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
@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.
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
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
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
@@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
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.
In my personal opinion , tracing poses arent really bad, in fact its good. We all have no time to invest learning and making our brain remembers the images. So tracing poses arent nything bad. Whoever told u that it is bad probably just hate Tracing in general.
I'm an amateur who has taken a few classes. For the final project I opted to do a paint value study, but I wanted it to be something I liked looking at. I digitally traced and gridded a photo of the death mask of Naram-Sin, then transposed it to canvas by hand, then recreated the image in acrylic. It's still on my wall, I love looking at it.
@@Kyuubey0406 or give credit maybe admit it actually and credit the person but also ask perm first to post that video if credits aren’t enough but yeah also don’t post too if that person is sensitive of seeing people trace there style or just copying
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
same!! same!!! i draw characters often with really specifically shaped heads (Pure vessel from hk mainly) and i like to trace my previous drawing of the head so i can get a base of the shape i can build off. helps a lot 😅
I bought Designdoll and trace it from the poses I've made, but I always try to make it more fluid and adding proper body fat to make it more organic and less stiff, if that helps
I second this! I've been relearning how to draw these last couple of years (don't ask why I'm relearning, it's a long story), and sometimes, it's nice to go back to a very old piece and redo it. It helps me learn from my own mistakes, and I improve from it. As you said, tracing is fine for practice, but I think the issue is that people are posting their traced work online. I'm a storyteller, and with so many characters, it can take too much time to conceptualize each character individually by constantly having to redraw bodies (when, in concept, you're really supposed to be getting a feel for the character, not make a full-on art piece). But because I keep these concepts and references to myself for my own personal usage, it's not harmful in any way. Also, I think people focus on the negative connotation of the word "cheat", because tracing is cheating, but it's more of a hack (for early learning). Nothing wrong with a quick cheat to boost a private portfolio of things that belong only to yourself, but gloating about unoriginality to other people is where it becomes an issue. Young artists need to stop worrying about clout...
@@peonyflowerkingAs someone who hated pics of myself, doing them on my comfortable home with my own camera, by myself, and repeating them until I get one I can use for my work has been quite therapeutical and made me a lot more confident, which is good because I can now do a lot more poses and get experimental without feeling ashamed. Is something only I can see anyway, nobody can judge me for it.
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.
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.
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
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".
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.
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.
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 :)
@@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.
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
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.
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..
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
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.
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
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)
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
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 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
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Do you think its okay to trace a real person as reference, like just drawing the basic outline and doing everything else yourself like the shading and colouring. Every time i do it i feel insanely guilty but i know that i am able to draw the same thing almost exactly the same but more time would be needed to complete it obv
@mewo3426 I think it's great practice. I've looked at pictures and redrawn them for poses before. Pose references is okay in my book, even when it comes to tracing. I've traced pictures of myself to get certain poses for my original art. It's all part of learning anatomy in my opinion
@@alexishua_orv Definitely it's ok, just make sure to add to your own style for it. I know someone who loves to use heavy line work, so when she traces, she'll make little changes and also emphasize the line shapes.
true , ive been tracing throughout middle school and tbh it lowkey made my drawing stiff 😭 😭 , but i think its diff for everyone tho, the only thing that rlly rlly helped me improve is following bargue
@@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
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.
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.
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’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
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:
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.
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 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
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
@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.
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
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..
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)
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
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!
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. ❤
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
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.
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
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.
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'm talking about the video at 10:03. I've already know who that artist is (the South Park drawing). Most people hate them cuz they think they drew borderline 18+ of South Park characters (which few of them were minors). And I'm gonna say, I don't see anything nasty about it nor like nudes, penises and assholes. Yet I do understand people were mad at the very old drawing back in 2018 or smth of a character getting cut off they dick but like why tf do yall even care? Now recently the artist still normally drawing but sfw, still some cool edgy arts with small blood in it and yet again these chronically online whining babies on Twitter still pressed on the quote tweet tf out of it.
