nekonotaishou on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/nekonotaishou/art/Reference-vs-Trace-203372474nekonotaishou

Deviation Actions

nekonotaishou's avatar

Reference vs Trace

Published:
5.1K Views

Description

I'm hoping this will help fix the abundance of that pathetic 'I-didn't-know-there-was-difference' excuse. Tracing is never excusable.

Tracing is not referencing! So stop saying it is!


Reference: in a nutshell, it's looking at other images and copying what you need from them, be it anatomy, pose, style quirks, markings, colors, etc. Usually, the heavier the reference, the more similarities between the source and the art piece.

Trace: A reproduction made by superimposing a transparent sheet and copying the lines of the original on it.(1) It's only ever ok if what you're tracing is your own work! Tracing and art-theft are the only things in art that you can really call 'cheating'. Both are forms of plagiarism.

==============================
having to trace that image made me feel sick =_=

The only thing in here that is mine is that drawing of Gin up there, the referenced drawing.

Ginga (c) Yoshihiro Takahashi
Image size
1473x1730px 2.62 MB
© 2011 - 2024 nekonotaishou
Comments43
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
CraftyAllie's avatar
This was really helpful. Now I know that drawing on top of a existing image isn't necessarily tracing. 
I legit didn't know that. This will really help with anatomy practice! ;w;