Hello Everyone,

Quick questions:

-Is tracing allowed if I add new content, and source the original somehow?

-Are pencil sketches allowed/accepted by the community?

-Do you know of a good painting strategy if I don't have the hardware? I would like my pictures to be digital, but I don't have a drawing pad for my computer. Should I scan pencil sketches and try to color them in with my mouse in a program?

-If so, any recommendations on good software to do that in?

Long story:
I've been on E621 for a while now, but I still feel like quite the newbie. I posted a picture a while ago that I drew, but I didn't realize it needed to be digital, not pencil, and it was horrible anyway. (Plus, I was going to make a story, and it started out cheerful, so it looked like it didn't belong and I deleted it.)

I would really like to try again to make some of my own art, but I am horrible at it, and want to get better (like everyone else). I read about tracing in other posts, and even though I don't learn how to make body shapes myself if I trace, it gets me creating content and drawing in general, and that's the hardest part for me. If I tried starting from scratch, I would probably not find it fun because it would take me too long to make content and feel good about myself in the beginning.

That brings me to ask if tracing is allowed. If I trace other people's images to get the shape of a body and then add my own content to it, is it unmoral/bad/against the rules if I show my source?

That also leads to the other questions I have above.

I hope to join the community and give my part of professionalism and kindness, I hope to also make some friends (maybe, if anyone even notices my post).

Thanks!

-Treeness

If the image is professional or of adequate quality, and is relevant to e621, then it'll most likely be approved for e621 if you upload it.

And as for this:

"-Is tracing allowed if I add new content, and source the original somehow?"

From what I've been seeing on e621, most traced work gets taken down. I've even flagged a few that I've come across.

No need to draw art, I made all my internet friends by shitposting on forums and making lame jokes XD The community is amazing :3

Anyway, sketching is OK, but tracing is 90% likely to be rejected by the admins.

If you're not sure or have any sort of question, you can ask NotMeNotYou over the PMs, he's the guy who decides about posts.

You'll love the community :D

Thank you for the feedback guys! :D I really appreciate it.

aurel said:
Disadvantage

Hahaha so you're a cockslut??? XD XD XD

Instead of tracing, try to take inspiration from a drawing by copying the pose and changing some details slightly with the angle. There is no way you can come up with a decent looking picture on the very first few tries without having some kind of reference. Tracing over a picture is both not cool and you won't learn anything much from doing that, while taking a pose from a picture as a starting point is both completely fine and will teach you more on the long run

A way to "get away with" tracing is to find artists that put out a lot of sketch/line work and ask if you can color their stuff. I've got over a dozen artists I've gotten permission to do just that for. Some have stated restrictions on what I can color/post, but mostly it's just a case of "link back to me."

Something else you can think of instead of fully tracing to practice is to "trace the pose" instead of the subject. Then draw in around it. I did a quick mini-tutorial about what I mean by that a while ago for someone else and put it on my deviantart: Reference Without Tracing

post #752116

Is this good? Any suggestions? I'm feeling de-motivated - drawing is really hard, and that took a lot of time.

Treeness said:
-Is tracing allowed if I add new content, and source the original somehow?

Although I do not approve of tracing others work(Tracing own work, such as 3D models or self taken photographs I don't see an issue with as long as it's good), something I noticed about the FFD tool is that part of it is set in bold font

○ This post is an uncredited trace of another artist's work

I am not saying it is allowed(as I do not wish to get in trouble with the admins), but the uncredited part may be a hinted keyword. It MIGHT(Again, not saying it is allowed, don't quote me on this or hold me responsible) be allowed IF the artist is credited.

This thread kind of makes me wonder if a good enough copy would be considered as a trace.

I'd advise that feeling good about yourself is not required, it's just 'not taking the fact that you're feeling bad about yourself too seriously'. Really, when you feel good about yourself, that's often when you're coasting. When you think that what you're doing sucks (and can be specific about why), then you're improving.

I'm just trying to get at the point there that there actually is a lot of suffering involved with art, just like anything if you really want to be good at it. You really have to have a certain level of resolve, to suffer misery proudly in order to get results later. Working hard to achieve something and analyzing the specific ways you failed.. and then doing it again hundreds of times.. that's the process of improvement.

The term is 'graphics tablet' BTW, not 'drawing pad' (yes, they predate the modern use of 'tablet' that refers to a glorified touchphone). They're not crucial for learning, but they make certain aspects easier (you can breakdown structure endlessly and make variants to compare endlessly, without the indecipherable mess that would result on paper. They make experimenting VERY easy.). If you're thinking about getting one, I've had good results with Monoprice 12", which is very cheap ($80 AUD) as graphics tablets go.

If not, there are many tools available that could improve your pencil sketches -- multiple grades of pencil, mechanical pencils, ink or a decent quality ballpoint/gel pen. But especially grip.. there are lots of different ways you can grip a pencil, they are each good for different applications and can make a huge difference to the quality of the result. Paper can too, so if you haven't already, get a bunch of samples of different types of paper to try -- eg. high-gsm cartridge paper is good for sketching, whereas more smooth/glossy types work better for things that require a very crisp finish.

I'd also strongly recommend getting onto a structured program of improvement. In my case, Vilppu's Drawing Manual was a huge help.

EDIT: Didn't get to have a look at your image before it was deleted. I suggest looking into a free image host -- I like Imgur personally. There's a lot of trial and error, especially early in the learning process, so being able to upload whatever and ask people about it quickly is really worth making happen. E621 is an archival site and if you start out trying to make archival-quality stuff so you'll be able to upload here -- well, that's a recipe for a lot of unneeded stress.

if you trace, you should get permission from the original artist.