The Worst Type Of Art In The Art Community: TRACING ART
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 มิ.ย. 2023
- mohammed agbadi talking about tracing and how artists on twitter and tiktok started a new trend because of it.
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tiktok artists in the video
artisangc
vangoghandloveyourself
catchipss
wuaveq
acsorbic
shinkazuuu
genshin._.addict_
iroos_idk
mxsagel
steamedbun_s
stephanie.rose.freeman
adrblbunmi - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
*_what is your biggest pet peeve as an artist?_*
When people aren't clear on tutorials
Waiting for a video on your second channel lol.. I need more content to watch from you.. i can only binge watch these videos so much and I'd love to see what you're gonna do on the other channel.. the curiosity is getting to me
Being accused of being a deviant for drawing NSFW artwork
Living under capitalism.
@@EmonWBKstudiosThis THII$$$!!☝️
As a comic artist, I have definitely traced over poses and items to save time. It's especially important with deadlines to not lose sanity. But I only ever use assets in the clip studio store that are provided for me to use
I don't think there's any harm in using tracing as a tool, but tracing other's artwork and/or lying about drawing illustrations from scratch is a big nono
Well imo most people read comics for the story, so some parts of the art being traced isn't that bad bc the art in comics is more than just the drawings. Most of the internet art community is focused on the drawings themselves, so tracing something kinda defeats the whole point (unless it's done for learning purposes offline).
Technically I do this also to save a lot time. Ideally I would have my reference on another screen(digital artist display), but since I only have one right now my screen is just too small to accommodate two windows so I can just look at the reference while drawing. Pulling it up every time I need to look at it is far too time consuming and risks glitches and freezing, so I just leave the reference where I want it on my screen and lower the opacity so I can figure out how I want everything. It feels weird hearing it called tracing, since I use as little of the original reference as possible and use it as sparingly as possible. But I guess that is what it is. Maybe some day I'll have a proper dual screen so I won't have to keep doing it.
Mah bro u good, ive seen this as a recommended trick for comic artists with deadlines actually
Agree. I create greyboxes then trace them most of the time when drawing buildings or cityscapes. Really no point in drawing all the details unless its a cover, specially for thise tight deadlines.
I tried using one of those csp 3d person for posing and the end result was rly stiff lol.
In my opinion, tracing is a great way to start your journey on being an artist, you can learn many from it. The only thing is, never consider it as an original piece, or get bombed by ten homing missiles.
Exactly! I mean it could still be an original piece, but learning how to eyeball your proportions and slowly get better will make you a better artists in the long run
you really dont learn anything from tracing though. a lot of mental skills are skipped over when tracing.
@@jamesmcmullen817 this is factually incorrect. Training is a stepping stool that helps you break down the shapes.
@@kyaschafer7357 but tracing is just going over the contours and pre-determined lines, your not structurally breaking the image down and studying it. Observing reference and trying to recreate the image on a separate page will, but tracing? no it doesnt do that
@@jamesmcmullen817 You do not understand a single thing you're talking about, James. You are literally taught how to trace effectively in art school.
People who find any kind of tracing (even 3d models) as cheatinf are fonna have a heart attack when they find out 80% of art in WEBTOONS arent even hand drawn and mostly premade assets and tracing models. We have to make 55-60 colored panels a week, no human can do that with JUST their hands
Well, today I present to you...: Me! Hello, I do everything by hand (which kinda makes me wanna die at times.)
@@rinininvanillaI mean
They can do it too but is gonna take more time
@sakurahoshi well now you know theres no shame in using clip studios 3d assets(if you use csp)!
True, especially miscellaneous details such as jewelry sequins on dresses and the backgrounds. You can see how the bracelets and earrings are 3D and a lil clunky but since people usually just read it for the plot and didn't really pay attention to these things, it's fine to cheat a lil w 3D models
@@tatanookitracing gor webtoons are logical, but if your going to poat your art online and say its original is just not right
I have been tracing a lot of poses in the past months form photos made purposely by models for artist. I got insanely better and understand way better where things are meant sto be. People shouldn’t be ashamed to trace photos.
Tracing is mixed for me. It can help with learning to break up the body and learn to draw shapes but posting it is where it turns everything around.
Just be transparent
@Cassiel Marino exactly. I saw a video on tiktok of how someone draws transformers and they were straight up about how they did it, using references to trace over to get the basic shapes down (bots and cons can be very tricky to draw with all that wiring and metallic details) then they morph it into their own style. But they are honest in showing the progress which is great. It can help people realize we're all just shapes that can be molded into any position to draw in. ^_^
Yes I don’t mind tracing as long as they use it in a way where their own style influences the drawing. As long as the drawing is a separate idea from the reference and not directly copying it.
tracing is GREAT i literally got into art from it.. but posting it yeaaaah no lol.
I hate how people think their something special for having this opinion. It's literally everyone's opinion and has been for years
The video is great … BUT THAT MIGUEL O’HARA ART YOU DREW HAS ME FEELING ALL TYPES OF WAYS 😍
hahah thankyou!!!!! i enjoyed drawing him so much! who should i draw next?
