recently posted a picture of a hyper-realistic painting of a raw egg next to a photo of a real egg and challenged his social media followers to figure out which was which. Most of them couldn’t tell the difference. Can you?

Yas is a master of hyperrealistic painting, who spends hours on end trying to get every detail of his artworks just right to the point where most people cannot tell them apart from photos of actual things. He can draw various things, from cross-sections of fruits and vegetables, to ice-creams and cocktails, but his most impressive work yet has to be this raw egg done in acrylic that perfectly resembles a photo of a raw egg. According to his Instagram, he spent four hours a day painting it and it took him several days to complete, but the result is pretty impressive. I for one couldn’t tell which one was the painting and which was the photo, and apparently neither could most of his fans.

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Seen from afar, Craig Alan’s celebrity portraits seem made out of thousands of expertly placed paint dots, but as you draw nearer, you notice that those dots are actually tiny detailed human figures.

Craig Alan’s “Populous” series was inspired by a bird’s eye view from his mother’s 6th story condo, in Orange Beach, Alabama. He was watching the people down at the beach and photographing them when he noticed that their tiny figures forming patters. In one of his photos, the people appeared to have formed a eye, and the artist recalls that this was what first got his creative wheels turning. He started spray-painting tiny human figures on white canvases, positioning them in such a way that they and their shadows formed detailed portraits of some history’s most iconic personalities, from Michael Jackson to Marilyn Monroe.

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Members of the religious community in the municipality of Soledad, Colombia, have been voicing their dissatisfaction with the results of restoration work that left a statue of San Antonio de Padua looking “like a homosexual”.

The wooden statue of San Antonio de Padua, patron of Soledad, dated from the 17th century and was located din the town’s main church. It had recently been badly damaged by termites, so the church commissioned an artist to have it fixed and repainted. Unfortunately, the results of the restoration didn’t please parishioners, many of whom took to social media to complain that the statue looked too effeminate. Some even called it “a saint of modern times, a transexual saint”, because of all the makeup applied by the artist.

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If you ever find yourself having to convince someone that anything is possible, just tell them about a Pigcasso, a 450 pound (204 kg) pig who, after being rescued from a South African slaughterhouse at four weeks old, went on to become an acclaimed painter.

South African animal-rights activist Joanne Lefson adopted Pigcasso after rescuing her from a grim fate at the slaughterhouse, a couple of years ago. She took the animal back to her farm and offered her a variety of toys to keep her entertained. Among those toys were some paintbrushes, and the pig became so fascinated with them that she ignored all her other toys. Lefson decided to leave out some paint and canvas as well to see what the animal would do. Believe it or not, she started painting.

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Most of us see used teabags as stained, soggy pieces of trash, but to visual artist and graphic designer Ruby Silvious they are miniature canvases just waiting to be turned into artworks.

Three years ago, Ruby Silvious came up with an ingenious way of combining two of her favorite pastimes – painting and drinking tea – by using the used teabags as small pieces of canvas. She started a project called 363 Days of Tea, creating a unique teabag painting every day for 363 days. To the New-York-based artist, it served as a sort of daily diary, allowing her to record her feelings and thoughts as whimsical miniature illustrations, but also compelled viewers to re-evaluate their views on found and recycled materials.

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A Miami based artist creates stunningly detailed paintings that look like real Persian rugs. Jason Seife, who is a muralist and a graphic designer, began developing the intricate pictures in 2015 as a form of self-expression, but also as a nod to his Middle-Eastern roots.

Each dizzyingly elaborate piece is ink and acrylic, and feature the floral motifs and geometrical shapes seen on the large floor coverings. The history of classic rug design inspired the series, with a nod to the weavers’ use of pattern and color to signify the specific tastes of their tribe. Accordingly, Seife weaves his moods and mindsets into his work, choosing colors and patterns that represent his mental and emotional mindset at the time.

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Kimberly Joy Magbanua has always had a talent for drawing and painting, but never received any formal art training. Instead, she started working as a nurse, not knowing that she would one day be able to combine her profession and passion for the arts in a completely new art form – syringe painting.

The 24-year-old nurse from Valladolid, Philippines, says that she got the idea to use syringes instead of paintbrushes about a year ago, as she was getting ready to give a patient an injection. They were a familiar tool, and despite being completely unrelated to painting, they just made sense to Kimberly, because they allowed her to scribble paint on a canvas. She had been scribbling with pens and pencils for a while, but she always wanted to try it on an actual canvas, and syringes just felt like the perfect tool to do it.

