So this person called @aphroditetheartist was accusing me of tracing, and at first I just ignored them, but they came back with the accusations so I thought I’d just make a project about it. So, to begin, I want to say that, yes, I did trace things when I was younger, I think a lot of people start out that way. However, I only used photo references or things people had made as a reference (like picture 1), and I never traced other people’s art. And obviously all the character designs were mine or other’s that I had permission to draw. I didn’t even really consider it tracing at the time, and even now I think younger me wasn’t doing anything particularly wrong, I was just learning and part of that is learning from others. I just maybe should have given credit to the references I used. I would like to stress, this was a couple of years ago and I was just starting out. I am now at the point where I don’t need to trace to make good art, and my art is far better than some of my older stuff. So, I wanted to show some techniques I use now that are NOT tracing. In picture 2, you can see a picture (by Albanenechi) that I used as a reference, not traced. You can tell this by the fact that the artstyle in my own, and the poses are different, obviously because I’m not as skilled as Albanenechi. (By the way, her bio literally says ‘drawing base and pose reference archive’ so her drawings are meant to be referenced). Picture 3 is a photo reference I did trace, but there is a difference between a finished drawing and a study. The whole idea is to use a drawing or photo and copy it, to help yourself get better in your own art. And picture 4 is a ‘draw the squad’ type picture, where the whole point is the draw over the base with your own characters. So with all that, I know I won’t change anyone’s mind who isn’t open to listening, but I hope if you’re finding me through these accusations, you’ll see my side. Anyways, sorry it’s come to this, bye! Click for next.
