i chose all of the above
because depending on what im working on i look at different things
usually i get inspired by a combination of other finished products, whether it be from cartoons, comics, tv, etc
then i form a basic idea of what i want in my head
then usually i try and find some natural / real life things (existing in real life, but not necessarily nature, ex: cars, machines, etc)
then usually i use my real references for the major part of the picture
i will refer to the other finished products for idea inspiration, or to see a way about detailiing something
so i use a combo.
generally i have atleast 2 references, even if its of the same thing, but from different angles
however, i have gone 5+ before, just with different angles, nature parts, finished parts etc.
i sometimes also reference just for a specific part of an image. Say i want shaggy hair on something, i may reference a camel even if the image isnt a camel.
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my question though
it is ok to use references for an image?
or would it be much more preferred if it all came from imagination?
as of right now, most of my seriouse stuff is all a combination of references and imagination, and i jut want to double check that that is not frowned uupon