You may think your eyes are deceiving you, but this is not a photograph. It was not done in Photoshop either. It is some pretty amazing airbrush work by Dru Blair. It took 70 hours to paint. Even in the close up of the image it is nearly impossible to differentiate it from the real thing. Thanks to Don for the find!

Painting of Tica by Dru Blair:

This is a painting completed in February 2005. It was a Portrait Class project that I decided to finish in my spare time after the workshop. It probably took a total of around 65-75 hours to complete. The small images are step by step photographs taken during the painting process, and the large image is the final painting after detail and skin texture are added with an eraser and colored pencil. The main colors are blocked in at the beginning, but refinement is withheld until the very end.