Quote - I believe a lack of image resources is a big part of the problem. At 3d.sk there is basically one black male for whom there is a full collection, and he has been seriously overused, so that I have a few different black male characters from different vendors, but the textures are very similar. We need distinctive characters. I won't sign up for an account with 3d.sk until they have a better variety of dark-skinned characters, especially males.

There aren't that many black/African people in central/Northern Europe, which is where 3d.sk is located. So it's quite possible the reason they don't have many balck men photo references available is because of this. They do have a few black females. And a female skin can be used on a male figure, he just won't have a lot of body hair so you'd need to paint that in.

You might also try contacting a man named Profotograf. Not sure if he checks his 'rosity account very often these days, but he used to take his own photo references, and I think they're all male. I don't know if he sells them anymore (or ever did), but you could ask if he has any African sets he might be willing to share. I haven't heard from him in a while, but he runs MPE, and has been busy trying to get that site set back up.