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How I use reference in painting my illustrations
Another example! I often take my own photos and model myself, or ask my husband to model or take the photos, or use a timer... whatever is practical at the moment and gets the job done :)
I also use a lot of stock photography from all kinds of sources (never copying directly and always changing enough elements of what I don't have a license for), and also reference/stock that is specifically for artists.
And there's nothing new about it! I take photo ref for granted. Artists have been using models for centuries, and photo ref since the invention of cameras. Norman Rockwell went to great lenghts setting up his ref photos and there's a whole book about it: http://www.amazon.de/-/en/Ron-Schick/dp/0316006939
