Shortcuts In Art - Bad or Good?

[VermillionWorks]

I sometimes consider trying to learn to use something like Sketchup or even The Sims 4 to help me make better backgrounds, but I'm also worried that using these sort of 'shortcuts' may kind of stunt my growth in being able to draw certain things myself, or at least through tutorials and my own means.

Am I correct in thinking this or am I overthinking things too much and should just try using anything that could help me out? Can I still learn new things from drawing with the help of said programs? What is your opinion on using shortcuts like this? Do you just consider this another form of referencing or do you consider it "cheating"?

Oh and by the way, if you use programs like this to help you I'm sure as heck not calling you lazy!! Please don't think that! ^__^;; I totally understand why some use programs to help them out, hence why I'm considering it myself.

[joannekwan]

I think it's perfectly fine. Manga pros do it all the time.
Even if you do trace over a 3D render, over time you'll start to notice how the perspective works I would think.

[MarineHaddock]

I think there's definitely a time and place for it. Sketchup and Sims 4 are quite good for making reference images, maybe don't trace them exactly in your comic but have them there for reference. There is actually a good use of tracing at times (in the instance your using photos and models, tracing other peoples art may not work as well), for example, if done right it can help you understand anatomy, face structure, or just what things look like. Maybe don't used traced stuff for your main work, but definitely for learning.

In fact, I think the Sims is great for making up settings! When I work on things I'll sit and set up a nice house in the sims so that I can look at it and have an understanding of where everything is in the house without going through every single page. It helps me keep consistency as I can look at it and know what leads to which room and what that rooms purpose in the house is, without extensions and doors suddenly being where they weren't before.

Reference images are an important part of growing as an artist and ones you make in sketchup and sims still are references, they're just better tailored to the exact thing you're looking for.

[SpavVy]

Well sometimes I like to to use design doll and the manga Studio 3D models to help me get ideas for poses and such, sometimes I do it for an entire page and print the thumbnails and use it as reference. Sometimes I do it for backgrounds too or I just print off some perspective grids. The perspective grids are the only things I'll actually trace over from time to time but I only do it when I'm really struggling. The paper I use for my comic is a bit pricey so obviously I don't want to risk wasting paper.

[60Six]

Using a 3D program helps me out a lot more than just getting the perspective right. I've always been more of a character artist than a scenery artist, so I've sort of found I think of more details when I'm building an environment in a 3D program, even if it is just for blocking things out to draw in 2D. Like for example, when I just draw a couple of buildings completely 2D in photoshop, I get two buildings. But when I'm building them in Maya first, I get two buildings with air vents, signs, a bus stop in front, garbage cans with some trash scattered around, an open window, air conditioning units in some windows, ect. I'm not sure if it'd really be like this for everyone else (I'm pretty sure I only think like this because I went to a game art school that focused heavily on 3D environment art and they hammered detailing our environments into our heads).
So I guess basically, just do whatever helps you. It's been made clear by other people on here not many people mind people using 3D programs and a lot use them. Sometimes it might not even be a short cut so much as just another tool in your process. I know that I can spend a while in Maya, 3D modeling a street and deciding it's layout, when I could have just quickly sketched in Photoshop in an hour.

[justifiableconcepts]

Hello @VermillionWorks rmillion!

Through All of my studies, both on art and the people who make it, I found that one thing is true. "Do what you have to do."

Shortcuts are seen all around in the professional field if you know how to look for it. Do you dig Anime? Guess what, it's chalked filled with shortcuts. Do you love classic Disney? Shortcuts! Love character design for movies? SHORT-to-the-CUTS!

This is the thing. When you use these programs to help you with creating, you are doing what pros do. Being effective. Now you can actually learn the subject that you are struggling with by incorporating your programs, JUST keep in mind the ACTIVE studying techniques.

Meaning ASK yourself during/after you have finished tracing or whatnot, "Why does this work?" TRY to break it down the subject through: shapes, perspective, color, detail etc. Figure out what's appealing to you.

In doing this you serve both your MUSCLE MEMORY [Drawing is pretty much that --muscle memory.] and your ANALYTICAL side. [With out developing the analytical part of our creative brains we may never grow as artists.]

In closing: DO use the tools available to you. DON'T let those tools RULE you.
You are the artist, the creator. You only use these tools for STUDY and IMPROVEMENT [even when you use them for your comic's Background.]

The FASTEST way to become a slave to these shortcuts is allowing them to alter your vision [i.e. Oh I wanted the building to look a certain way but there isn't a pre-existing model for it...oh well I'll just use this one.] You definitely don't want that.

If you keep in mind that what you are doing when using these programs is that you are PRACTICING with a PURPOSE in time you may find that the tools are no longer really needed and if you had, to you could do with out them.

Don't let anything stop you from your vision. Do what you have to do.

Sorry if the post is too long, haha! But that's my two cents.
Take care now!
-Nelson

[Doubtcent]

For the majority of us, we're doing this on the side, all alone, which means that any time that can be taken out of creating can be used for more creating.

