Paint in Blender with reference layer?

[Otto_Lai]

Other than painting on a UV layer, is it possible to paint on a reference image? And then export just the painted area?

I’m posting a composite of color on top of outlines (Multiply blend mode) - however I had to use Photoshop to do the painting because I needed the line art as a reference underneath when I was painting on a new layer.

[Otto_Lai]

this is a layer that I created using Photoshop. Is there a way to paint this in Blender (while using the line drawing as a reference)?

[Otto_Lai]

drawing reference