After a TikTok artist's sketch went viral, viewers accused her of faking it. She said it's not the first time she's had to 'prove' her art is real.

• Artist Madison Young shares her hyperrealistic sketches with over 56,000 followers on TikTok.
• When a piece went viral with 3.9 million views, a comment suggested it was fake.
• Young said it's not the first time she's had to "prove" her art is real, which is "frustrating."

An artist who specializes in hyperrealistic sketches said she's "frustrated" she keeps having to prove her work is real to skeptical TikTok viewers suggesting she didn't actually create it herself.

On December 31, Madison Young, a 20-year-old artist from Ontario, Canada, posted a three-part slideshow to her TikTok account which revealed a detailed sketch of a close-up eye. The upload received over 3.9 million views and over 5,600 comments, many of which complimented the artwork, saying their "jaw dropped" and calling it "so impressive."

However, a comment with over 670 likes called into question the authenticity of the art: "Why to me it's looking like a greenscreen," the user wrote.

In a follow-up video that responded directly to the comment, Young said, "People are accusing me of faking my last drawing." Young held up the sketch of the blue eye and said, "I'm here to prove to you that it's real."

In the TikTok, which received over 5 million views, Young showed the sketchbook she said she had used to create the drawing, which matched the paper it was on.

"If you look at it really close you can see all the pencil lines and the gel pen smudges," Young can be heard saying as she showed a close-up of the eye.

The top comments all seemed convinced, calling her sketch a "masterpiece" and saying the skepticism was because she was "too good."

Young has over 56,000 followers on her TikTok account where she creates realistic artwork on a variety of canvases, which include paper, shoes, and vases. But this isn't the first time people have suggested her work is fake — Young told Insider it happens "pretty often" when she displays her work.

"People will sometimes comment that I print my artwork which is why I try to take progress pictures along the way," she said. "At art shows people sometimes assume that I am showing off my photography."

Young told Insider she takes it as a compliment when people think her art is a photograph and she doesn't think "most people are being malicious" when they suggest she hasn't drawn it.

"However, it can get a little frustrating when I show off progress pictures or videos of me actually drawing and people still accuse me of faking it. I have been drawing for most of my life so it's frustrating having people undermine my work," she said.

Overall, Young said the community on TikTok is "very kind" and she is "almost overwhelmed" by the support she receives, as she said her "hyperrealism pieces definitely get the most love."

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.