It's just good illustration practice to stage your scenes if you can, as a way of getting the most detailed reference possible. The technique dates back centuri

It's just good illustration practice to stage your scenes if you can, as a way of getting the most detailed reference possible. The technique dates back centuries, only limited by the available technologies(grid viewfinders, mirrors, lenses). By the 20th century photography was available enough to make it relatively trivial to take a snapshot of yourself to get poses and expressions, thus there was a rise in artists claiming they did not use references for PR purposes, e.g. Frank Frazetta made this claim about his paintings repeatedly, even though the documentation exists showing that he staged himself for photos in his comics work back in the 1950's.