Photo-referencing

Photo-referencing in visual art is the practice of creating art based on a photograph. Art produced through this technique is said to be photo-referenced. The method is widely used by artists, either in their daily work, as part of their training, or to improve their artistic eye.

Photo-referencing, rather than working with live models, is useful for cases in which an artist seeks to realistically produce a work of art based on some subject that is not readily available, such as a specific person who is not available or a structure in another country.