Artist turns his hand to portraiture with drawings so realistic - PHOTO

But the picture demands a closer look - because it was created with coloured pencils. These remarkable illustrations are the work of Croatian artist Dino Tomic, 25.'Between the ages of 16-18, I really started focusing on art,' said Mr Tomic, who is now a full time tattoo artist in Notodden, Norway.He added: 'From that point on I have never missed a day where I have not drawn something.'I set myself a goal to create something every day and I have kept that goal going now for years.'Everything in art is a challenge, and that's a good thing. 'If you get too comfortable with what you are doing you stop getting better, and there is no better way to improve your skills then working on a large scale with coloured pencils.'With one large drawing standing at a scale of 160X160cm, the pictures take a total of around 70 hours to complete.When Dino is not drawing Hollywood idols, he sketches some other familiar faces, with his closest family including his mum and grandpa appearing in his portfolio.Dino explains: 'The pieces I am most proud of are the large scale family portraits.'It is the amount of time it takes me to complete them, I get very attached to them and I feel like I'm giving everything I know and more to make them perfect.'My real inspiration comes from knowing that other artists work as hard as I do.'Everyone who has mastered their craft gives me inspiration, and knowing how much knowledge and years of hard work goes into their work, gives me huge inspiration.'Using mostly water-based coloured pencils; Dino also tried out techniques such as dry chalk pastel and tattoo colour, in order to get the perfect finish.'My plan for the future is to start drawing large scale portraits like the ones of my family for other people,' explains Dino.'Although at the moment I don't have time to start to think about creating a business, as I prefer spending my time on drawing, and creating more art.'(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az