Is it Ok for Artists to Trace? 

Excellent treatment! You mentioned several key truths. The first being that "cheating" is usually brought up by the non-professional. They truly don't get it. Second, tracing doesn't lead to skill as an artist. That has to be developed separately. Well said! If you can't draw, a tracing will show this as well. Third, and a fabulous point, tracing doesn't help you see a subject in 3d space. Quite the opposite. For professional illustrators it's a useful time saver if you know how to use it. It was for me at least and I've been an illustrator for over 35 years. The key point being, I knew I could draw my subject given the time. If I traced, it was usually to save time and get an accurate result much quicker but I still had to do a significant amount of drawing OVER the tracing. When practicing in my sketchbook, which I do frequently, I never, ever trace. I that case, the person I would be cheating is myself. I liken it to giving a calculator to elementary school children still learning their multiplication tables. That would be cheating the student at that stage of their learning. But for an advance math student or mathematician, a calculator is a very useful tool. Thanks for the video!

As a professional, I’ve traced for years to adjust compositions, add & remove objects, and finalize gestures. As a teacher, I’ve instructed students to trace for decades - along with still & life drawing, as fundamentals in understanding various ways of learning how to draw. Sure, it’s a time saver, but there’s so many invaluable benefits to tracing, especially for students: learning to capture accurate proportions and to see them in real form; to understand isolating abstract shapes, like shadow blocking, which may be too subtle for a student to see in life; to identify linear perspectives, see line density, and better understand how values of objects get lighter as they go back in space. Tracing allows students to focus and see 3D objects in a familiar, flat dimension which is helpful when first starting out. Understanding objects in real space can be a real stumbler for new artists. It’s important that we, in the RU-vid community, present a full range of both benefits _and_ drawbacks, not just the drawbacks. In my opinion, tracing is incredibly valuable for any artist, pro or amateur. In the end, I’d rather see someone tracing than not drawing at all. Just my 2¢. Cheers! :)

While I totally agree with you on the time-saving benefits of tracing, I'd like to share that it serves far more purposes for people like me. I've used tracing to help me see a subject in 3d space. One has to bare in mind we're individuals with specific ways of "seeing" and interpreting what we see; some people learn to read or take in data differently (auditory vs tactile). I typically do better learning using sight, sound and touch rather than just seeing and/or hearing some demo or reading a book. But in this sense tracing is still a tool, a very useful tool for folks like me. I've also used tracing to train my hand/eye coordination when approaching certain subjects, or to help me navigate a particularly complex layer of folds in a flower when my eyes confuse me. While I do draw from observation the majority of the time and improving more and more tracing has kept me going when I wanted to give up. On the subject of tracing I've seen quite a few artists/illustrators making statements that are all encompassing which can be discouraging to those who learn differently. I'm so glad you used Norman Rockwell as a sample of great artists who used tracing. He also worked exclusively from reference photos because he could not compose images in his head. He went to great lengths to compose his subjects in person then had the scene photographed. I believe he may have suffered from a form of aphantasia. So to all those who can't just practice observation and "get it" I encourage you to trace it and to use references if necessary. There is room for you in the art world too. Kendyll is right, tracing is not cheating.

I know what you mean about the non-professional thinking it's cheating. I trace my own drawings. I use the same subject matter in several paintings, so i perfect them in my sketchbook and then use them in several of my paintings. My boyfriend saw me transferring a sketch one time, and his comment was "so you don't draw those yourself". I was upset at first that he thought i couldn't draw things myself, but then i remembered i did draw it, i just drew it yesterday.

Another thing that tracing is helpful with is training your brain. I'm a beginner and although I do a LOT of freehand drawing, I find that when I trace things that are very difficult for me to get proportion with, somehow I get better at it quicker than when I just keep trying to do it freehand over and over again. Somehow the brain/eye/hand coordination seems to get it faster and better. I definitely will keep using tracing as a learning tool.