@@MohammedAgbadi honestly… I would like to see how Hobie Brown (a.k.a spiderpunk) would look in your style :o, just a suggestion tho!
@@MohammedAgbadiI’d love to see Hobie in your style!!
FR?? 😭 ESPECIALLY WHEN I SAW THE CHEEKS I LAUGHED SO LOUD
FO REAL MAN, i was tryina focus on the vid but that CAKE was too stimulating LMAO
I watched a documentary once on how the manga GANTZ was made. They used 3D models and then traced over them, then fleshed out the characters based on that. It allowed them to break a lot of new ground in terms of complex poses and special effects. If it's good enough for a professional studio, it's good enough for you. Don't let the clueless online art community dictate your workflow because of their arbitrary and stupid "rules".
Don’t let a professional who decided to cheat his way to success convince you that you should cheat as well.
Rules are meant to be broken.
@@reginaldforthright805how is it cheating? He created a 3d model for himself? Its literally not cheating since he did all the work.
The thing about gantz is that hiroya oku also learned alot with his production method and his personal art that he didn't trace over, look close to his comic art. Him trscing over models, speed up his production. Look for Shikishi boards he gave away. it's all hand drawn and still looks good.
@@reginaldforthright805 Well, I'm sure all that integrity will keep you warm and your lights on. I'll take the legally earned money thanks, and I'll trace my own photos as much as I like.
When I was 6 or 7, I did copy art from my favourite comics, and I was really proud about it, because I achieved in doing something pretty.
I never pretended I did them from scratch and was always really happy to say "it's from that comic cover". While it didn't teach me how to draw, it helped me with how to use a pen and small useful drawing habits, also with being patient and precise.
People who just steal another artist art are bad, the rest is a nice tool for progression.
i feel copying takes more than tracing, you have to do the proportions instead of having them laid out.
Honestly coping is how I learned to draw and it helped me SO much more then tracing ever did. I learned anatomy, foreshortening, etc because I would see the original and see my copy noticing what was wrong. Plus even as a newbie I hated the appearance traces work. It always had a bizarre chunky look with lines that felt unsure
For me personally, I only feel comfortable tracing my own photos/drawings. This is mostly for copyright reasons, but I also believe that tracing my own work is harmless because I’m literally the one who made it. It also helps me identify issues in my work when I go back to trace old art and see my past mistakes. I don’t think tracing other people’s photos or art is okay unless for practice, so if you really want to trace just trace something you own lol
Iconic of Mohammed to draw the ✨SLUTTIEST✨ men as physically possible
Hahahhaha Lmaoo I meannn.. I kinda went mildly on him tho
@@MohammedAgbadi m..mildly?
@@MohammedAgbadi please teach me your ways 🙏
@@leynisitepu he can and WILL do sluttier
Yall thirsty af
As part of my master's study I shadowed a few professional fantasy illustrators and part of the process is actually tracing photo reference. They would create a collage made of photos and quick doodles they do in photoshop (like eyes from one model, mouth/nose from another, etc) and would then trace it as a new layer. Then print the line art, mount it to a canvas under a few layers of acrylic medium and oil paint on top of that line art. Their work was stunning, but one thing they made clear is that in a professional setting and when you're dealing with deadlines, shortcuts like that can shave a day or two off production. That's a day or two you get to rest in between gigs. They always said that only art students argue over this stuff.
I never experienced tracing myself, my art teacher, who I was close with professionally, said to “follow with your eyes” and ever since then I’ve learned how to look for negative space and such. It’s not easy as tracing but it helps build confidence.
for me tracing is like use other people's code, it may work, but don't use it without understanding how and why it works
EXACTLY!!!
lmao while i see the analogy, actually developers take parts from each others code all the time
@@tophfananalogy still works in that context imo
DONT BRING ME BACK TO CODING. THAT WAS A DARK PART OF MY LIFE 😭
@@tophfan Not surprising a "Toph fan" is so blind. OP quite literally said "don't use it without understanding how and why it works". You cannot create functional code without first understanding it in its full context, nor without knowing why it is necessary.
To put it bluntly, don't do something without understanding it first. That includes trying to argue with someone about something they had literally said.
Feels like the real problem is just people being honest.
Agreed
Underrated comment
Sooooooo true!
Lolllll hit like a brick! But thats reality , here have my like good sir❤
INDEED
Mohammed, I missed your commentary on you drawing art so much 💙💙💙💙✨✨ you drew Miguel so well!
Tracing to me is a learning tool. Wether you’re practicing deconstructing, trying to get the hang of perspective, trying to emulate a style that inspires you that you can then try to replicate on your own
It’s just as much of a tool as anything else. As long as credit is given to the original creator and it doesn’t become a crutch
Tracing is on edge with me. I feel like it’s good to “trace” BODY references. Not drawings, but actual people who model for a living. Tracing other peoples art is what’s really on edge for me. If you really just trying to practice poses and breaking up the different body parts, yeah, thats cool. But TRACING, TRACING. Like line for line on the hair, eyes, clothes.. and then just recoloring it. I use to do it a lot. Trace FNF sprites and recolor them. I wouldn’t post it anywhere though, I just did it for fun. “Tracing” so you can get better at drawing is good, but tracing is… eh..
idk, I recently saw a dude with hundreds of thousands of followers on instagram that self described as an 'art director' and he meant that he gives prompts to generate art with an AI tool and he was uploading 5-10 pieces of 'art' a day. I'd say he is the personification of the 'worst type of' anything in the Art Community.
