Messing with reality...
 

Here's another example of messing around with "reality"...I had to use an example from my work this time.

The mother is a very petite woman. And her baby - based on my photographic reference - appeared to be much too large (in proportion to her) - a fact that only became apparent in an anatomicaly correct drawing or painting.

I really "shrunk" the baby in this painting. Had I painted him "accurately" he would have looked very strange indeed...

I always try to paint to an archetype, i.e., "babies and children are small."

Well done! I have struggled to resolve a problem with the hand of a young lady clutching a book to her breast. The accurate version produced a hand that was too large. I didn't want to make the common mistake of making it too small. Arriving at the right size, value, and form required a lot of adjustment from the digital pics that had looked "just right".