When he first published this piece , there was nothing in the description about the original photo, for one thing, he only did that after he got shit for it , and secondly , if you take the original photo and overlap it with this drawing, nearly every detail lines up perfectly. Tracing , while it can be helpful with learning , is an absolutely garbage thing to do when you're claiming the art as your own, he said it was referenced , but even that is a blatant lie. Yes, he has talent , but that doesn't change what he did. Imagine if he did this with commissions ? (If he does them, I don't know). It would be terrible. So no, he did not draw it "by himself". The smallest amount of searching on youtube and you can find videos talking about it and giving proof that it was traced. I think other pieces were as well.