I dont mind ppl tracing. When I started digital art I traced a LOT. I do however have a problem with people tracing and claiming that they made it themselves.
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.
I use tracing in these certain scenarios only 1. Tracing over my own art, I was working on a series before and my art style is a bit more complicated so sometimes if a character had to had there pose repeated I would trace over their old art 2. When learning a new art style, I’m learning a new art style and it’s complicated so I use the 3D posing apps to help me learn and trace off of that
i did a qualification in art (gcse) and my teacher always said ‘it’s completely fine to trace over photos of people to get proportions BUT tracing art is not ok!’
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.
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 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!
Tracing can be pretty useful. 🙌 As a graphic designer, I can confirm that we trace all the time. *HOWEVER!!* We make sure to sufficiently modify the things we trace over to make them our own. The references serve as skeletons. Even in my non-graphic design illustrations I'll trace certain elements and modify them to fit the composition. Typically I do this with frames/border elements and accessories such as weapons. Basically I take existing things and transform them, adding to and subtracting from them until they're new items. 🙂.
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)
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 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.
@@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.
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 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.
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
As a former tracer myself, my opinion is that tracing is cheating. It's like getting a sheet with all the correct answers in a math test. Sure, you got the right answers, but you have no idea how you got there. You're mindlessly copying instead of learning how to draw, just like cheating a math test. You can use reference, but reference and tracing are two different things because when you use reference it can be useful for you to know how you draw a certain pose or whatever. You learn the process instead of copying the end result. You can learn a lot with reference, but you learn nothing with tracing.
@@FungfettiMy friend ridiculed my art (I draw traditionally) and she said she could draw way better than me even if all she can draw is in a anime art style. I asked her to show me a few of her favorite art pieces. All of them were traced. How do I know this? I used to trace art as well and so I know how traced art looks. I even say the photos she traced in her camera roll. So basically my ‘friend’ said she could draw way better than me while literally tracing art line by line. If you do this tracing is cheating. But if you trace to learn, I guess thats fine but just don’t trace line by line.
@@inelegantsam like i personally dont have a choice but to draw over every line of the body but keep the clothes, rendering, face, hair, all my own style, but if you’re drawing over actual art its icky
i agree, i never actually saw tracing as helpful in any way. "muscle memory" i don't get how that works if you're going to be drawing different things and different angles or poses.
Tracing can be helpful if you are working to break down things via your own method or through the method of others. It also helps saves time but you will recognize that to fly you must walk and practice makes perfect if you also focus on the other skills without tracing.
Whenever I start to lose faith in artists because they justify the weirdest things I’m so happy you make a video about it. I had so many artists recently weirdly try justifying tracing out of the blue. While I get that it isn’t a black and white situation I hate how artists deem any way you make art morally correct because honestly at that point I can’t see how it is much different to generated images anymore
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 🤯🤯🤯
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)
My take on tracing: Tracing someone else’s art and claiming it as your own is NOT okay. Using stock images, pictures that you took, and other “posing” pictures to learn poses and get used to drawing bodies is okay. Tracing over your own art is also okay. Like you said- tracing is a handy tool, but should not be depended on. Great video.
When I was a itty bitty beginner I traced the poses of pictures I found really nice. They might have came out bad but I learned from it. My opinion it’s not bad to trace if it helps you on your journey like anatomy or helping you find out the mistakes you made. But if you trace to exploit the OG artist’s art style just because you find it cool and you want it is a big *Nope.* I still look at how people pose in pictures to get a feel on how my drawing should look, but that’s because the only pose I can come up with is a T-pose or a stiff stick
"tracing purist" nice way to dress up stealing other people's work without crediting it and claiming it as your own lol. i've seen artists drop from getting wild praise to mocked and laughed at because it came out that they were posting traced art without admitting it.
