Draw. From. Life! I cannot emphasize it enough!
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/vgab0b/draw_from_life_i_cannot_emphasize_it_enough/
2022-06-20 02:00
KieranDarkArts
(this also goes for painting, modeling, etc) Real-life is your best reference. Cameras change the way objects are perceived and flattens them, so photos aren't as helpful as a reference. It's easier to reference shape and light dynamics from life. I should add- every professor/teacher I've ever had has told me this! And I certainly agree.
Uncomfortable
2022-06-20 04:09
This subreddit is reserved for those working through the lessons on drawabox.com, as explained here.
Funnily enough, while this advice is still definitely good in most contexts, Drawabox is one course where it becomes a lot less impactful - reason being, we use an approach that forces students to break the objects they're studying down into simple forms, and using that information to build them back up on the page, which side-steps the usual "flattening" issues that come about from working from photos. You can read more about why it side-steps those issues in these notes here. We use this approach specifically to help develop students' spatial reasoning skills - which is all about understanding how the things we draw exist in 3D space, rather than just as marks on a flat page.
That said, you should still go ahead and post this over on /r/learnart, /r/learntodraw, or /r/artistlounge, as in those contexts I'm sure plenty of students would benefit from your advice.