Is it cheating to trace a drawing then redraw what you traced with the trace as a reference?

[Shanny8]

It depends on the "trace"...

When I first started drawing again, I would trace an initial pose...make adjustments until I was satisfied with what I had, and then create the piece.

[morganicfoods]

Not at all! I actually used to do the same haha. It's really great for learning, but after a certain point in your art journey it becomes redundant.

[Lensing]

Cheating is the wrong word.
There are people who say drawing from reference is cheating and
that´s just really weird to say that because you can´t draw anything
when you never saw it.

There is stealing, plagiarism and there are many ways that tracing is
used in art.

It depends on the example again and please don´t get passive aggressive
about it

[JoshRaed]

please don´t get passive aggressiveabout it

Huh? What does this mean?

[LostKelp]

No, this is a method you can use. I've seen it floating around and it can help you figure out the important parts of an image. I just wouldn't post it anywhere. Good for practice though.

[moontokkym]

It's an Ethan Becker method he uses to simplify and understand shapes for practice which I think may be what you're referring to.

• the "trace" is done using only straight lines, forcing you to simplify the shape

• the freehand version uses both the simplified blocky sketch from the "trace" and the original image as reference because both are giving you different aspects to help you understand how to use references

• this is used strictly for practice and explaining things to his students, not for finished pieces that he sells or claims as fully his own.

It isn't a case of whether it's cheating or not, it's whether you are transparent about your methods and whether you even understand why you'd be using this method in the first place.

Edit: I assumed OP was talking about tracing over other artist's drawings which makes it more morally dubious. Tracing over free-to-use photos is basically always fine for practice.

[Legendofgenii]

What are you tracing?

[JoshRaed]

[Lensing]

Just a quick example, traced over it, copied the trace, drew a new version based on the trace.
It´s not stealing, it´s not plagiarism, it´s just another easy way to use reference and study reference

I still don´t understand the use of the term "cheating". Cheating who?

[thepenmonster]

If by "cheating" you mean...

Everyone will be able to tell I traced something because my normal skills do not match up in any way and they'll mock me much to my humiliation.

Absolutely

If you mean...

I used an image as a basis for something new. Much like how Daft Punk took samples of old songs and made a new song out of them

You're good because everyone does that.

[harlan]

My daughter uses this method sometimes. I think it's good for developing skills.

[redfish]

tracing is good practice, you can trace free stock photos & models if you have access to it. There's nothing wrong with that. Some people may say it's 'cheating' but it helps you figure out anatomy and people underestimate how many professional comic artists do this to help speed up the process.

If you trace/heavily reference other people's art - just make sure you keep it to yourself as practice. It's a no-no to then show it off as your own work.

[BoomerZ]

tracing is good practice

No, tracing is not good practice.

All you are doing is moving a pencil around without understanding the method to draw the figure. You won't get into the practice of seeing the body as shapes and how they interact. Even worst is tracing another artist. Now you are just copying his mistakes/shortcuts/style. I see way too many people tracing 3d models and the like. The people look dead and motionless. Comics are about pushing poses. Just like an actor using over-acting on stage to get the point across, you have to do the same thing with drawing. Some call it the "marvel way" or whatever, but unless you understand the relation to parts, you will not learn. Take a life drawing course, either online, on youtube, or better yet as a college level class. No art class will tell you to trace. It teaches you nothing.

[morganicfoods]

I disagree. It's not the best way to practice, and most especially not if you're just mindlessly drawing over it. But if you pay attention to the details or the shapes the pose/drawing makes, it can be incredibly useful. It's how I learned how to draw hands, which (so long as I'm not rushing lol) I can accurately draw in any pose without any sort of reference. There's not one set-in way to learn, what might not work for most people can work for someone else.

[SereinChoo]

I try to avoid tracing so I can learn to draw it. I felt like if I trace, I will forever be copy and pasting instead of learning.

[Mallory]

I think tracing can be useful for more experienced artists if they're stuck on something and are trying to figure out the underlying shapes, but... I really don't think it's useful for someone who would not be able to draw a freehand approximation the same pose without tracing. Drawing is about understanding how the planes of 3D objects reflect light and then translating that 3D relationship onto a 2D canvas. Tracing is just taking an already-existing 2D rendition of that 3D relationship and then, like... following the lines. If you have the experience to see the 3D shapes in the 2D lines, you can find some use in tracing. If you don't have a good handle on the 3D shape side of things, tracing is just going to stunt your growth because you won't train your brain to make that 3D -> 2D translation.

[Lensing]

I trust successful drawing teachers like Proko, Angel Ganev, Jeff Watts etc. and what
they say about tracing.

It´s part of the drawing process for portrait drawings in Angel Ganev´s course and I made
great process when I used his technique of
1 tracing a 3d model over the face
2 copying the 3d model by trying to eyeball it
3 comparing and correcting myself
I wouldn´t have had the same result without the tracing and without understand
the structure by just guessing it and without a way to see if I did right.

If anyone is able to draw the right image by just eyeballing it without doing the trace first,
good luck with trying

[thepenmonster]

How to Trace 101

If it was good enough for Norman Rockwell here, it's good enough for you. He used an opaque projector. If he had modern software you can bet your artist beret and black turtleneck this would all be on layers.

NOTE

Now he did study art the old timey way. He also didn't copy his photos one to one. He changed things as the piece needed. It wasn't a shortcut to improvement like what Josh is always asking for. It was a shortcut to photorealism without spending months or even years on it like the old masters had to.

Dude had a weekly deadline. Michelangelo had a degenerate Pope with a PR campaign and endless money.

As for using tracing for study

It is simply one tool in the kit that can help. ONE TOOL. Like building a house. Using only hammers will result in a shitty house. Using Poser only will result in shitty art. Using only DeviantArt/ Pintrest pose resources will do the same.

Truth be: If you don't already have good grasp on these things, on your own you probably won't know what it is that works about what you're tracing. Having someone, say, a teacher or even a YouTube influencer, explain what the circles and tubes in @Lensing's example up above represent, will be invaluable.

But you still need to put in the work to learn how to take what they tell you and apply it on demand.

[JoshRaed]

So here's what I'm doing specifically. Left is traced, right is my version.

[Lensing]

You don´t have to worry about using it in your comic,
that´s how many artists do it + you will improve a lot when you
do this regurlarly