@@Thousandsunnyss Ye man, I had to live with the cringe and now you do too
Please tell me the account name I have to know
Lol he bamboozled his followers doing that!🤣🤣
i hope the app bans these people, insult to real artists
@@AA-rr9ly all the apps are excusing literal plagiarism and it’s sad
I'm a webtoon creator and I use 3d models most of the time, trying to update weekly while also working on a portfolio (and a visual novel that will also be a part of the portfolio) is really exhausting so I would definitely go crazy without the models lmao
For real CSP asset store ftw
Thank you for making this I saw that first TikTok on a Facebook reel I had so much to say but then dropped it . Your video was absolutely amazing thanks again
I feel like as someone who's just getting started drawing again tracing should be fine. Especially when it comes to using reference; I trace over them to practice getting a layout of how that character is drawn. Especially when it comes to drawing Pokémon and Transformers since they can be very complex and complicated. But there's a difference in tracing reference work to get a feel for the character and tracing out of laziness. You'll never find your own style if you keep tracing. You'll use it as a crutch thus be exposed and driven off by the community at large for good reason. No one likes liars and cheats
Exactly what I said haha. Tracing is great for beginners, and can be a tool when drawing complex drawing or designs (like the transformers as you mentioned) where inherently the artist uses both his skill and proportions to create a drawing and slowly bring in the complex elements that may require tracing piece by piece.
@@MohammedAgbadi when i started drawing I traced from a how to draw book but instead of tracing all the lines I broke it down into building blocks to try to recreate without tracing. my art is still blah but at least i have the building blocks (even with my impatience to draw)
Yeah, agreed... but it's totally a different story when they post the said traced artwork, not credit where it’s due, pass it as theirs and take away all the credit.
@@ryuugaeisen8946 yeah that's true.
When I was younger I thought tracing others art and claiming it as mine was okay, soon enough I learned that it wasn’t okay but the tracing I did help shape my art skill and style. I’m against tracing others art and claiming it but using it in private can be helpful! (Just don’t post it or claim it)
🤝🤝🤝
didnt even know the word “tracing” tbh when i was little
@@ARCHIVED9610 yeah! Then I learned
I had an opposite experience as a child where I redrew a photo of some bird by eyeballing it very carefully, and my sister accused me of tracing it when really I had not. Ironically I think that gave me a bad taste in my mouth for tracing because I always felt a need to be credited for putting in the full effort to make my art without the crutch of tracing or anything else.
Honestly, that mindset was harmful too as it took me longer to feel okay about using references or using other tools thay could have helped me learn quicker.
@@aiiiia9971 Aw man I’m sorry, honestly people need to realize that using a references isn’t “cheating” or “tracing” it’s just a helpful way of learning 😭
i just remember something
one day i saw a drawing of a other student ( wasn't in my class ) on the wall of the art classroom
when i go to tell my teacher that the drawing say trace ( not kinding it was litteraly a gacha character )
he say : "Tracing is good" or something like that don't remember quite since it been like at the start of school and
english is not my first language but after he say that i didn't question it and didn't trace anything
For a traditional and digital artist like me, tracing is a part of my art process when digitalizing an artwork (since I usually draw sketches traditionally). So, when I want to digitalize a traditional art I made, I just take a pic of it and draw over it. Tracing over your own artwork is okay, especially when drawing is a just a hobby for you, but when you start drawing over someone else's artworks, that's where the problem starts. At some point you have to start working on improving your art process/style and doing less tracing. Do not be afraid to change certain aspects of your ideal art style because reaching a point where you are satisfied with your art style is not instant. It can be a slow/fast process depending on which artists you are and you can use tracing to help you improve faster or stagnate as an artist.
I find tracing to be extremely relaxing and I do it often but I never publish those works
i genuinely believe people who trace, they hate drawing but they love painting. I had a friend who was tracing and it was taking him hours upon hours and so much effort to finish a project. Of cource it wasn't an original, but his work was top notch.
I HATE drawing only when I plan on painting. I hate painting unless if its watercolor. If you even draw slightly too dark on watercolor paper, you cant erase it. I have to trace my own art to paint it. You cannot draw on watercolor paper unless if you want pencil marks under the painting, possibly muddying the watercolor colors. Its brutal.
I once saw someone who couldn't draw at all but was extremely talented at coloring and would colorize people's black&white pieces for fun so you might be right.
nothing is original
I don't mind tracing for quick anatomy learning, but MAN do I hate tracing every little thing, trace the pose, fine, but following the same line art, or not contributing your own art style into it. You cannot trace someone's art and call it your own, I don't care how much you change it. Don't get me started on realism, they say artists from centuries ago used to trace, that's wrong. They used grids and still looked at a REAL person
For hyperrealism you have to proyect a photo in a canvas so it can be required depending on the art style, or the old camera obscura method...
