[flashHEART.EXE]

The guy doesn't deserve any slack.  He didn't give credit to Kulli and the various other artists, so he was in fact implying that it was all his work.  No excuse.

As far as tracing goes, it is a horrible way to learn to draw (note the emphasis on that particular word there, okay?).  The only thing you have at the end is a copy of whatever you were tracing.  Tracing does not take any type of complex reasoning or visual spatial skills.  You have gained ZERO insight at to things like depth, perspective, line weight, composition.  You could trace a thousand drawings and still not be any better for it in the end.  Period.

[TC2]

I disagree with you Flash, and here's why.

Do you something better by listening to people lecture to you?

Or…

Do you learn better by actually doing the action?

Do you learn to ride a bike by your parents telling you how to do it, or by getting on the bike and doing it yourself?

Tracing is the equivalent of riding a bike on training wheels.  By studying how the picture was drawn, tracing over how it was drawn, shaded, colored, you learn all those depth techniques and perspectives.

Sure I didn't become the greatest artist in the world, but by having first traced and then drawn pictures on my own without the help of tracing.  I learned how to draw at least decent enough for animation purposes.  I would never be able to learn how to make portraits because I don't know what styles they use to make the shades of grey with what pencils.  However, I can at least learn enough basics and advanced concepts from tracing to go off on my own.

I'm not going to say "Here's my art" to prove it, because even if I did what people consider "beautiful" in art is entirely based on their own opinion.  I know the basics of shading, lighting, muscularture.  I'm nowhere near professional but I can hold my own.

I think it's wrong that the guy isn't giving Kulli credit, but at the same time tracing the works of great artists is in my opinion a great step in learning how to draw.

[flashHEART.EXE]

I am going to stick to my guns regardless of what anyone else says, and I am going to leave it at that.

[Fett]

What I've found helpful from tracing is simply this:

Lines are an icon. By drawing a line which joins itself up into a circle, and then, inside that line, drawing two more circles and then a straight line beneath them – you create a face. This is what emoticons are, no?  🙂 See?

Right, so, lines have a specific meaning in our brains as icons. When I, Kulli, DCM, Red, Gettar, Rex, Wreck, Mr Sshh, Black Kusanagi, Iczerman, Kinsyo, Coyote, Archangel Dreadnought, Zebody, The Collector 2, and anyone else I may have forgotten, regardless of style, skill, or talent, makes a drawing, the lines we use are perceived by the brain to generate whatever it is we're supposed to see.

See, the lines aren't a car, a woman, a bicep – they're lines. But arranged in certain ways, they create a pattern that says to us "car", "woman", "bicep".

So, when I trace, I use the tracing as a way of seeing just which lines create what effect.

For example: I trace a face, and after I'm done, I look at the tracing on its own and discover that the face is old and wrinkly – because I've put too many lines down. So I trace again, taking away a line here, adding a line there, and so forth, in an attempt to understand what lines create an eye, an expression, and so forth.

That is why I think tracing can be an effective learning tool. 🙂

[Axel3.14]

His work is derivative certainly, but I'll leave it to you to decide whether it's deplorable. 

If I may ask, where did you learn to draw arms, SyberStyk?

[Lu]

Me? I pretty much made it up myself. I know people will disagree with that but I did. I didn't work under someone else and I didn't copy or tace. I had my own style already  and some understanding of muscle structure and placement and just went for it. I know it's not always quite 'correct'- but it's not like anyone cares- it's not like I draw humans anyways so no one really seems to pay all that much attention.
I know what you're trying to do, but what people don't seem to understand is that ALL he DOES is copy- and draw the very same face every time- you don't see anything original or anything of his OWN. I don't get how people think copying like THAT is learning when he's not developing his own style AT ALL so he is, JUST copying.

[Fett]

I don't think anyone is defending him, so much as they are defending the concept that tracing can be a helpful learning tool.

At least that's what I'm saying.

[Tolan]

I used to trace for a long time…then I eventually got off the tracing paper and tried to copy by eye.  My best stuff is always from a produced sketch…not that I draw enough to really progress, but I used to draw all the time.

I must add that I'm not trying to defend him either…  just saying what I used to do way back when.

[Anonymous]

If you don't want anyone to copy your artwork, you're gonna have to keep it off the internet.

[AbyssPlanet]

Just a thought here, but has anyone considered contacting the guy? If it bothers you that much, bitching about it over here (where it's obvious that he's not going to show himself) isn't going to get him to change his behavior or remove the offending artwork.

[Author]

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