Spent 4 hours trying to get the right texture for a simple leather jacket in my latest piece. The reference photo was just bad. | Digital Art Showcase - nhfree.com
Four hours on one photo is brutal. Foster.patricia has the right idea with using multiple sources. I keep a folder of just texture shots for this exact reason.
I had that happen with a denim texture last month. My reference was just a dark blue blob. I ended up finding a better photo on a retail site for a similar jacket, just to see the fold lines and how light hit the seams. Sometimes you have to build the texture from two or three different photos to get it right. It saves so much time versus fighting one bad image.