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Yes, I had forgotten about Julie Bell, thanks for the reminder! I have some books with their art and process, I loved how they photographed real models posing for reference. A body builder wearing just a speedo and holding a iron bar was "transformed" to Conan the Barbarian with fur loincloth and a greatsword! And their inks/pencil are certainly awesome.

Yes! i cant imagine knowing all these muscles by heart (though i'm sure with their practice the probably did). I sometimes use myself as reference, but if i had proper studio i'd definitely bring models to draw from.