@@rofidel178 That's interesting, I remember using camera obscura in class, but what I'm talking about is them talking about tracing in the same breath as Da Vinci, saying he "basically" traced
@@loggingfire1 i guess it works as long as it's not someone else's work, it's a method, like painting from a photo, and it should be used as a tool, but that's it. It can work for practice as long as you're not reselling it and credit the og artist, or not posting it
@@rofidel178 yeah, I'm on the same page, I disagree with tracing someone else's work. Honestly, it would be more flattering if you reach out to the artist and ask them for tips and tricks, or what references THEY used
@@loggingfire1
Yea that's actually false. They used to trace, that's where the camera obscura came from. I honestly don't really consider tracing though. I think of it more as outlining. Painters and tattoo artists do this before putting down details.
Maaan, i absolutely agree with everything you've said. And your speedpaint in the background is truly amazing😢
Ive recently started to cut up photos of animals and paint over them, using the colours of the photo to recreate extinct animals. They are just in my personal "no one sees this" sketchbooks but they are pretty helpfull so far. Pretty different to tracing as such as it can be way too much
I agree with what most everyone is saying-tracing can be good for beginner's practice, but it crosses the line when it comes to posting since it's technically a copy of someone else's work. However, I still think there's some exceptions. For example, in the first video of the lady tracing and watercoloring actors, the point of lady's art is not the subject but the painting style. She's turning a realistic photo into a watercolored painting. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But training someone's original work is different.
For me, tracing helps me learn anatomy and different angles of drawing it. I have a hard time with proportions. Then I use that to dissect how the artist drew it and draw myself a mini guideline. Most of my drawings are front facing drawings of characters head so I sometimes use it to expand and be more dynamic.
ALSO,
LORD those shapes in your miguel artwork are so good omg
my only experience with tracing was in my pre-teens, me n my sister used to trace anime characters and chibis from several Christopher Hart books, mostly to study Manga styles. now, I study figure and anatomy in highschool, so when I use pinterest refs I just measure them. I'm also a sucker for dynamic poses so I'm not really attracted to the stiff, traced look
I learned to draw by tracing when I was 7. Drawing directly over those thick-lined coloring books. Did that for about two weeks. Then, the next step was drawing the same pictures without tracing. And to my delight, I was drawing. I could only draw what I saw. Imaginative drawing or drawing from life was non-existent. Fast forward 23 years and learning to draw again using the fundamentals. I can now draw without tracing. It's much better, imo, but tracing as a beginner is not cheating if that's where you start as a means to an end. I'm definitely against presenting a tracing as "yours" and not giving credit to the original artist or phoographer.
are we living the same life? lol I started off drawing a young age of 6 starting with tracing from coloring books too, then with 17 years of improving my art skills over time, i can draw without tracing like most of the time. But sometimes i use references and draw from there when im stuck on anatomy. I mostly do traditional art i have 4 sketchbooks filled with artwork over my many years of drawing. and sometimes digital art but aside from that, i agree with your statement.
I did the same exact things lol
Loving how you keep drawing men with DUMPTRUCKS
And I'm ALL HERE FOR IT
REAL
I’ve honestly been scared of tracing, even in private! 😅 I’m glad this video has taught me tracing is ok as long as I’m not taking credit! I will definitely try tracing out to learn proportions. Thank you :)
As a kid I used tracing as a way to build up muscle memory and to practice drawing straight lines, using it to learn and to figure out how to draw is fine if it’s not advertised as their own work, honestly stealing art isn’t worth it, you’ll get found out eventually and it’s easier to just practice your own style lol
I trace as a part of the studying references process, to break stuff into shapes
that sounds good! but do you practice how to draw the shapes without tracing later on after that? it might help a bit
@@MohammedAgbadiyeah, I usually draw without references and only use references for studies, since I learn what I have to draw from memory as most of the times I'm drawing for my comic, I find it saves time to learn the mechanics/anatomy of what I'm going to have to draw over and over
With the raise of AI, I have a hunch that tracing will become more prevalent, and tracing will easily fly under the radar. It's a match made in heaven for less skilled artists or even those with no art skill at all.
Your videos are bangers, glad I found your channel. Tracing is okay to start but it's going to hold you back in the long term.
For me its like training wheels. I have trouble visualizing when i first started and don't get me started with anatomy. Tracing helped me get some insights how form and proportions work. When i feel that i'm confident enough i slowly moved on to practicing freehand.
Tracing, among the uses for practice and beginning art, can also be a way to have a fun "coloring book" outline. You can experiment with colors on a form you didn't draw. Just don't pose it as all your own, because the linework is still a large part of an artpiece.
I am here for your drawings and your commentary 😊
I have only used tracing for anatomy purposes. I am not great at drawing shapes and use 3D models to trace over for sketching. I am now learning more how to use different shapes and different methods like the bean method for body torsos. And the loomis method for face shapes. I think thats fine. Its when its the exact same drawing and then just different colours to hide the fact that they traced others that I dislike.
