Opinion on tracing

I think tracing is a good way to improve, but you shouldn't focus ENTIRELY on tracing. Tracing will only help if you also try drawing freehand to practice the techniques you can learn by tracing.
Claiming that traced artwork is your own is silly and pointless. You're probably gonna get caught out in the first place but even if you do, what will you do if you're commissioned to draw something? You won't be able to do it and you'll be badly embarrassed
As such, I agree with tracing in moderation and only for practice. No sharing it without the permission of the original artist if at all.

 

While I understand why beginner and young artists do this, it will only help them improve on their own art so much. They need to draw their own lines, come up with their own ideas, their own drawings to really improve. I don't like my art traced either. I worked hard to get where I am, to develop my own unique style.

Referencing I don't mind as much as long as it's not a complete trace over of something I've made, and the person gives back credit to me.

 

Well, considering that the only thing I do is tracing... uh... it's pretty fun? I've drawn up some fun wall art-- various splash arts from League of Legends characters re-drawn in charcoals adorn my walls-- but I just can't draw things on my own haha. It's fun to sit down for a while and just trace to me, though I would never call any of my tracings 'drawings'-- all I did was trace them, I didn't create any of the lines or anything, you know?

 

I'm not a fan of tracing under most circumstances. It's good if you're just starting out and you're tracing something to learn how to draw lines properly, but it's never good to just trace and not learn how to draw on your own. Occasionally for signature renders, I'll reshade the render or make small edits to it to better fit my signature style, but I'll never trace something with the intent of claiming it as my own, especially not with any art I create.

One thing that is helpful with learning how to draw something is to not trace the outlines- instead make circles and lines above it to create a 'skeleton' of sorts that allows you to see the proportions and general anatomy shape of the thing you're drawing. Then, when you get good enough, you can draw that same skeleton from memory in poses that you think up yourself, and then draw in the outlines from there! It's a good technique that I used when learning to draw humans a few years ago.

But yeah, a lot of people have traced or copied my art in the past, sadly. Most of them deny it, too- which is very sad because I honestly don't mind as long as they give credit and say it's just for practice. I'm rather protective of my art, as it's one of the few things that I actually enjoy doing, so it's sad to see other people take that and try to claim it as their own.

 

Ill admit, I DO trace from time to time, but only if its something Ive never drawn before. Even then, I dont even fully trace, I just eye tthem. I usually just do it to get an idea of what it looks like in my style. After a few tries, I can usually free-hand something.with them

 

It depends on what extent the tracing is going to. When I was little, I would trace all the time because it was the easiest way to learn. However, if you're tracing someone else's art and saying you designed it is not okay. It takes away not only recognition for the original artist, but your own art's credibility.