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I'm with Michael Fournier. Just think of going to art exhibits and then looking at the catalogue where the photos of the paintings never, ever come close to accurately reproducing the real paintings. I had been going to night and weekend classes since 1989, so twice a week (three hours on Mondays and six hours on Saturdays) I got to paint from life.
I also benefited from being in the NYC metropolitan area where art clubs and informal studios for additional drawing and painting practice from life abound. But when my work schedule conflicted with the times when the clubs were operating, I hired my friends' teenage kids to pose. Teenagers are a wonderful resource: they can hold a pose like a statue, and they're very cooperative. At least that's my experience.
Only when I paint or draw from life am I able to tell where I'm having difficulty with my drawing and what I need to practice more on. Even if you live in the boonies, you and possibly other artist friends can pool the money to hire a teenager or an older person to sit for three or four hours a week while you get some practice from nature.
Clients commissioning portraits may be put out to pose for a painting done from life, so relying on photo references may be unavoidable. But the more practice you do from life, the greater is the likelihood that the painting will far surpass the reference.
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