Should Artists Trace?

Tracing is pretty condemned in the artist (and non artist) community. People think tracing is cheating or that it's not real art, but just why is that? And is tracing really a bad thing, or can it be helpful?

I talk about my experiences with tracing and why I don't think tracing is cheating.

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You may use techniques in this video to produce your own ORIGINAL drawing.

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[PynkCoffee]

I agree with tracing being a great tool. If you're ever getting stuck on human anatomy or how to pose someone realistically, finding reference pictures and tracing over them give your brain so much more to work with in terms on how to achieve that certain pose.

[Arvaamaton]

Tracing is really good way to learn to draw. But ofc one should never claim traced work as their own. Lisa is awesome!

[melonieO]

I actually forgot about tracing letters when we were children. It really makes sense, I mean it really is helpful to train your muscle memory. I have never been one that is against it. There are people that even do a rough sketch and then trace their own work. I mean it is like saying you can't use a ruler to draw a straight line. It all depends on the artist, I think it is important to learn freehand. Art is supposed to be free. People shouldn't be putting rules on what is considered art and what techniques are only acceptable to be an 'artist'. Great video.

[adaumisasmr]

my views: mmm my teachers over at le college, told me it was perfectly fine to trace, as a learning medium and even in the professional field, to a certain level. In her words "work smarter, not harder, save time, you're gonna find yourself drawing the same thing, a lot" I find tracing very helpful in the sense that- my brain, my hand, arm, are learning the movements and shapes to form- when tracing, so that when I go attempt to draw whatever it is on a blank piece, the muscle memory kicks in and its easier to draw the form/ silhouette/frame . And of course over time you do end up building/finding your own style. I can honestly say my Coloring work is a lot better than my line work/line art, but- my line art has vastly improved thanks to tracing.

*the only problem with tracing is claiming the work as your own. and proudly flaunting it to family/friends/social media. Plus you are not really learning if all you do is trace one image every other day/week*

Great Video :D

[ahedjehad]

for me who has shaky hands, tracing has helped me with steadying the lineart of my artworks. and i feel that the more i do, the better the lineart when i free-hand. :) so yes, tracing CAN be good and you can learn from that.

[Blurp]

I've picked up drawing recently. Being more serious about drawing properly, not just my usual pattern/watercolour stuff. I've gone right back to the beginning. For example, I wasn't sure if I was cheating using some tracing for the eyes... But then, I noticed I could do it freehand. So, I think tracing, having templates, and learning the anatomy of things is a great tool. Even using stick figure drawings can be helpful. As long as, the finished product doesn't cross over to copyright infringements. Anyone can use graphite pencils and a sketchbook to start off with and become great drawers, if you put in the effort and don't give up! And you are so right about being in kindergarten and tracing the alphabet and numbers and it leads to doing it freehand!!! This is the video I needed to hear. Thanks mate!

[woolly]

I'm just starting out learning to draw and somebody suggested that I start tracing to build dexterity. I promise I still suck at drawing even if I end up using this method just to exercise my hand. I highly doubt that it'll make me good at drawing overnight but it seems like a good idea.

[gingerspec]

I only trace every now and then, mostly when I go through art block, but that is about it. I hate it when people give criticism on tracing, because it’s how I got my own art style(s) and I learned what the difference is between stealing the art and saying you drew it, instead of just takin the concept of the drawing, and learning about it in the process of tracing.

I don’t know if that made any sense, but do with what my opinion is.

[hi-bksy]

I didnt know that tracing existed unitil 10 years after I started drawing xD. As of now, I only trace my own art onto a better sheet of paper :)

[SashaFitzgerald]

Great video! I think tracing is a good tool too, just don't rely on it if you want to be able to draw your own original art. 😊

[gutsk]

Kinda like inking (or Lineart). Others call it tracing if there's a seperate inker for a certain art. They don't know that you still need artistic hands in order to to do that and tracing also requires din as well as vectoring or using a mouse to lineart.

[crustydog]

Personally, I wouldn't feel right if I used tracing, but I understand it may be the only way to make deadlines, or to get a proportions correct etc . If you do a drawing that involved tracing, you should tell people that. A lot these YouTube videos that show a picture being sketched or rendered, has me thinking that the artist is just going over a light outline that he or she traced earlier. They look like they start putting in detail and committing themselves early on in the process. If they're working from something that they traced, they should mention that.

[carloscarneiro]

Thank you for adressing this! It really made me feel a lot better, about one time I traced and published it on a app just for drawings, but one of the admins called me out, for it and removed the post, I traced because it was a challenge and I had made 3 different drawings, all 3 were untraced but I deleted them all, because I tought they were terrible, so I wanted to make something quick, but I didn't want to trace everything, so I just traced what I found hard to draw (digital drawing btw), like hands, armor.... after I had a sketch of the character I just gave some touches of my own, because you had to mix it with another character, those were the rules of the challenge and that part I made without tracing, but overall the admin made me feel bad, because he didn't even let me publish it after and said tracing was forbidden on the app, didn't matter, if it was challenge, but I saw tracing everywhere on the app and further more everytime I published something traced or not he would always ask me for progress shots, and when I did he would ask for more, I guess he just didn't like me xD. (sorry for the long text, I gotta start watching your channel again, I missed it ;) ^^

[bisdakoanimation]

i used to trace back then when i was a child. and it helps me improve my drawing skills. i learned to understand every pattern just by tracing some drawings... and now im taking it to a higher level by making an illusion of life and motion a.k.a. animation. im still struggling on the body anatomy tho but its a pretty fun challenge... haven't upload some video tho. im still looking for a voice actor to help me with and some idea for the story.

[Highcastle_of_Tone]

A little late to the party, but tracing was something I just randomly stumbled upon. I was trying to find some inspiration and was looking through photos on my iPad and it occurred to me to trace the outline and just use it as a jumping-off point to get perspective and proportions correct. I'm new to drawing (started very late in life) and I think this will be a good tool to create a reference that I will then try to copy freehand.

[jakeraac]

I appreciate this. Ive gotten pretty unmotivated after around 17 or something years of freehanding. Frustration has been long held by me because of perfectionism. For my latest comic strip i traced the outlines of my photo selfies and freehanded the rest because of frustration. But i might keep working at freehanding instead. It was kind of a one time thing cause of aggravation. But thanks for this. I dont view tracing as cheating so much now.

[samanthadeene]

I think everyone freaks out way too much about this topic. Tracing a picture (one you take yourself or you have permission to use as reference) does not take away the skills of an artist who is able to free hand, nor does being able to free hand make you better than someone who traces. Drawing and rendering/colouring are very different skills. It's like saying because you milled the flour yourself you're a better cake baker than someone who buys their flour. They are totally different skills. Being able to free hand draw is an amazing skill, but that doesn't make your painting/colouring better. It's a totally different skill.

[samuelojo]

KnowingBetter brought me here! I like your videos! I grew up drawing mostly animation, a majority of my drawings are based on re-drawing other drawings. I agree with your change in heart about tracing and will probably try to do more of that. I am no artist btw ... lol. I wish. Hopefully tracing and referencing will help get me to be better.

[waters_]

I only trace my own drawings when I feel like I messed up on the original. I also only trace to test my proportions. Other than that, I try not to trace very often.

Great video. I'm glad I discovered your channel. :)

[Laserwad]

Tracing is only justified when you absolutely need the proportions to be mathematically exact. For instance, when I was doing some paleontological reconstruction, I had to trace the outlines of certain skulls because that defined the accuracy of the forensic reconstruction. Everything else was drawn freehand. Aside from from a situation like that, I think traced work has very little artistic merit.