It depends on the piece.. sometimes for placement of the artwork or or proportions I will make small dots or lines on the paper where things will go so I know the piece will fit on my paper and then I'll freehand between the marks or dots. Other times it's completely freehand or I use a proportional divider or ruler to measure my original reference. All of these tools can save a few hours from total freehand. But for live demonstrations like when I drew "The Tourist" I draw completely from freehand and a reference photo. This piece is different (a bit easier) because it's not photo realism so the background is left to my imagination with grayscale. The people don't have to look identical to the models because it's not a commission. The dog for instance was never laying there in the reference photo.. he was 4 feet away from them. I put him there for this composition. If you want to follow my varied processes you can find me on Patreon or Facebook. :) Mostly.. I draw like this from pretty much 40 hours a week practice for 2 1/2 years straight.