I LOVE LISTENING TO YOUR VOICE ITS SO CALMING AND NICE😻😻😻
Generally, my process is to find 2-3 references with the pose (or part of the pose) and then make a super rough sketch. Then, I start refining, and if I notice things are looking wonky while doing that, I'll shrink down the reference to thumbnail size and trace the area I'm stuck on. I'll take that traced bit, size it back up (so it's nice and blurry), and put it behind my sketch and use it as a guideline. I find that helps me to avoid some of the stiffness that can come from heavily referencing or making a wire trace (I have no clue what the real word is for this, but it's like a stick figure with the joints marked) especially since I tend to not stick to realistic proportions.
Honestly, what's helped me the most with my art is not sharing it all of the time and doing style studies where I find one aspect of another artist that I like and try to figure out why the heck I like that bit so much. Then, I mimic it in my sketchbook, first directly copying, then playing art telephone with it by drawing it over and over without the OG reference so it blends with my own style. I've found this has helped me notice so many more anatomy quirks than directly tracing.
I love watching your vids for not only the perspectives you have but also the half naked men, they're kind of iconic and my favorite.
But yeah. As a mixed artist, I trace occasionally but I also don't really post my artwork online except to friends. I rarely take commissions, and when I do I have the prior education and experience to not need to trace things.
I think a lot of the people on tiktok that say tracing is their way of life or use it dishonestly, I think they're just at an immature stage and unfortunately there isn't a whole lot we can do about this. Its up to them to grow.
The lasso tool and liquify are my go to after tracing a 3d model, by moving things around and exaggerating them with liquify it makes them look a hell of a lot less stiff.
I love your art style - the linework is so nice and I definitely don't think it's stiff
The only time I ever “trace” is when I’m doing shape studies of character designs which I think is an okay way to do it! I use a thick red ballpoint brush to block in the core shapes of designs that I like so I can take away the original art and see the shapes alone, these will never be seen and are often deleted after a new days once I’ve done them! That way I can use similar shapes in designs without taking anything district from the original artist and it never comes off as something trying to mimic them and instead taking inspiration and reference c:
The only time tracing is good is when you are tracing your own art. For instance, you messed up the coloring but really liked the drawing that's when you trace
okay now that's a good one. although i wouldn't really consider that tracing..wait, you mean when you draw on paper and have to trace over it?
I would mostly draw on paper and take a picture of my art then trace it on digital also having more tools to use on digital and colors 🥲
@Mohammed Agbadi When I draw on paper (or digitally, doesn't really matter), but I mess up something, or I don't really like how something is going, I just take another paper and trace over the parts I like.
@egg Oh, I do that, too. Sometimes, the drawing just looks better digitally
@@eggdog0_0same
i remember growing up and tracing old anime style 'how to draw' pages when i was still new to fullbody proportions and understanding stylization. this had to be back in 2nd-3rd grade [ 11th grade now ]; i did it to make gifts for birthday buddies, and i remember having a ton of fun with learning curves and tracing the eyes lmao
overtime, it helped with not only my line confidence but with limb placement/movement as well! eventually kid me realized i wasn t going anywhere anymore though, and began drawing by hand again. but even with that small blip i felt the improvement and where i could continue to grow on my own, so i completely see how it could be so useful to beginner artists. tracing is absolutely a sharp tool in the shed, but should be used with caution; you can hurt yourself and hurt others with it 😅
I legit could listen to you talk about anything all day … like I have no idea about anything concerning art but I have binge watched your videos for like 3 hours now 🤯🤯🤯
hahah that sounds comforting! I'm glad i could keep you company for that long 😄
Tracing is a tool for learning, not a crutch you can pass off as your own work entirely and monetise and people need to learn to credit references.. thats just my perspective and opinion
exactly. i feel like a lot of people fail to realize it's just a tool and slowly start to depend on it a little too much, instead of using it when it becomes an absolute necessity
@@MohammedAgbadi exactly, like people don't seem to understand studying an artist's style isn't just about doing a 1 to 1 tracing but to be able to draw it without tracing by looking at it, dissecting the drawings aspects and replicating free hand to understand it. You don't learn from just tracing things, your growth is stagnant. You can't create unique pieces and bend boundaries of anatomy..
i think tracing is okay if you use it to practice and learning anatomy, for exaple, or when youre meeting deadline, or youre comic artist, or cant get pose right for long time. otherwise i think its bad, because it doesnt make you learn anything if youre relying on it always. and its what i see on tiktok commonly, that people are tracing poses just because they dont know how to draw them, instead of trying to learn. in my expierience with tracing, i couldnt draw any pose without tracing because i wasnt learning anything from it, my art looked very stiff, but when i started learning anatomy and using tracing to break pose to shapes and then drawing it myself, made my art better and not stiff. plus i could draw lots for poses from my mind
Love the way you drew Miguel O’Hara! He’s my favourite spider-man and I love seeing fanart of him, gave me a good laugh while also being very impressive.
