Many pieces of art are realistic, while others are so lifelike that they take your breath away. Dylan Eakin, a New York-based artist, worked on a large-scale highly detailed drawing that appears exactly like a real person for 25 days—roughly 200 hours.

He portrayed the young woman holding her face with her hands with a mix of graphite and graphite pencils, expertly sketching the texture of her skin, hair, and garments to mislead the eye.

Nothing But a Foundation is the title of the finished piece, which is Eakin’s most recent photorealistic drawing to date. On Instagram, he comments, ‘I’m absurdly proud of this one.’

The artist based the image on a real person (known on Instagram as @iamtheforest) to create such a stunning portrait.

He researched the model’s likeness and converted it onto paper over the period of a few weeks and countless hours.

The female figure is placed in the middle of the tall and narrow composition by Eakin. She uses her two hands to frame her face, tugging the skin around her eyes gently.

Because the subject’s eyes are closed and her lips are slightly parted, it’s difficult to tell what feelings are going through her mind.

Behind her dark tresses is a slightly out-of-focus forest background, giving the impression that we’re looking at a black-and-white photograph rather than a hand-drawn piece.