Some folks rely on keen observation for their creative output, others on photos or making it up as they go along. This Painters’ Keys article argues for using all three.

 [A] painter needs to work from three sources — from self-generated photo reference, from life, and from the imagination. “All painters,” [ Lorne Bouchard, RCA (1913 – 1978)] said, “favour one or the other, but all three are needed to gain maximum feeling — and this goes even for abstractionists and those others who glean their motifs from their minds.”

How do you feel about that? What do you rely on? Do you switch it up sometimes? Let us know in the Comments below.