Jun 2019
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Jun 2019
Jun 2019
elyss
Jun '19

I don't. My comic classes at my university (I took two) was all about using internet content to fill in where you had trouble. My teacher even spent a week showing us how to parse various photos together to make an environment to trace for a background. There's zero reason to feel bad about tracing except when you're tracing someone's illustrations, that's stealing.

Tracing is a great way to learn how to to do things too. Especially if it's the same kind of thing. I've been doing a lot of hair tracing studies for example and my characters' hair look better for it.

duckuga
Jun '19

Haha I used to do it alot when I was younger. I think it can also help with muscle memory too? It can be good practice to learn how to draw the right shapes of somrthing, it just depends on how you use it. I don't think I've traced recently though, I might copy references to see why they look right and my attempts don't though? I know it's easy to feel guilty when it's seen as a way of 'cheating' or whatever, but it has its uses!

nostalgicroxas
Jun '19
elyss

Depends on how you learn. Tracing will build up the muscle memory in your hands, for example.

And speaking of schooling, there's lots where you take a famous painting and are given the tools to recreate it as accurately as possible. Not to steal it, but to learn the mechanics of how it went together to improve your own art.

elyss
Jun '19

Exactly! I can't think of how many classes I was given materials to replicate art.

Some of the best comic artists started out tracing and copying. Artists didn't just happen to grow up and learn how to draw Marvel style, they copied and figured it out.

Jenny-Toons
Jun '19
1

Nope. Not really. If I need to save my time and energy, I will trace over the basic structure of a reference and build from there. And since I'm a comic creator who wants to keep being consistent, sometimes I need that to cut corners. I lean on the idea of "finished, not perfect".

I've talked about this topic before from this thread:

HomeBrewComics
Jun '19

I think the difference between stealing and tracing is the context behind why you did it.

If you are using an exact copy of an already existing art work and calling it yours, that's stealing. That's lazy since you are not learning your own technique and just creating a carbon copy of someone else's work.

But tracing a hand position, a body twisting in a weird way or some extreme perspective shot is different. If you using tracing as a learning tool, then it doesn't become a bad thing. Yeah you might still use a traced thing in your artwork/comic but you are not copying someones work so to say.

I think the easiest way to view it is that if you copy someones character or something they have made up, that's wrong and can be classed as stealing.
A body position or hand gesture isn't someone's original work, in the sense of a human body doing natural movements/in natural positions. We all have bodies that can do the same thing, so it's not a copyrighted thing that can never be replicated again. Still try and learn to be able to create these positions yourself, but you shouldn't feel bad if you are copying anatomy.

I myself try to draw things from just looking at a reference if I am unsure, but occasionally that doesn't work. So I might trace over a hand or body as kind of a sketchy stick figure to then go over it and flesh it out in my own style. This way, while you are copying/tracing something, its more of the skeleton you are coping instead of the entire artwork line for line.
There is no reason why you should feel guilty, since you are (at least I hope) using tracing as a way to learn, not profit off someone else's skill.

Endanarchy
Jun '19

Hand on. What do you define as "trace"? As in: What do you physically do that constitutes tracing.

In recent years, I've seen the definition change online. What I know as "copying" (using a reference photo and recreating its elements free hand) keeps being referred to as "tracing", all of a sudden.

punkarsenic
Jun '19

i never feel bad lol. like, whos gonna know and whos gonna care?

i only ever trace say like, a castle or a complex animal if im really stuck on it, tho i dont think ive traced for a few years? the problem w tracing isnt moral, but its that you dont get to stretch the pose n it can end up feeling stiff and not quite what you want

but also, tracing is a great learning tool

JRHoch
Jun '19

My style often doesn't lend itself to tracing, so it's not an issue. I also find when I trace, even my own work on a lower layer, the line and gesture feels stiff. So I tend to just look and draw,

popsiclestick
Jun '19

i used to feel weird about that, but a friend showed me the wonders of google sketchup and to be honest, i never looked back.

if i were to be producing a nice illustration where the art is the showcase then yes, i feel (for me anyway) it would be better to copy a ref than trace. however, for my comic - where i need to produce two heavily detailed pages per week - i feel zero guilt about mocking up a setting on sketchup and using that as a sketch layer. i'd like to be done with this comic before i'm dead, thanks!

skicoak
Jun '19

No guilt... because it's just a time saving device.

I could stare and eyeball it but it'd end up the same and just take longer.

BobbyjoeX
Jun '19

hey, i used to trace the models from clip studio paint for a while... at the start of Chapter 3 of my comic i dropped the models. but i have learned enough from tracing them that my body proportions and anatomy have gotten better.

to me, because of that, i don't feel guilty for tracing cause i actually did learn from it

Likri
Jun '19

I usually do it for some stuff I'd spend a lot more time trying to get right, than it's worth in the scene goes - like a car when the characters just need to get from point A to point B. I use CC licence photos. Or if there is an uncommon angle with perspective, I take a photo of the Body-kun figurine I bought exactly for the purpose of referencing weird angles. These are tools, so I don't feel bad at using them.

JeanGuillet
Jun '19

There are ways to 'trace' a reference without actually tracing it. What I'd do, is find a pose close to what I want, then draw out the bubble shapes, torso, head, arms, legs, muscle groups, just as circles so I get the placement. Then I'll turn off the reference, reposition the arms and legs so it works perfectly with my perspective, and draw from the sort of mannequin I've created. You're not tracing the reference, you're just using the pose to help you get the perspective right for something difficult. Your final drawing will look better if you build it up from basic building blocks like this too rather than if you just traced the reference, and you get to practice structure and learn while you do it. Win/win.

sarrowsmith10
Jun '19
1

I'm just going to leave this super great article here:

https://thevirtualinstructor.com/blog/is-it-ok-to-trace-in-art1

Also note that tracing is different than referencing. I bring this up, because lots of people feel that referencing is also cheating, which if I might be frank- is total crap. Tracing and referencing are both valuable tools in the artist's tool box, and they each have a time and place where they are appropriate to use.

reirotic
Jun '19

When you have A WEEK of time frame to create a full-length, fully colored comic episode... I don't think I have the time to feel guilty of tracing! :joy:

I mainly use body kun figurine a lot to speed up my drafting process. If I'm feeling extra lazy and there's not much time... err... trace away!

It all depends on your time and effort you want to put in your comic. It needs a balance, so any tool must be considered in disposal. Of course, if you want to bloom as an artist, you study with the reference provided. But to feel guilty about it? Hahaha I haven't even thought about it!

Shanny8
Jun '19
reirotic

THIS. When I started out making my webcomic, I did feel kinda guilty about tracing because I want to hone my skills and be able to draw ALL THE THINGS...but when you are pressed with a deadline to get your page done, sometimes that "self pride" is a liability.

I'll use 3-D models to help me with things like rooms and perspective; if I find pic of a car/object with a good shot/angle I'll trace over it...you're NOT going to know how to draw everything perfectly- and dont think of it as cheating, coz a lot of the pros who do mainstream books are doing some of the same so that they can get a monthly book done and get paid.

A lot of small press artists who do cons and other freelance gigs- they are trying to make being an artist their career; that means getting work done so they can make a living off of it. In this type of work you've got no time for guilt.