Yessss!! I'm SO happy that you put this video out there. I agree with everything you said 100%. As an artist, I believe in drawing freehand as much as humanly possible and leave tracing only for specific situations in which time is an issue. I always recommend my students (whether they're 10 or 50), to see tracing (and even using grids) as sort of "training wheels" that you're aiming to get rid of. This should be the case, at least, if they're really serious about progressing their drawing skills. When someone has absolutely no experience drawing, then tracing may help develop a certain confidence in line work, but as you said, it doesn't help people develop their observational skills. I always recommend people looking to improve their art to draw/paint from both photographs as well as from direct observation, too. Working from life or from direct observation challenges us in a way that using a flat photograph does not, as it forces us to translate three-dimensional forms that we're able to reach out and touch, onto a flat two-dimensional substrate. It's an amazing experience that certainly makes us progress artistically faster. I've found beginners tend to want to jump right into shading and detail, and skip the phase of creating that preliminary sketch. I did it too when I was very young, as shading seems to fun and satisfying! But it's that work on that preliminary sketch and achieving effective proportions, etc., that should be first and foremost. Drawing is the basis for everything. And it's so true! Someone who knows how to draw well will probably be able to create awesome paintings pretty fast, but if one skips learning how to draw and observe, and wants to jump straight to painting, it will be very difficult!

Thank you, Kendyll, for sharing your thoughts and showing different contexts in such a levelled way. Appreciated it.

I agree that this topic is definitely not as cut and dry as some people see it and it depends greatly on your goals as an artist and the type of work that you do. For me, any method of transferring such as tracing, grids, etc. are very tedious so I don't use them on my sketchbook or personal work, but I do find them necessary for commissions, mainly due to time constraints but also to keep my work as clean as possible. I'm a very messy sketcher so I usually do the drawing separately and transfer it to my final paper.

Amazing video! I feel like so many people get really angry and heated over this subject and artists can get torn to pieces for it. This was so calm, clear and completely rational. You made some excellent points and I'm happy this is out there.

Thank you, Kendyll! So very helpful! I will pursue a drawing class now instead of a tracing machine!! 🧡

This is the best video on this subject. You make the most informative videos!

Great topic! Back in college, for my painting II class, we painted on a larger scale. This called for a projector that projected our image up onto the large canvas and then we would trace the basic outline of our subjects. I agree that having fundamental drawing skills helped. It was a tool to use toward the end result. These days I have used that tool for set design because the set pieces are so grand. Same idea. Good job!

Very well put! I’ve seen a lot of younger artists sing the praises of tracing to learn which I never understood I think you put it very nicely as to why that doesn’t help.

I agree tracing can be a bad habit in the long run. However Ive know how to draw for a long time and only recently learned how to color and paint. As I'm already late, I find tracing a time saver for my fast learning in coloring. When I get the hang of it and more confident I will certainly stop tracing to produce a more origin work.

All of this! I agree completely. I also use it when I’m sketching things to help my brain wrap itself around 3d objects being transformed into 2d, but only in the sketching phase, and then ya, transferring my own work onto a better paper. Great video, and even though you were nervous about it your authenticity breathes confidence into it. :)

Thank you for sharing this video. I’ve historically been in the “tracing is cheating” camp and have recently been questioning my beliefs about that. My thoughts are pretty much exactly everything you’ve discussed. Honestly, I had no idea those famous artists you mentioned used tracing, but just a few days ago I was thinking about how famous historical artists would use any tools they have available to them to make their jobs more efficient. I still haven’t used tracing in my work. It feels like cheating to me, but I’m more open minded about it and am considering trying it to save time. I’m not going for total realism at the moment, so I’d use tracing as more of a blueprint for a more abstract work. :)

Great video!! I agree...learning to really see the object you are drawing/painting helps to bring the soul of that object into your work which gives it life.

