Looking at artist Karen Libecap‘s paintings and sketches, it’s easy to see her talent. Her pieces are rendered realistically, and they showcase plenty of complex detail, vibrant color, and three-dimensional depth. They’d be impressive on their own, but when you know what’s really going on, they take on a whole new dimension — literally.

This night sky isn’t as vast as you might think.

These drawings are tiny!

Each of these little sketches is no bigger than a quarter, but even with their small size, not a single detail is sacrificed.

Libecap draws inspiration from just about everywhere, and her subjects include animals, plants, and pop culture references. She even takes on landscape scenes. They’re all shrunken down to their tiniest form and rendered using impossibly sharp pencils, fine pens, and tiny paint brushes.

But the most important tool in all of this is an extremely steady hand.

When using paints, Libecap uses her fingernails as palettes.

Talk about easy cleanup!

No matter what she’s painting, Libecap approaches her subjects with mathematical precision.

She makes it her mission to capture every highlight and shadow.

She also stays consistent with sizing.

All of these paintings are 1.25 square inches or smaller.

(via My Modern Met)

You can see more of Libecap’s work on her website, as well as on Facebook and Instagram. Prints are also for sale on Etsy, so check those out, too. She even creates larger works, which feature her signature realism.