I love the double lines in your drawing and Miguel
A few years ago i traced more often but solely for the structure. I had this one tiktok post i made where i was tracing a screenshot from a video game trailer because at the time i struggled to eyeball structure. So i traced the image and included it in my time lapse. Someone saw this and said because i traced for the structure i was by default a bad artist. I happen to know that this is not true. After i traced i modified things and even completely changed the style to fit what i drew at the time. It just confuses me why people see this situation and decide they have to try and make me feel bad for the way i draw. Now if i trace for a drawing and i record it for a tik tok i start at my complete sketch or lineart rather than at the stage that i would be tracing just avoid people needing to be jerks about the small portion i traced for
I’ve always seen tracing POSES as an alright thing, especially when just making a rough armature sketch for the anatomy and proportion. It makes it a lot easier and I tend to get discouraged when I can’t get a dynamic pose for a character of mine, and it ends up looking bad. Tracing other peoples’ art is a big nope from me, but I personally think tracing stock images of people in different poses/situations is alright, especially if your art is stylized and you’re not copying directly.
Hell, I barely consider it tracing when I’m just blocking out shapes. To a degree it’s the same, but it leaves wiggle room for creativity and stylization which is important to me. I’m still working on breaking free from this and getting more comfortable with fullbody poses by eye of course, but sometimes it’s nice to sit back and draw without worrying about focusing on every detail. I do it as a hobby, so I guess it’s not as high-stakes
man the reason i started drawing really good is when i started trying to trace a bit of the head and the body, and i started to change it to referencing. It really helped me to have the motivate to draw when i started tracing a bit of the body and the head
Man, I love the guided access function on the Ipad for tracing. I use it at conventions for commissions as I am mainly a digital artist. I do my sketches on my ipad, trace the sketch onto the paper/into the conhon and refine/finish it there. It just saves so much time and spares the paper from getting erased to death :'D
In my opinion if it is for anatomy training purposes, It's fine, but other than that I feel like It's cheating. Observation is also a skill that an artist should have and develop. It feels to me like people who trace want to be good artists but not put the work for it.
As a person who graduated from art school, I can say that it's hard for me to create a pose in my mind. I draw on paper and sometimes I trace poses from photos on pinterest, bcs it helps me not make anatomy mistakes
I didn’t graduate from art school but i did do art from grade 9-12 and tracing real life photos helped me with anatomy bc I’d always draw something too wide or too far or too close or too short or long and it made everything look weird. But I’d never trace over someone else’s artwork and say it’s mine even tracing over a WEBTOON panel makes me feel guilty. Not being able to draw anatomy for a painting with a ref photo makes me feel guilty(the piece is usually scaled up so it get anatomy wrong)
As a person who didn't graduate from art school, I learned how to draw proper anatomical structures by looking at them. :|
I love your lineart technique!!! tryna get like you 😭
as an artist it can rlly help as a beginner tracing over bases to understand it helped me a lot.
I drew a bit as a kid, and at a point I was starting to get real serious about it. I drew a lot, and most of the drawing were tracing. Some drawing were original, but were really lacking. So I tried to improve bit by bit. After a while I stopped drawing because a lot of people kept telling that tracing wasn't drawing. I lost all motivation and stopped drawing completely. Now I don't like drawing anymore.
Its a good way to start but then u shoukd leave it as u improve , you will be amazed by how capable you yorself CAN DRAW withiut tracing. I am now can sketch less than a minute!
skill issue
I don’t mean to be mean, truly….but I did laugh at this a bit. Babe, you could have just, idk, studied the shapes instead of tracing it? No need to give up on art completely! 😆Tracing sometimes does help (learning shapes, or meeting a deadline) but overall, studying the line work, angles, and shapes will help you retain the information overall. I think what might’ve happened was that people were impressed by what you did, until you said you traced it and then they got disappointed?? by the aspect that it wasn’t something you actually worked hard on. As you said, MOST of the drawings were traced. You should try getting back into art. Truly, you can surprise yourself when you just take the time to study what it is you want to draw instead of tracing. ❤
I started my art journey by tracing art, knowing it was wrong and never dared to post it or claim it as my own. And it made me learn so much, fast skipping to the point where I had some solid bases of anatomy and from there I started doing my own. So I consider it something as a tool for artists, but the use of it is what really makes the difference
i only started getting into art recently (literally got a drawing tablet last week and started to just mess around for the 1st couple days) and have been looking up tutorials, tips, references, etc. obviously i still don't know the 1st thing about anything when it comes to bringing ideas to paper (or screen, i guess). but i recognized the importance of certain things; and when i say certain things, i mean EVERYTHING! proportions, anatomy, scetching, coloring, shadows and an endless list of literally everything. anyways, i found an artist whose art i loved and started tracing with the following plan:
1) trace the entire piece
2) trace it again but make changes in places and ways how i'd like to draw once i get good. assuming i'll fail at all of this, make mental notes why it failed. if i can't identify it come back at another time
3) draw the original again but only from reference, instead of tracing it
4) step 2 but reference instead of trace again
5) draw a similar piece from imagination
6) try to identify parts i'm most satisfied with and actually invest in learning how to improve at it. for example, general anatomy looks terrible but eyes & hair aren't too bad. ignore the anatomy for now and focus on solidifying eyes and hair.
when i've worked through this with a couple artworks, in my mind, i should have a foundation solid enough that i'll be able to draw things from imagination and identify the most egregious problems without having to rely on other's works and be able to focus on improving those skills.
now, i have a couple questions about this.
is this a good or bad idea?
if good, are there some alterations the steps that could improve it?
i have a limited amount of time but are there any other things i should focus on while also doing this?
i was thinking about waiting to step 5 before sharing it all online as an example of what i did, my progress and if/how it worked or didn't work and what i learned in the process. i'd obviously give credit to the original artist but is there anything else i should be paying attention to when doing this? alternatively, should i just not do this at all, since it's such a hot topic?
