Photo-realistic painter Marina Dieul makes tiny framed paintings which are so accurate, when I bookmarked her site for further exploration, I thought they were tiny, fur-covered sculptures in shadow boxes. As it turns out, it’s just oil painting, but it’s wild how she seems to achieve three dimensions with just paint and brushes. The artist was born in France and moved to Montreal to pursue art. Unsurprisingly, she has been winning art competitions ever since.

Dieul’s subjects, whether fictional or actual, are all treated the same way. They are all painted as if they are coming out of the frame, and they include a great deal of humor. She mostly uses animals as her subjects, and she frequently paints portraits of the rotating group of foster cats with whom she lives. The rescue portraits are intended to help the animals get adopted, and according to her Instagram, those efforts have been very successful. Dieul also paints children, but frankly, as in real life, I’m much more interested in the animals.

You can see all of Marina Dieul’s charming portraits on her website and on Instagram and Facebook.