Most professional manga creators, say of something like One Piece or Bleach, have a full-on staff of artists whose job is filling in the blanks or drawing backgrounds. When we're alone, we have to do everything. So a shortcut or two helps for saving time, and so we can learn to make more things on our own.

The moment I started using references, my comic's quality shot up incredibly. My brain only has so much creativity when drawing details. But as I've continued, I've gotten better at it, and it will continue to do so. Sure, I trace over some things, sure I use references for others, but doing so can lead to doing it yourself.

I mean world creating is hard. As a comic creator you need to design everything, from clothes, the people, to animals, backgrounds, buildings, food, flora and fauna, the sky, action, motion, speech, sound; all with paper and ink. AND you have to write a cohesive story????? That's a lot of work.

As long as you grow with these tools, these shortcuts, and maybe even create without them at some point, I say they're good.

[TristanJensen]

I don't see it as cheating or really even a shortcut to be honest. I mean it makes sense to want things in proportion and in perspective and if that works than it isn't really a big deal. I mean it would take a little longer to build the area and all that I guess.
Whether it would stunt your growth in that area is another matter. I'm pretty confident saying you can learn a lot from tracing as long as you really pay attention to whats happening and not just copying lines. You'll still learn it, but it MIGHT take longer (I put emphasis on "might" because everyones different and you can catch on to it way faster than someone else)

I'm just kind of ad-libbing this to be honest...

[mariusthered]

it's not what tools you use to get the end result but how you use them. I use to be able to draw much better than I can today, but I stopped sketching as much when I got interested in using Poser. I am still OK when it comes to drawing cartoons and caricatures but a lot of stuff now I have to admit I am lazy. it's not a bad thing to use these things to help you but don't go down the easy path and use them all the time like I did.

[kenibatz]

If you can use Sketchup, go for it. In the long run, it will save you time and effort as you can recycle assets like rooms and props. Fair warning, though: using a 3D tool like Sketchup is very time-consuming as well.

If your goal is to learn new things and if you're using Manga Studio, the Perspective Ruler is an incredible tool for background drawing.

[shazzbaa]

Here's the thing -- if there's a tool you're unsure about, you won't suddenly transform into a lazy person by touching it. You can try it, and I honestly think you'll be able to gauge for yourself -- is this helping me to understand perspective and backgrounds better? Or is this just allowing me to ignore them? Do I care? Is it hurting my artwork?
If it's something you're unsure about, you could also try making a piece with the aid of sketchup, and post it on here and ask people if it's hurting or helping your work.
Frankly, even if you decide the program isn't teaching you a darn thing about making your own backgrounds better, it will not stop you from practicing without it or looking up tutorials. I use a lot of colouring shortcuts in my comic work to keep them from taking a billion years, but outside of my comic pages I try to push myself whenever I can.

I don't use Sketchup myself; I've become way more comfortable with perspective than I am with modelling programs. xD But man, building a model to reference is a powerful tool. I had a professor in college who used to build models out of foamcore for his environments before he started an illustration, so he could see them from different angles and see how light hit them. That's too hardcore for me, but sketchup would let you do that with a lot less mess! It's definitely a skill worth acquiring, imo.

[iddqd]

Here's the thing, man: the pros already know how to do it from scratch, but do you? I think it's a lot like learning to draw from an anime screenshot, because you will be using a secondary source, i.e. someone else's interpretation of reality, so you end up with an interpretation of interpretation (or a model of a model, if that makes any sense). You can take shortcuts if you've already spent hundreds of hours drawing from life, but if not, I think it's just going to show. There's only 24 hours in a day, I get it, but I think there's something to putting effort into work that will make you grow as an artist long-term, and get you to a place where you can afford to use short-cuts and everyone will be none the wiser.

[ratique]

Oh the age old discussion of what is considered art and what isn't...

When someone started using a ruler to draw a straight line instead of doing it by hand, did they take a shortcut? Did it diminish the worth of their work because they used the tools they had available?

When illustrators moved to digital, was that a shortcut too? Did it destroy art as it is or did we just simply move with the times? Are digital artists really worse than traditional artists?

I have had many discussions with my "artist" friends about this sort of thing. They look down on shortcuts, tracing, 3D programs. It is somehow making it too easy, you (apparently) don't learn as much and therefore it is not good enough and you, the person who used those things is not a real artist.

And you know what, I agree. I am not an artist. I am an illustrator. I am not creating art. Instead I am telling a story, a product, a piece of entertainment. I have to work fast, I have to work economical. Lost work hours equal lost money.

My thinking comes from years of working in the design and illustration industry. Do you know how frustrating it is to see an illustrator spend hours of paid work time on an illustration and you ask them why they did not use the tools the company provided them with to do it faster? Their answer: Did not think of it. Because they were taught to do it the "right" way in school. But I digress.