I couldn’t agree more with your points for tracing as a tool and photo references in general. Unfortunately for me, I rarely have a subject for a commission right in front of me. I receive a lot of memorial and pet portrait commissions so photo references are key. BUT I prefer drawing from life because you lose so much detail and form in photos. I work from life for my side projects all the time. Tracing has this stigma with it, however, when I have 10 commissions, as I do this month, I have to be able to quickly lay down eye and nose placements. It doesn’t mean I don’t know how to place them already on my own but it’s a guide so I don’t have to process it like I normally would, which shaved off 15-30 minutes off each drawing. Drawing and painting can be very cathartic but when it’s your profession, it’s actual work. There are so many unsaid layers behind it that you may not even realize it. Stress of payment, charging too much, charging too little, supplies, upkeep, getting more commission work, spacing them out appropriately, etc. and that’s just with the actual process let alone personal things going on. So thank you for clarifying to your masses because I’ve felt that tracing as a tool is vital for artists like me, at times like these. Okay...monologue over. Have to keep going on this pet portrait. Haha!

I use tracing for muscle memory. Also I use tracing to later become confident enough to manipulate a drawing to where I can add elements from more than one image.

Good thoughts. I really like the way you cover art topics and the way you present yourself on your channel.

Very valuable advice. Thanks for sharing!

Hi Kendyll, great subject. I mostly paint. I don't draw often, because I'm not great at it but sometimes I find it relaxing (or funny, when I draw faces 😂). But I agree with you. Tracing is faster and easier but but you don't learn a lot from it. Thanks for the video and have a great day 💕

I mostly trace my own stuff like if I’ve drawn a successful drawing then I’ll trace it a few times onto watercolour paper which gives me freedom to experiment while not ruining my original. Btw I learned to draw by tracing 60 years ago made me very aware of how to construct my art 🖼 Love your work Kendyll and good luck with the baby 👶👍🏻🇬🇧💖

Thank you for all your videos and advices especially the business aspect of illustration, as a bigginer you are helping me a lot you cant imagine...and i am sorry for my english haha ...sending you much love from Morocco ❤

Yup! I completely agree about learning to draw first. Even so, I always feel super guilty when I trace something, but it’s often a huge time saver for commercial work. The other thing that is worth mentioning is to be careful what you’re tracing from in terms of copyright. If you’re doing it all the time and not taking your references and remixing/transforming them, you might run into trouble. Awesome video! Thank you for talking about this 💜

I cannot recall the last time I traced something because I love drawing, and the process of image creation that's involved in drawing is really valuable for the kind of painting that I do. But I can see ways that people can use tracing to create complex images even when their drawing skills are weak or nonexistent. There is absolutely no reason why someone should not compose a picture if they want to do so. If they use tracing as a part of a process of invention -- why not? I would liken it to certain kinds of collage where a composition is assembled from various found pictures. Using tracing, instead of cutting out pictures, you'd trace the necessary contours and assemble the linear images. Now, what you afterwards DO with the traced shapes is an entirely different matter -- and that's where the creativity comes into play. The problem resides with how people think about tracing. If you think of it as a rigid copy of a shape, then it's very limiting. If instead you think of it as a form of image capture -- where you take images or parts of images to assemble and reassemble and elaborate them -- then tracing is just a tool. I draw everything. First step in painting for me is drawing. While a painting is underway, I am making more drawings to think through aspects of the painting. The painting still has challenges as a painting. Drawing doesn't solve color. Drawing helps you find the composition you want, but you are still searching. Tracing used creatively just allows someone who cannot draw a means of putting images together. Afterwards, the same challenges -- and rewards -- obtain. Asking whether tracing is ok is asking the wrong question. It assumes a rigid copying. The better question is "how are you using tracing to advance ideas?", to create something broader than just a copy of one item.

Thanks Kendyll! I think frustration leads to tracing too. The it's taking too long! I like the qualification: if you can draw it fine use it speed the process. But if you can't you'll handicap yourself. (Your drawing from observation for 10yrs before you ever traced, now that's a real salient point there.) I know from experience tracing isn't observing. If you have a bit of skill you'll pick and choose which parts to highlight and accentuate. Ignore all the superfluous bits that detract from the focal point. If you dont know of anything beyond this is a pretty image, you'll want to copy everything. Which is fine, but are you realy fine with not learning from the piece?