There was this one time when I was a kid, I was tracing some pikachu drawings I saw on the internet(I was doing it for scrapbooking) and my older sibling saw me doing that and now in more recent time when they were looking through my sketchbook, they asked me if I traced it, I said no. It made me sad because she kinda doubted my skill assuming i trace a lot just from seeing me the one time I traced pikachu. But aye now, misunderstanding clear and my art has improved a lot over the years.
I wish I had traced artwork MORE. Back when I was in my early teens I tried to become an animation artist. So I tried to practice and practice for nearly 10 years, without seeing any real improvement, despite trying to do so for the longest time. I vehemently refused to trace art, because I always thought I was above that. So I always tried to draw freehand, take art classes, follow tutorials, and try to draw action poses and do better expressions, but I always ran into two problems. I could NEVER get the hang of body proportions, I could never get the hang of dynamic poses, and I could never get the hang of pseudo-3D character volume (all my character drawings always seemed to feel flat, one-dimensional and steamrolled with no sense of depth or volume with boring poses). I lacked fundamentals and I could NOT get the hang of somehow replicating what I saw in other artists no matter how much I studied them. For 10 more years I only saw minimal improvement to the point where after 20 years, and by the time I was approaching my early 30's, I still drew like a 16 year old kid. Looking back on it now, I never grasped fundamentals and I could never grasp depth, volume or expressive posing. I always thought I was too good for tracing. But now I feel as if I had TRACED more examples of all the things that I never could quite "grasp" the techniques on, I would have gotten more used to them, and thus been able to use tracing like training wheels on a bike before I rode it myself. But because I shunned training wheels for 20 years, I never improved and never got better and eventually I just quit, having been burned out and feeling too old to accomplish my dreams anymore. So if you won't trace to learn, because you think it's cheating, take it from me.... you're probably just cheating yourself. Learn to walk before you try to run. If you copy how other people walk, you can learn to run on your own. Don't be like me, who learned to do neither.
From my standpoint, as long as a ton of other great details are played and creativity is there then it should be fine. Concept artist working under deadlines trace a fuck load. Tracing is going to be needed eventually
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'm a young artist, and I use tracing as a way to practice. It's helped me improve a lot at drawing poses, and I recommend tracing for beginner artists!
i actually used to trace my art for a short period of time. and then i just stopped, and its a good thing i stopped. because my art would've never looked like how it does today. . . also i feel like tracing could be a good way for artists who are trying to get better at drawing, to get better at drawing, and finding their own artstyle to draw in (kinda), but its bad if the person tracing the art clams the traced version of someones art as their own. so i would say trace if you want to, but just keep the traced art to yourself and dont post it anywhere, because tracing and posting the traced art, will give you a lot of hate, and it might make you not want to draw.
the person tracing the southpark artwork was really being too perfectionist over that one NAIL. that's one reason stuff ends up looking stiff sometimes, is over correcting natural mistakes
*_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$$$!!☝️
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
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.)
@@rqincandy_UI 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
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.
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.
In my personal opinion , tracing poses arent really bad, in fact its good. We all have no time to invest learning and making our brain remembers the images. So tracing poses arent nything bad. Whoever told u that it is bad probably just hate Tracing in general.
I think tracing is good for practice, however you shouldn’t post it.
I'm an amateur who has taken a few classes. For the final project I opted to do a paint value study, but I wanted it to be something I liked looking at. I digitally traced and gridded a photo of the death mask of Naram-Sin, then transposed it to canvas by hand, then recreated the image in acrylic.
It's still on my wall, I love looking at it.
@@Kyuubey0406 or give credit maybe admit it actually and credit the person but also ask perm first to post that video if credits aren’t enough but yeah also don’t post too if that person is sensitive of seeing people trace there style or just copying
@@Kyuubey0406If it's a pose who actually cares
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
same!! same!!! i draw characters often with really specifically shaped heads (Pure vessel from hk mainly) and i like to trace my previous drawing of the head so i can get a base of the shape i can build off. helps a lot 😅
I bought Designdoll and trace it from the poses I've made, but I always try to make it more fluid and adding proper body fat to make it more organic and less stiff, if that helps
I second this! I've been relearning how to draw these last couple of years (don't ask why I'm relearning, it's a long story), and sometimes, it's nice to go back to a very old piece and redo it. It helps me learn from my own mistakes, and I improve from it.