Ever since starting to work on my comic I have used shortcuts. And yet I have learned so much, my drawings have become better, my anatomy is improving, I understand light and color much better now. And you know what else? I also learned how to use Sketchup, Cinema 4D, After Effects and Premiere Pro. Is that really worth less? Am I not growing fast enough?

My final thought of this has always been:
You want to do it without shortcuts because you really want to become good at the things you are drawing? Cool, do it that way. You will learn a lot. But don't judge the ones that go a different route than you.

[winglesscomic]

Using 3d backgrounds doesn't stunt your growth if you don't even know how to draw them in the first place 乁( ◔ ౪◔)ㄏ
If anything it will help you understand perspective or objects in various angles by drawing over a thing you KNOW is in a correct angle/perspective you want instead of guessing.

There are various objects I've used 3d for to get angles on and I've traced over them so many times that I'm able to rotate the object in my mind and draw it without a 3d reference, which is really rare for me.

[scythe]

I've been on a lot of art related boards in my day, and a question like this always comes up regularly. I'm really happy to see that for the first time, the majority appear to agree that this kind of thing is NOT something to be ashamed of, and when time is of the essence, ought to be encouraged. Usually it's the opposite.

Most of us would need a really good mentor, years of constant practise and an abnormal dose of natural talent to ever become as quick as the top pros. For me, as an amateur doing this in my spare time, I'll take literally any shortcut I can, so I love using 3D programs for reference material, and I've got no problem tracing. As far as I see it, I'm tracing almost in the same way an inker traces a penciller's artwork. The difference is, the reference is only ever a skeleton upon which you build your world and inscribe your unique style, so in my humble opinion, there's vast opportunity for artistic growth and development.

Now will shortcuts like this hurt or help me should I ever decide, at some theoretical future point in life, to draw something more traditionally again? To be honest, don't know, don't care. All I know is, right now, I just want to draw my story to the best of my ability while getting it out there in the quickest timeframe possible.

[ratique]

I've been on a lot of art related boards in my day, and a question like this always comes up regularly.

I am convinced that there are not many people out there who have to draw as much and have to be able to be as diverse as comic artists have to be. That would explain why other artists don't understand this point of view.

[iddqd]

As far as I see it, I'm tracing almost in the same way an inker traces a penciller's artwork.

It's off-topic, but this thing about tracing hurts a little, you know.

I have had many discussions with my "artist" friends about this sort of thing. They look down on shortcuts, tracing, 3D programs. It is somehow making it too easy, you (apparently) don't learn as much and therefore it is not good enough and you, the person who used those things is not a real artist.

I don't think you do learn as much about drawing from imagination by tracing as by constructing an object on paper from a live copy, or at least a photo. I think this is objectively true that drawing from life is the best, but not the only, learning tool. But the point I was making is not that using shortcuts makes it "not real art" vs. "real art", the point I was making is that if a person is a novice at something, taking shortcuts will show in their work. I think this works in other areas of life too, if I am a novice at Judo, I will be barely (or not at all) able to execute a technique if I skip all the steps, but if I am a black belt, I can get away with shortcuts and succeed, but that's because I covered the basics a long time ago and I know where I can skip what and when.

But don't judge the ones that go a different route than you.

Amen to that.

[VermillionWorks]

Thanks for all the opinions, guys. I think most seem to agree that using programs n' such is mostly fine as long as it helps you and you don't over-rely on them to the point where they're basically just a crutch.

I'll probably end up using The Sims 4 for this before Sketchup, we'll see if it helps me out or not. =P

If your goal is to learn new things and if you're using Manga Studio, the Perspective Ruler is an incredible tool for background drawing.

While I still mess around with this tool from time to time, for some reason even with it I still can't seem to get things to look quite right, hence why I'm considering other methods to (hopefully) help me start to get down perspective n' such a little more. ^__^;

[efdvorsky]

As long as you learn how to do it, great. Rome wasn't built in a day and we thankfully have great ways of perfecting our work, especially in a competitive field much larger now than before.

But it depends on the levels of "short cuts" I suppose

There's an artist called Aaron Blaise who uses his photography to make textures and details for his paintings instead of drawing every hair or scale and tbh it looks grand. This is a good example. This is REALLY great!

There's also using references, I don't know why this is considered "cheating". It's super helpful and helps you build a more concrete image in your head. Whether it's taking a photo of yourself or using a mannequin. Same applies for 3D programs or even perspective tools like those in Manga Studio and in Krita. They're not BUILDING the art for you, they're just helping you.

I personally frown a bit at tracing people but mostly because the final look isn't always as natural to our eyes. (A common issue with poorly executed rotoscoping) As in some aspects poses SHOULD be exaggerated to make them more dynamic, that's really the only reason. It just doesn't look right to me, and there appears to be a lack of understanding from the artist's perspective. But tracing to study and understand what you're looking at? Great no prob.

[WednesdayAsh]

in general? whatever you can get away with, is alright