A very important stage in illustration work is taking reference photos so that you’re sure that a pose 1) works 2) is natural feeling and 3) can inform you about how the clothing/costume will work with the form. Typically, I use myself as the model because it’s extremely easy to book myself. Turns out I’m always available, especially when I need to wield a T-square in place of a weapon.
I have the photographer (in this case it was my poor, hapless boyfriend who has the misfortune of sharing studio space with me) take lots of shots, and sometimes things get silly. In this case, there’s a shot where I was losing the ability to hold the pose after so many minutes, another making a silly face, and finally an extremely bored and unamused studio assistant.
Have you ever taken really silly reference photos? Feel free to share them in the comments below!