Here is and example of how I used action figures to reference my illusrtrations. Alot of artists use wooden drawings manikins, but I find action figures often have better anatomy and more articulation allowing more inventive poses. Here, I used the Marvel Legends Beast figure to reference Ambam, as he had long arms, a broad physique and large hands and feet that reminded me of Ambam. I also used the Square Enix Catwoman Arkham City figure to reference Jenny purley for its sculpt and articulation. Her sculpt has like a three dimentional J Scott Campbell illustration which was a heavy inspiration for Jenny's figure, so it was perfect.
I took some photos of the figures in some poses from the storyboards I struggled with drawing, and used them for form and outline reference, which then became some of the final artwork. Minor things had to be changed, such as how musles respond to positions and the off part that didn't seem to work, but these oftne were the basis for some of the illustrations, as seen below.
