I feel as if there is an art to tracing, especially on rough papers. I can't draw, but love to color and paint. My youngest son got me started with adult coloring a couple of years after I lost my oldest son. It has saved my sanity and I will do whatever to continue. My living son deserves to have me here for him.
The only people who have told me that tracing etc is cheating are people who can't draw or paint themselves. People that have no idea about the process of making art
For years, as a scenic designer, including the use of enormous canvases and murals (some 64' in width!!), I executed and fine-tuned my designs in small scale and projected them to the size of stage I was commissioned to dress. I could not have done that without a projector. Recently a subject for a mixed media project was giving me fits with the constant tracing paper method and dealing with the negative space of the composition. I seriously have been contemplating a light box. Projectors and light boxes are just other tools, like our brushes and scissors, in our arsenal. Don't get hung up on the "cheating" lie, it will tie your creativity in knots. Thanks, Julie, for addressing this!!
Thanks Julie! I've not heard anyone put the use of tracing tools into that kind of context and I hope everyone takes it to heart. The way I do it is when I want to practice drawing, I draw freehand. When I want to get to the challenge of the painting process, I use a tracing tool. I have never felt it diminished my work and you are right, taking that one very little step in the whole long process does move me to success in a way that encourages me to do more!
I agree, I use it mainly to make sure the figure fits the canvas properly, which saves a lot of headache later on. It also saves SO much time. And yes, like you said what you do after the sketch is what makes/breaks the painting.
I thank you for this. I teach at the Community College of Baltimore County and have many new students who spurn tracing. I was classically trained and know that this is just another method to get to where we're all trying to go. A very good job of explaining what's what.
Thank you for this video. I’ve used a lightbox/light table before and always felt like a fraud. I have problems with getting proportion and scale correct in illustration and this has been an excellent tool for me. I know, practice makes perfect. But then, there’s Wabi Sabi, right? So this video makes me feel a bit better. Thank you.
I used my lightbox for the first time a month ago. Bought it a year ago and hid it!! Utter terror of cheating vs sheer delight of speed and result!! What if someone complimented my work?? Yet, my favorite wildlife artist uses similar tech unashamedly. It's a hard row to hoe for me. Hoping it will get easier over time. Thanks Julie, for the encouragement.❤
Anyone who says a lightbox is cheating must have no clue about art history or how to make art in general. We were taught to use a lightbox in college art classes. I still use one to this day to transfer my practice sketches to the final paper.
Hey Gabriel... if you navigate through our website to the equipment category you will see all of these items listed there. Projectors and light boxes both! Hope this is helpful to you! Thank you for watching and thank you for your question! Julie 😊
First love your video's.☺ You still must have some artistic capabilities when using these assistive aids. For example there are arguments regarding the using of drawing Apps within the art community. Using them does not an Artist make. For example, many people were surprised that I used just my computer mouse to draw and lay colours only using PowerPoint. Not any specif art and design App such as Photoshop or CorelDRAW, etc. I have been drawing, pen inking and painting since childhood. I've learned aspects of perspective, shading, laying color, composition, anatomy, etc and I still am learning. Much of my talent is intrinsic to me and probably the ability is laid out in my Gene's since my father and a few of my siblings are excellent in artistic endeavours. Having an App or assistive device such as a light box is just another means to completing an art project. You still need to have the ability and talent to bring your endeavour to fruition.
Hello Earnest... yes it is. It’s only at about the half way point. I like to bring pieces in that aren’t always 100% yet... I still have quite a ways to go. Maybe we will do a video about it when it’s done! I’m playing with metallics vs matte... detail vs empty space. Thanks for your question! 😊Julie
Anyone who thinks "tracing" is necessarily "cheating" should try tracing an old master and then comparing their traced drawing with the original. Even if an amateur is tracing a very simple line drawing they're almost certainly going to lose the subtleties of the line work that give the original its life and power.