As an artist who still haven't mastered anatomy, I trace some part of my reference but sometimes I also do a breakdown of the reference into blocks/pieces, it really helps me to learn how to draw bodies
i started my art journey as a kid by tracing over anime lol but now i make my own art that i dont trace and im proud of :D
Kinda off topic but I'm honestly so tired of seeing all of my favorite artists getting called "problematic" every single weeks, that word pissed me off so much. It's sad that few of them got hated so bad on Tiktok (always this stupid ugly app) they have to delete they account and never return. It's not that hard if you can just block them and minding your goddamn business instead of slandering them too many times in a row. Absolutely pathetic and annoying. (My English kinda ass but at least I try my best)
I used to trace a lot when I was younger, and to some extent, I think it helped me. I was really bad at art as a kid, but I loved to draw. And since I was taught shame at a young age, I was never confident in my drawings. So, I would trace some speed paint art on a piece of paper, and it made me feel accomplished. Now, I think my art has greatly improved as an adult. Do I think it was because I traced? Not entirely, but I think tracing helped me understand the layout of body shapes and how to even out my art. I’m still learning and developing my art style though.
I think one of the best videos I ever saw about tracing was Laovaan's video about using 3d models from a few years ago. Even when tracing 3d models (which is perfectly ethical), you still can't trace the pose exactly. To prevent it from being stiff, you need to create a gesture over the 3d model so that you can still create the pose in your style.
Personally I think if you’re a beginner artist or you just want to try something new, tracing is a great way to learn about the art style you want. As long as u don’t claim it as a completely original piece. 👍
1:10 no not the o'hara cake 😂
lmaoooooooooo i went mild on this one hahahah
Back than I used tracing to get the movement in, in a sence of drawing one line instead of many little lines. Today I use it to get full body proportions right, than just very losely and use it as learning base.. basically what you descripe. Sometimes I use my traditoinal sketches and work over them while useing a 3D model for exmaple as reference or overlaying it to see what could be better.
As a beginning artist with out a drawing table and a PC that needs a Internet adapter that’s coming in the week I use reference photos when making my own characters for game ideas I hope to make into full fledged 3d models
I used to be a tracer and traced art because I thought that was a good thing back in 2010's. However, I stopped during those time since I felt ashamed and wasn't really an artist. So I decided to became an artist by learning and tracing my own art or self when it comes to anatomy since I rather not repeat history of being a tracer.
i used to trace a lot back then - did it help? no. it made it very difficult for me to figure out my own artstyle, plus made it extremely hard to figure out right anatomy and proportions. im glad im out of that phase, and i wish new artist would realize that too. yalls art is amazing the way it is! i know everyone says "keep practicing" and i know it gets annoying, but its the truth. all the talented artists have been drawing for years now!! and if you keep practicing you will eventually get on their level as well :) good luck!
I have many reference pictures for poses I find interesting, I open them in the same layer and put them on the side while I break down the shapes to make the proportions fit to my own arstyle, or trace the "skeleton" likes over it and then continue myself from that point on, the things I do end up tracing are sometimes very intricate objects or THAT ONE HAND THAT DOESN'T WANT TO COME OUT RIGHT
the art in the background you’re making is 🔥
I have traced poses before to understand anatomy better. My biggest struggle is getting head size correct but I never post them. I'll use the trace overs as reference for head size since it's easier for me to get proper proportions if it's somewhat in my style.
Fun fact: There are 647 definitions of the word run.
Good one good one! Tell me another one!!
@@MohammedAgbadi The letter J is the last letter to be added to the alphabet.
I’ve been trying to learn how to draw by tracing. I never upload online or anything or share it with anyone, but it has helped me a lot. I even trace photos of myself more often than not.
Tbh i use tracing for specific poses (especially poses im having difficulty with). But i use poses (or if I'm having difficulty visualing some shading&lightning or how some clothes will fall in specific poses) from photos that are free for use, myself, or 3D models.
I then usually modify to fit more my style in the 2nd cleaned up draft. The 1st draft is a direct blocking of shapes to get a simplified image and I usually have the 2nd draft directly made on top or have the 1st off the side to review.
