HOW TO TRACE

There are many ways to trace. I like to preserve my original sketch and have found this is my favorite way to make a copy via tracing without loosing the original.

[johnpaul]

Digital artists watching this video: 👁️👄👁️

[juliapriest]

Legit how I learned to draw. It helped me understand proportion, spacing, angles, etc. If it helps you learn, it's not cheating.

[kittykins]

GUYS!!! PSA: that's her own drawing... she's tracing it because she drew it on sketch paper and wanted to paint it in watercolor, so she needs tp move it. This literally isn't the same tracing you'rr thinking of... it's used as a tool to transfer art to a new paper. You can even use it to clean up line art- like if you have a super messy sketch, you can trace just the clean parts and pick off from there. As far as tracing others artwork, i mean, it doesn't really matter in this case cause that's not what she was doing, but generally as long as you arent claiming ownership or are using it to learn, it's fine. so digital artists, to adress to comments i keep seeing: No, traditionally artists don't just "get" to trace. We do it like you guys do. If your sketch get's to messy, you migjt trace over the important parts and then copy that on another layer. It's the same thing.

[mc_lara]

I traced for my final art piece in highschool. I did realistic portraits. I initially felt like I was cheating, but my teacher assured me that anyone drawing to my scale of realism would be tracing. I've kept that in mind when I trace these days, and I've noticed that I've learnt so much about anatomy and proportions by tracing.

[islandsicedtea]

How to Trace:
“trace it, and then trace it, and then trace it”

[thedragonoracle]

When I got to art school I discovered light tables, totally a game changer.

[dayna]

People don’t seem to understand that they’re tracing a drawing out of (what I assume is their) their sketch book…essentially doing print making - so they can have a painted version without ruining the original drawing.

[tylercoomes]

I used to get screamed at amd told that i wasnt a real artist because Id trace my drawings like this rather than completely re drawing it from scratch. Thank-you for posting this, its healing in a weird way

[eml]

I like to use a pen for the initial tracing instead of a pencil. That way you can re-use/re-trace multiple times without risking any smudging or changes to the tracing on the tracing paper. Also makes it more visible against the graphite you put on the other side

[afsahhussain]

I just use graphite paper when tracing. So you don’t have to scribble-scrabble, and the lines will be a bit darker without having to go over them again. Just a suggestion coming from a lazy artist. 😅

[nicoleharris]

You can also get charcoal paper. It's basically a combination of the graphite she added to the tracing paper, and well the tracing paper. You tape the charcoal paper to the paper you want to trace the image onto (dark side down), then you tape the original piece over the charcoal paper. You trace the image, and the charcoal transfers onto the bottom layer of paper.

[emnstuff]

It's a huge art tip to trace. Not to claim that the art is yours but to learn proportions and placement. I learned SO MUCH when I traced. It helped me to draw freehand so much better

[Alice-sbwp]

My art teacher taught me a method that doesn't even need the tracing part. You get either a graphite block / charcoal or something and rub it all over the back of the image you want to trace. Then you tape the image to the area where you want it to be. Simply grab a pencil or something and make lines on the image that you want to show on the paper.

[nikkyk]

There is literally tracing paper you can buy where the graphite is already on the paper and you just have to put the drawing on top of it....saves you soooo much time and effort.

[stupidlyintelligent]

That looks like so much work 😭 I just chose a picture from my computer, but paper over it, and trace it that way. Ofc having the room dark makes it so much easier

[coolsaige]

Light boards and mini projectors can also be great tools if you have the budget!!!

[nicolle]

might want to invest in a light table if you're going to be tracing a lot. There are a lot of cheap options online. Some people even do a more diy light table approach and use either a glass table with a lamp underneath, or a glass window on a sunny day to trace stuff.

You could also print a lighter version of the picture you want to trace, put soft graphite (like 4b and up) behind it, and trace directly from the picture. It saves a few steps

[boochan]

I wish I knew this before :(
i used to think that tracing was cheating so i always drew everything by just looking at it and making sure that it looked absolutely perfect. Although it was 10x more exhausting than this trick i'm actually very happy now because my skills got more refined that way🌷

[CactusKitty]

I just realized this is a great way to learn like proportions and things because of how many times you need to draw the same thing.

[surajpatel]

I like the serious face when you work. It shows how determined you are.