As you said, tracing is fine for practice, but I think the issue is that people are posting their traced work online. I'm a storyteller, and with so many characters, it can take too much time to conceptualize each character individually by constantly having to redraw bodies (when, in concept, you're really supposed to be getting a feel for the character, not make a full-on art piece). But because I keep these concepts and references to myself for my own personal usage, it's not harmful in any way.
Also, I think people focus on the negative connotation of the word "cheat", because tracing is cheating, but it's more of a hack (for early learning). Nothing wrong with a quick cheat to boost a private portfolio of things that belong only to yourself, but gloating about unoriginality to other people is where it becomes an issue. Young artists need to stop worrying about clout...
Honestly I wish I could use my own photos but I don't like picture of myself so stock images get my calling or Pinterest being my hero for the day.
@@peonyflowerkingAs someone who hated pics of myself, doing them on my comfortable home with my own camera, by myself, and repeating them until I get one I can use for my work has been quite therapeutical and made me a lot more confident, which is good because I can now do a lot more poses and get experimental without feeling ashamed. Is something only I can see anyway, nobody can judge me for it.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
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 :)
Frrr, I have no idea why the thought of tracing scares me. But I’ll definitely try it too.
drawing scares me in general.
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.
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
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.
Mohammed, I missed your commentary on you drawing art so much 💙💙💙💙✨✨ you drew Miguel so well!
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..
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
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
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
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
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 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.
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
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.
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.
I find tracing to be extremely relaxing and I do it often but I never publish those works
Loving how you keep drawing men with DUMPTRUCKS
And I'm ALL HERE FOR IT
REAL
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
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.
Do you think its okay to trace a real person as reference, like just drawing the basic outline and doing everything else yourself like the shading and colouring. Every time i do it i feel insanely guilty but i know that i am able to draw the same thing almost exactly the same but more time would be needed to complete it obv
@mewo3426 I think it's great practice. I've looked at pictures and redrawn them for poses before. Pose references is okay in my book, even when it comes to tracing. I've traced pictures of myself to get certain poses for my original art. It's all part of learning anatomy in my opinion
@@alexishua_orv Definitely it's ok, just make sure to add to your own style for it. I know someone who loves to use heavy line work, so when she traces, she'll make little changes and also emphasize the line shapes.
true , ive been tracing throughout middle school and tbh it lowkey made my drawing stiff 😭 😭 , but i think its diff for everyone tho, the only thing that rlly rlly helped me improve is following bargue
@@alexishua_orvyes!! I HAVE to because I'm disabled and can't do anatomy because of my disability so it's completely VALID!!
as an artist it can rlly help as a beginner tracing over bases to understand it helped me a lot.
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
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.
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.
ALSO,
LORD those shapes in your miguel artwork are so good omg
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’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
Your voice is so pleasant & soothing.
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:
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.
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 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
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
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
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 love Miguel in your art style so much 🩷🩷
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 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
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
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. ❤
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
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.
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.
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
this video is really cool and everything but all i could think about was miguel being cheeked up in the background💀💀
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 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.
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'm talking about the video at 10:03. I've already know who that artist is (the South Park drawing). Most people hate them cuz they think they drew borderline 18+ of South Park characters (which few of them were minors). And I'm gonna say, I don't see anything nasty about it nor like nudes, penises and assholes. Yet I do understand people were mad at the very old drawing back in 2018 or smth of a character getting cut off they dick but like why tf do yall even care? Now recently the artist still normally drawing but sfw, still some cool edgy arts with small blood in it and yet again these chronically online whining babies on Twitter still pressed on the quote tweet tf out of it.
Your English is totally fine btw 👍
I wouldn't be an artist if I hadn't traced official sonic x character art when I was 11.