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Roman Opalka was a Polish conceptual artist who spent almost his entire career painting a progression of numbers design to symbolize the passing of time. He began with the figure “1” in 1965, and spent every day after that painting about 400 consecutive numbers. At the time of his death, in August, 2011, Opalka’s decades-long count had reached 5,607,249.

Called “1965/1-∞”, Roman Opalka’s epic artistic project is “a philosophical and spiritual image of the progression of time and of life and death”, according to the artist. He got the idea for it one day in 1965, while sitting at the Café Bristol in Warsaw, waiting for his wife to arrive. Somehow the thought of painting a progression of numbers for the rest of his life appealed to Roman, and upon entering his studio the very next day, he started mapping out what would eventually become the largest numerical painting in history.

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Noel Cruz, a Filipino-American artist based in Anaheim, specializes in repainting mass-produced celebrity and character dolls, like those made by Mattel, into hyper-realistic miniature models of the people that inspired them. The results of his meticulous work are nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Born and raised in Manila, the Philippines, Noel Cruz has been drawing and painting people’s faces for most of his life. It all started when he was 12 years old, when, while looking through a neighbor’s window, he saw a telecast of the 1974 Miss Universe Pageant on television. Seeing so many beautiful faces all at once inspired him to start drawing portraits on pieces of paper. At age 16, having undergone no specialized training, Cruz was already selling portraits as commissioned work. But he only discovered the fascinating world of repainted dolls several years later, after emigrating to the United States with his family.

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Swedish artist Anna Halldin Maule spends several months glazing layer upon layer of oil paint to create these stunning works of art that can easily pass for high-resolution photographs to the untrained eye.

Born in Gothenberg, Sweden, Anna took an interest in painting at a very young age, honing her skills under the guidance of her grandfather, celebrated artist Bror Halladin. Today, she is one of the world’s most respected hyper-realist painters, and looking at her breathtaking work, it’s easy to see why. Although she works with a limited palette of toned-down and muted colors, Halladin Maule is able to replicate human features so well, that her oil paintings often pass for photographs.

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Most of us have trouble painting something decent on the largest of canvases, but true artists can unleash their talent on pretty much anything, even leaves. Case in point, Indian artist Sandesh S. Rangnekar, who paints detailed works of art on fragile skeleton peepal leaves.

Rangnekar learned the ancient art of peepal leaf painting from his father, acclaimed artist Sadashiv G. Rangnekar. Fascinated by his father’s skills, Sandesh started sneaking into his art studio when he was 10-years-old and slowly but steadily mastered the traditional art form. He always made sure to leave the studio before his father came home, so he had no clue of his son’s artistic talent, and the first time Sandesh shared one of his early works with him, he was impressed. So much so that he encouraged the boy to use his paints and brushes from then on, which Sandesh says gave him a huge confidence boost.

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Ever wonder what John Lennon’s “Imagine” looks like? Not the music video, but the song itself. Well, thanks to artist Melissa McCracken, you don’t have to imagine it anymore.

Melissa “suffers” from a condition known as synesthesia, which allows her to experience various things – from sounds to letters and even math formulas – as colors, so whenever she hears music, her mind’s eye sees a symphony of colors and textures. In a desire to capture the way she perceives music and share it with the rest of the world, the Missouri-based artist immortalizes popular songs as vibrant paintings.

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Turkish artist Garip Ay’s masterpieces sometimes only last a few moments, but they definitely make a lasting impression. He uses the ancient Ebru technique to recreate famous Van Gogh painting on the surface of water.

A video recently gone viral shows Garip Ay starting his creative process by mixing black dye and carrageenan, a thickening agent, into a bowl of water. He then drops various oil colors and uses a metal rod to manipulate the paint into Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Once the piece is completed, he just swirls it away with the rod and starts from scratch on one of the Dutch artist’s best-known self-portrait. It turns out just as detailed as his first endeavor, only this time the Turkish artist decides to keep a permanent copy of the artwork, so he just places a piece of paper on the water, and the painting magically transfers to it. The impressive video has so far been viewed over 26 million times.

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16-year-old Joanna Wirazka has a very interesting choice of canvas. Instead of paper or fabric, the self-taught artist from Poland paints colorful artworks on fallen autumn leaves. Her works are not only stunning to look at, but also carry a strong environmental message.

Every autumn, Joanna puts aside her regular canvas for something that’s free, readily available, and in her opinion, juts as good – fallen tree leaves. She collects them from a park near her house and places them inside a book until they are completely dry. She then paints them black using water-based acrylic paint, before covering them with colorful landscapes inspired by bustling cities and natural sceneries alike.

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