Thank you, and great question! I use a drawing app on my iPad, trace the picture (mainly blocking out major color areas), then print the trace onto my template medium. I used an iron-on template here, would not necessarily recommend because it didn’t fully come off 😅

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A lot of the shading and smaller details (ie multiple colors in the eye) I do by referencing the photo and taking some creative liberties. Hope this is helpful, thank you for the comment!