The artist's paintings are so detailed that they look like real ones.

Photorealistic art is not a new phenomenon. Artists such as Chuck Close and Gottfried Helnwein create portraits that look more like glossy prints than canvas paintings. But South Korean artist Yang Sun Kim is taking the genre to the next level by creating art that he says is "more real than reality."

Kim uses oil on canvas to create stunning and often stunning high-definition images of small animals such as fish, snails, lizards, and frogs. Kim, 46, said he spends 12 hours a day working on his masterpieces, which typically take three to ten months to complete.

Check out Kim's story and his all-too-realistic paintings below.

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1. Young Sun Kim, an artist from Seoul, paints hyper-realistic paintings that look too real to believe.

2. Kim, 46, uses oil on canvas to create stunning paintings that can look more realistic than photographs.

3. Kim calls it "advanced, extreme hyper-realism that precedes any reality - more real than photos and HD monitors."

4. Kim said that he works 12 hours a day.

5. According to the artist, each of his paintings can take from three to 10 months.

6. Kim's fascination with small animals started when he was a little boy. “I have been collecting, observing, and studying them since childhood,” he said.

7. “I remember when I was nine years old, I was drawing cicadas, and I was overwhelmed by the feeling of strong emotions and disappointment that I didn’t succeed,” he said. “Then I said to myself:“ I will become an artist.

8. In addition to challenging the very creation of art that looks "more real than reality," Kim creates his hyper-realistic paintings with a broader purpose.

9. “I chose my genre as hyperrealism because people in modern society think of animals and nature as methods of decoration, experimentation, and edibility,” he said.

10. “My genre can make people think twice about the unintentionally offensive nature of their behavior towards animals and nature,” he added.

11. "Let's take care of small animals," said Kim. "If they can't live, humans can't live either."

12. Kim has drawn many creatures throughout his career, but his favorite work so far is the bumblebee, which he recently completed.

13. “Despite the fact that I worked very hard and tried my best, it took a long time - more than a year,” he said, speaking of painting.

14. Kim cited Gottfried Helnwein, Jeff Koons, and Pablo Picasso as the artists who most influenced his own creative personality.

15. Kim's paintings sell for between $20,000 and $100,000.

16. You can see Kim's work in person at Waterfall Mansion in New York, Plus One Gallery in London, and The Studio in South Korea.