I've looked at some other posts, and the faces are always idealized but very detailed, like an airbrushed photograph, but the detail level drops sharply as soon as you get away from the head. The contrast is jarring. If they didn't use photos+photoshop+tracing, they went out of their way to make it look like they did.
Some of those other images look VERY familiar--for example, I'm almost positive (about 82% sure) I've seen a photo that looks almost exactly like post #316669.
Professionals save time by tracing shit. I'm 100% sure it's traced, just because professionals are busy people. Also, I'm positive that the artist actually has the skill to draw like this without copying. Judging by the amount of practicing alone, you should be able to figure out the following. After tracing 100 photos, any fucking idiot is going to be able to produce the same result without tracing. It's so fucking basic.