Posted under Art Talk
Since tracing is an iffy subject, and we all know that tracing someone else's art and claiming it as your own is bad, and tracing your own art is fine but not recommended when it comes to learning art such as drawing anatomy and perspective, I have certain questions when it comes to tracing:
1. What's the fine line of direct tracing from photographs?
2. How helpful is tracing from the photos you have taken?
3. Is tracing from public domain art okay?
Updated
Bumping to make my questions clearer.
I don't think you should trace photographs and claim it as your own, even if it's legal. I'd be pretty upset if I paid somebody to draw me and all they did was trace a public domain photograph.
Tracing also usually just leads to lower quality art since the artist never really learns how to grasp the anatomy properly, just trace it.
faucet said:
I don't think you should trace photographs and claim it as your own, even if it's legal. I'd be pretty upset if I paid somebody to draw me and all they did was trace a public domain photograph.
Okay. Guess the best bet is to reference them than trace them.
faucet said:
Tracing also usually just leads to lower quality art since the artist never really learns how to grasp the anatomy properly, just trace it.
Even tracing from your own photographs like selfies, and drawing commissions with tight deadlines?
And how does that apply to posts like these:
post #2501268 post #2506507
These are drawn copies of photographs, uncredited (the second one doesn't even give photographer credit at the source, or establish permission from the photographer). There's been a bunch of drawings in the last few weeks that are the spitting image of animal photos, without credit to the original it was copied from. Would they not count as traces? You can trace form, outline, and color, after all, tracing doesn't apply to line art only (paint-overs, rotoscoping, etc).
strikerman said:
What? The description says "My part of an art trade with cameoanderson of Mischief her handsome dog." and cameoanderson is in the comments praising the work.
Okay, it says art trade instead of gift, so I guess that can imply a pre-established agreement between them. Still, if you go to the photo's source, it says: "I'm going to upload several photo refs (mostly taken by my sister desiree-joy)". Did cameoanderson have permission to have drawings made of desiree-joy's photographs? Which photos are desiree-joy's, and which are cameoanderson's? Doesn't say. And the post here mentions nothing about any photographer or photograph the drawing is a copy of, except to source suzannemoseley's drawing, which doesn't mention/clarify the true photographer either.
Not that edits and traces here depend on having permission. Edits are presumed good unless said otherwise, and traces are presumed bad unless (or even if?) said otherwise. So which do things like these fall under, an edit or a trace? And not mentioning the real source a drawing was copied from is generally considered bad, even if the source isn't trying to hide it.
Pretty!
Anyways, bumping this thread to ask something.
1.Is tracing from your own photographs helpful, especially when it comes to drawing difficult parts like perspective?
2. Is tracing from art from public domain artists like Leonardo or Van Gogh fine, as long as it's for practice purposes?