I dont mind ppl tracing. When I started digital art I traced a LOT. I do however have a problem with people tracing and claiming that they made it themselves.
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.
on my start i used some sort of tracing to draw anatomy properly, especially for fingers
1:10 no not the o'hara cake 😂
lmaoooooooooo i went mild on this one hahahah
I use tracing in these certain scenarios only
1. Tracing over my own art, I was working on a series before and my art style is a bit more complicated so sometimes if a character had to had there pose repeated I would trace over their old art
2. When learning a new art style, I’m learning a new art style and it’s complicated so I use the 3D posing apps to help me learn and trace off of that
i did a qualification in art (gcse) and my teacher always said ‘it’s completely fine to trace over photos of people to get proportions BUT tracing art is not ok!’
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.
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 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!
Tracing can be pretty useful. 🙌
As a graphic designer, I can confirm that we trace all the time. *HOWEVER!!* We make sure to sufficiently modify the things we trace over to make them our own. The references serve as skeletons.
Even in my non-graphic design illustrations I'll trace certain elements and modify them to fit the composition. Typically I do this with frames/border elements and accessories such as weapons.
Basically I take existing things and transform them, adding to and subtracting from them until they're new items. 🙂.
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)
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.
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.
Maaan, i absolutely agree with everything you've said. And your speedpaint in the background is truly amazing😢
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.
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 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.
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
As a former tracer myself, my opinion is that tracing is cheating. It's like getting a sheet with all the correct answers in a math test. Sure, you got the right answers, but you have no idea how you got there. You're mindlessly copying instead of learning how to draw, just like cheating a math test. You can use reference, but reference and tracing are two different things because when you use reference it can be useful for you to know how you draw a certain pose or whatever. You learn the process instead of copying the end result. You can learn a lot with reference, but you learn nothing with tracing.
Tracing poses is valid but tracing actual art and claiming it as your own is not^^
@@FungfettiMy friend ridiculed my art (I draw traditionally) and she said she could draw way better than me even if all she can draw is in a anime art style. I asked her to show me a few of her favorite art pieces. All of them were traced. How do I know this?
I used to trace art as well and so I know how traced art looks. I even say the photos she traced in her camera roll. So basically my ‘friend’ said she could draw way better than me while literally tracing art line by line.
If you do this tracing is cheating. But if you trace to learn, I guess thats fine but just don’t trace line by line.
@@inelegantsam like i personally dont have a choice but to draw over every line of the body but keep the clothes, rendering, face, hair, all my own style, but if you’re drawing over actual art its icky
@@Fungfetti i agree
i agree, i never actually saw tracing as helpful in any way. "muscle memory" i don't get how that works if you're going to be drawing different things and different angles or poses.
Tracing can be helpful if you are working to break down things via your own method or through the method of others.
It also helps saves time but you will recognize that to fly you must walk and practice makes perfect if you also focus on the other skills without tracing.
Whenever I start to lose faith in artists because they justify the weirdest things I’m so happy you make a video about it.
I had so many artists recently weirdly try justifying tracing out of the blue. While I get that it isn’t a black and white situation I hate how artists deem any way you make art morally correct because honestly at that point I can’t see how it is much different to generated images anymore
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 😄
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)
My take on tracing:
Tracing someone else’s art and claiming it as your own is NOT okay.
Using stock images, pictures that you took, and other “posing” pictures to learn poses and get used to drawing bodies is okay.
Tracing over your own art is also okay.
Like you said- tracing is a handy tool, but should not be depended on. Great video.
Here are the WORST art communities in my opinion!
3. AI art
2. Traced art
1. NSFW art
Why nsfw art?
whoopssssss!
@@RACOONAFIED Why complain?
