More Illustration Inspiration

At the moment, I'm really enjoying surfing around the many animation industry blogs.  More specifically, the layout and environmental design artists.  Thankfully, many have blogs where they post their art.  I discovered Vincent Massy's blog recently and I'm really impressed by the way he creates these complete environments with so many layers: forground, middleground, background, etc...It's just really beautiful how the lights and shadows play such an important role in creating atmosphere.  As I look at his art, I wonder how much visual reference he has--is he looking at photographs?  I'm guessing most of the time the answer is "no".  I'm sure he's good enough to be able to relate these images without much reference.  If only I could have the technical savvy.  One day, I hope.