I saw a video title where an artist was tracing over AI art? Like damn not only are u tracing but u are copying the other team🤣
lmaooo wtfffff
@@MohammedAgbadi thank u
My sister used to do that back when she was like 7 lol, it actually helped her a lot to make her own drawing style. Now she's actually amazing (no she no longer does tracing)
I can understand people not liking others copying x or y art for monetary reasons, but there's still merit on this type of drawing for starters. The "art community" just sounds like a bunch of gatekeeping twats most of the time frfr.
as i started of drawings with learning how to draw faces from tutorials on yt, i have never considered tracing in my entire 4 years of drawing. from the early practices of tutorials i got the muscle memory to draw faces in every angle and any expression i want so until i saw this video, i never rlly understood tracing that much considering i've been drawing for more than 4 years now lol
I am starting my art journey, and to understand better face proportion and guide lines i look for a real human reference picture on internet, then make the circle and guidelines on top of the picture of the face (digitally) and then i follow the guidelines and the sketch while i draw in traditional way 😢 i dont know if thats like a bad thing to do, but its been truly helpful to make me simplify shapes and it improve my understanding
I always tell beginners to start off tracing to learn basic shapes and how artists create their works but you should never go beyond using it for studies. You can get in actual legal trouble, especially with Japanese IPs, if they catch you trying to sell something you traced from their IP
idk I use tracing for things I really have difficulty with. I use it to help me with my weaknesses
example: I have trouble drawing a nose and trace the forms of it, try drawing it and copy paste the tracing on my drawing to see where I could better my skill.
IMO tracing should be used as a tool to check your proportions!! I used to trace only and that weakened my sketching while I was faster when it came to rendering. Now I use it as a tool to check if my proportions need fixing (put sketch on the go pic)
The point is learning. Tracing could help people study and feel how to do things the way they desire. That can encompass basically anything, incoherent shapes to real poses to others art. But to post those for others to see regardless of appropriate credit ain't it. But it can work in case, again, if you're in doubt of your study and learning (w/credit). That's sort of it. Otherwise tracing things permitted to be traced or just public domain stuff to save time could make sense, though it may not help your skills if you're in a hurry, but it's not bad either.
I used to trace, got over it then starting thinking of my own poses, then got inspired in some poses, then started dressing up in clothes that I'm going to draw and take pictures of myself to find the right pose I wanna do, it really help especially with anatomy
My rule is:
If it is someone else’s art, DONT TRACE IT
If you do trace a photo PUT A DISCLAIMER!
I trace photos to get proportions and shapes correct, but I never post. And if I do I say I do.
As someone who has traced in the past and still does for practice, I think it’s perfectly fine to trace as long as you never claim it as your own. When I was very young and stupid I traced and put it online without credit. I regret that decision even though the post was taken down a few minutes later because I realized my mistake. Now I only trace for practice and all of my art pieces never use traced material. I made a stupid decision as a kid and had to live with the consequences so never trace and claim it as your own, you don’t wanna experience the stuff I did.
I love Miguel in your art style so much 🩷🩷
I'm definitely listening to this while I'm drawing and not looking at the speedpaint/draw
Let's be honest :
Ok, tracing can help you learning or drawing quicker.
But really, drawing isn't only about the final result, if you're unable to draw correct anatomy or proportions, and you use tracing as a way to hide it, then your drawing is a fraude and don't represent your actual capacities
I personally enjoy a drawing because of the hard work behind it and the skills of the artist. (And I mostly love the artist itself, not only a piece)
Like, if you're tracing for an artwork, it will look good, ok nice, but it does not mean you as a person are a good artist.
(Sorry if I made some mistakes, english isn't my native language)
I think at the end of the day , what upsets most people about tracing is laziness (?)
While tracing is a step above something like AI generation ,both are seen as lazy because they forgo the learning process.
Tracing is like getting a fish instead of learning to fish.
So I think tracing is only a problem if it's used as a crutch long enough to reasonably ask ,is the artist trying to "avoid learning" said subject matter?
I think it's healthy to trace and post it as original work but every time an artist traces ,what should happen on the side is a bunch of deconstruction and learning, the idea being " I shouldn't have to trace this next time".
on the other hand ,For career artists -- understandable have a nice day, get that bread.
Well said
Double standards? Lol.
@@fatuusdottore More like nuance -- its not a black and white issue :Y
The reason why I dont see it as a problem for career artists ( as in artists who work for companies) is that there are deadlines involved and its not ideas that need to come from ones personal experiences and tastes.
Now , there are jobs where tracing would be bad faith -- such as a concept artist or character designer --
But the vast majority of jobs in the art field are usually individuals working in styles outside of their own & trying to hit those deadlines -- they needn't be passionate about the work their doing .
An example of "tracing" or rotoscoping would be a lot of the animations in Street fighter third strike .
@@ji_ji_ Yea concept artists would consider tracing as wasting time, when you can just crop whatever you like and photobash your way to victory. It's just a visualization of an idea. It's so far from the end product that it doesn't matter how you create the first versions.
The only use I give it is for saving time, but I do it with stock images or pictures and drawings of my own, and even then I try to give it my own style. For example when I'm under pressure and I just can't seem to draw the face of that one character I might trace a previous panel. But I avoid it for the most part
Sometimes I’ll trace my reference image before I do the sketch if I’m having trouble with anatomy or something but I keep what I traced as just a reference