@@SonicCity1985 I'm just asking why nsfw is the worst part, I'm not complaining it's just that I don't hear that often 😅
@@RACOONAFIED well you should hear that more often + it’s cringe
When I was a itty bitty beginner I traced the poses of pictures I found really nice. They might have came out bad but I learned from it. My opinion it’s not bad to trace if it helps you on your journey like anatomy or helping you find out the mistakes you made. But if you trace to exploit the OG artist’s art style just because you find it cool and you want it is a big *Nope.* I still look at how people pose in pictures to get a feel on how my drawing should look, but that’s because the only pose I can come up with is a T-pose or a stiff stick
Being a tracing purist gets you nowhere. No one cares if you traced: they care if what you made looks good.
people care, if you don't disclose your work is traced, you lose credibility as an "artist"
"tracing purist" nice way to dress up stealing other people's work without crediting it and claiming it as your own lol. i've seen artists drop from getting wild praise to mocked and laughed at because it came out that they were posting traced art without admitting it.
There was this one time when I was a kid, I was tracing some pikachu drawings I saw on the internet(I was doing it for scrapbooking) and my older sibling saw me doing that and now in more recent time when they were looking through my sketchbook, they asked me if I traced it, I said no. It made me sad because she kinda doubted my skill assuming i trace a lot just from seeing me the one time I traced pikachu. But aye now, misunderstanding clear and my art has improved a lot over the years.
I wish I had traced artwork MORE. Back when I was in my early teens I tried to become an animation artist. So I tried to practice and practice for nearly 10 years, without seeing any real improvement, despite trying to do so for the longest time. I vehemently refused to trace art, because I always thought I was above that. So I always tried to draw freehand, take art classes, follow tutorials, and try to draw action poses and do better expressions, but I always ran into two problems.
I could NEVER get the hang of body proportions, I could never get the hang of dynamic poses, and I could never get the hang of pseudo-3D character volume (all my character drawings always seemed to feel flat, one-dimensional and steamrolled with no sense of depth or volume with boring poses). I lacked fundamentals and I could NOT get the hang of somehow replicating what I saw in other artists no matter how much I studied them. For 10 more years I only saw minimal improvement to the point where after 20 years, and by the time I was approaching my early 30's, I still drew like a 16 year old kid.
Looking back on it now, I never grasped fundamentals and I could never grasp depth, volume or expressive posing. I always thought I was too good for tracing. But now I feel as if I had TRACED more examples of all the things that I never could quite "grasp" the techniques on, I would have gotten more used to them, and thus been able to use tracing like training wheels on a bike before I rode it myself. But because I shunned training wheels for 20 years, I never improved and never got better and eventually I just quit, having been burned out and feeling too old to accomplish my dreams anymore.
So if you won't trace to learn, because you think it's cheating, take it from me.... you're probably just cheating yourself. Learn to walk before you try to run. If you copy how other people walk, you can learn to run on your own. Don't be like me, who learned to do neither.
From my standpoint, as long as a ton of other great details are played and creativity is there then it should be fine. Concept artist working under deadlines trace a fuck load. Tracing is going to be needed eventually
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'm a young artist, and I use tracing as a way to practice. It's helped me improve a lot at drawing poses, and I recommend tracing for beginner artists!
Most of them have apple pencils that known as expensive stuff yet they failed to optimize the stabilizer or lack of drawing experience
I love your art style - the linework is so nice and I definitely don't think it's stiff
i actually used to trace my art for a short period of time. and then i just stopped, and its a good thing i stopped. because my art would've never looked like how it does today.
.
.
also i feel like tracing could be a good way for artists who are trying to get better at drawing, to get better at drawing, and finding their own artstyle to draw in (kinda), but its bad if the person tracing the art clams the traced version of someones art as their own.
so i would say trace if you want to, but just keep the traced art to yourself and dont post it anywhere, because tracing and posting the traced art, will give you a lot of hate, and it might make you not want to draw.
the first video you showed is so right though, everyone misconstrued it for sure!
the person tracing the southpark artwork was really being too perfectionist over that one NAIL. that's one reason stuff ends up looking stiff sometimes, is over correcting natural mistakes
the art in the background you’re making is 🔥
Omg but the guided access tip?! Now i can digitally sketch and transfer it onto paper so much easier lmao 😭😭