I've had to post this numerous times and I guess it's time to do it again. Read the whole thing before sharpening your pitchforks.
YES, I am going the full art route and NO the live model images are NOT going anywhere.
Development of The Company will move forward using the real model images from start to finish while commissioned artwork is developed in parallel. Development will never wait for art to catch up, rather continuing on as it always has. As the artwork reaches different milestones it will be added into the game as an option, with real models always remaining an option.
The end goal is for the commissioned art to be the primary "face" of the game while real models become an "unofficial option" despite them getting priority implementation. This is due to legal, marketing, and creative reasons. I'll emphasise, one more time, real model images aren't going anywhere and development of the game is not contingent on development of the artwork.
As for the quality of the artwork, well, it's subjective. I'm very happy with the artist I've chosen to work with and will be continuing to do so throughout the project.