I'm watching this while tracing my final draft base drawings for painting from my own drawing rough drafts. 😂

I think the grid method is almost as bad as tracing. Both prevent you from learning how to draw. Yet a lot of people who decide to give up tracing simply move on to the grid method. They get the same great results but without the guilty conscience of tracing because there is less stigma surrounding gridding, probably because many non-artists don’t know what it is. Grid method is like methadone for people trying to manage their tracing addiction.

Right. But that doesn’t bother me, especially in commercial, like you said, especially for those who have the skill set to draw. What bothers me are people who take trade marked commercial images, trace it and maybe alter parts of it and sell those as originals. And actually, those sell to the masses. Seems like not fair, especially if the characters was originally designed from someone else. (Ex. Disney)

Excellent overview on the subject. Great job!

Oh Kendyll, you are experienced in ballet! 😁 how cool! Very important subject to talk about, thank you for this video!

I trace my own photographs and sketches for Printmaking, because you can't erase something once it has been etched or carved.

Choreography is a great analogy but there's a keen difference. Many great dancers never become choreographers. In contrast, composition is fundamental in image making. Every artist, whether a beginner or an accomplished painter/draftsman, has to compose an entire image. You cannot not be creating a whole picture. Even when you draw an isolated object in a notebook, that image has a relationship to the format of the page -- either a sensitive and wonderful relationship -- or maybe a lame, "I wasn't even paying attention to the fact that there's a "format" kind of relationship. Thus ANY process that makes the artist aware of the format and of the interrelationships of parts of a composition to the whole ensemble is valuable. If someone uses tracing to create a larger idea, then tracing is just a tool -- even if the artist never learns to draw. I hate saying this because I love drawing. But tracing is a problem when it's viewed as a limiting idea. For me, it would be an extra step, so I have little motive for using it. But for someone who cannot draw, it's a means -- then the product -- well, that's only limited by the imagination of the person using the tool.

I'm sorry Kendyll, but how can tracing be cheating when you use it as a tool to help you? I've been drawing for many years ever since I was a kid, and I don't use any tracing except for creating animations. Tracing does help certain artists and animators to control the flow of gestor in a character's movement or other factors that may come up in their drawings. The animation paper that animators use to create their character's movement should also be considered tracing since you can see the outline through the paper as well and when you flip back and forth to get the character just right. Even in digital art, onion skin is usually used to animate a character as well, which is also considered in the term as tracing. But in ways it does help those who are learning to draw use tracing paper to help them figure the fundamentals of drawing a person or superhero from a comic book, coloring book, or even a magazine by using shapes to construct the human figure. But I agree though there are some people who take advantage of it without learning from it.

You’re the first professional artist whose views on the subject I can get on board with. Finding out that a lot of artists I admire trace outlines from photos has really reduced my appreciation of their work. Many claim that it’s just a time saver but then when you see them freehand something it’s nowhere near as good. In that sense I still feel it’s cheating. (I’m not a professional myself, so proving your point :D) I’ve gained all the more admiration for artists who clearly give their own interpretation of a subject. Isn’t that the art part of it all?

Yes! The onøy person who's given me grief about tracing (I don't do it often) is a person who doesn't create art in any way

I’m already Tracer

I never trace. I spent so many yrs learning freehand. For some reason I’m annoyed by all these artist getting props for making great art work after i see their works in progress and can clearly see how they traced their outline. How are you a great artist if all you are doing is tracing? I only agree with tracing if you have a ton of commission and you need to cut your time down but only if you already know how to do it but you are just trying to save time.

What about the subject that is being traced? What ownership does the artist need to have of the reference work in order to call the art thier own? For example, what if someone took a picture of a statue and then traced it and painted it. Could she or he call it thier own and sell it as thier own work of art?

I personally think digital drawing is more "cheating" (a word which implies there are rules to art, which to me is false) than tracing in vellum paper. That said, I do very little of either