Is Tracing CHEATING?!

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Here it is, the biggest and most controversial question in art; Is it cheating to trace? While there is no clear answer to this question quite yet, in this article, I aim to bring some clarity to this mystery and maybe allow you to question what you believed before reading this.

What I mean by "tracing"
 In this discussion, I think it's important to make it clear what I mean by tracing. I am not talking about tracing another artists work, I am specifically talking about tracing a reference image so that you can paint overtop of it. These are two very different things. 

My experience with tracing has been much like any other artist. Of course when I was very young, around age 10, I traced all the time. I even remember tracing this scene of SpongeBob and Patrick at the beach from a nickelodeon book. At that age, people have no issue with you tracing. You can show it to your parents and they'll even go as far as to complement it. Then around age 15, the only art I was making was doodles on the back of my math homework. So there was no real need to trace there. I was content with my limited skills because my artistic 'eye' still hadn't developed. Then we get to age 18 and beyond, and I start taking art sort of seriously. I'm back to drawing in sketchbooks and now I'm using paint specifically made to make art with, and this is where tracing found its way back into my art. Now that I was taking art seriously, I knew what "good" art looked like, I just didn't have the skills to back it up, especially with portraits. So in quite a bit of my work from ages 17 to 18, you can clearly see that I traced. A part of me has always been ashamed that I had to trace but should I be? Many artists that I look up to still use a traced image before they get into a full painting.

The Case Against Tracing

By and large the art community on the internet considers tracing to be cheating. And to be honest for a long time I did too. Visual art, as much as it is a form of self expression, is also a showcase of technical skill. Therefore, It is very easy to see why someone would think that tracing is cheating. If I bowl and knock down eight pins, then a little kid, using the little alligator and bumpers, gets a strike, a part of me resents that kid. Painting or drawing with a stenciled in drawing is without a doubt an easier experience than having to interpret and draw from a reference or even a live model. Another reason that tracing is seen in a negative light, is that it is typically a crutch used to get past having to improve technical skill. This is why I used to rely so heavily on tracing, because the things I wanted to paint were so far ahead of what my technical skills (at that time) would allow for. Aside from the morality of it, I would advise newer artists and painters to avoid tracing as much as possible because It can easily become a crutch that will inevitably hold you back.

The Case For Tracing

Just like everything else in life, there's more than one way to look at it. In the case of tracing, I can certainly see its merits. For one, as I mentioned in "The Case Against Tracing", tracing allows an artist to paint or make art outside of their current skill level. And by not condemning tracing, we allow artists to grow and continue to be passionate about making art even while they are not yet where they want to be. Another case for tracing is the fact that many visual artists that I respect still trace. The artists I am speaking about are both very popular on YouTube, paint with a pretty realistic style and make it no secret that they use a charcoal copy of their reference before they begin to fully realize their painting. It should also be mentioned that while an artist may have the skill to draw something complex, they may not have the time, and a traced 'pre-sketch' helps save a lot of time. 

End Note

While I am not against people tracing,  I think that it can potentially be dangerous for beginners that lack some technical skills. Whether you trace or not, I hope that you are always passionate about the art you make and that you can continue to grow as an artist. 


https://unsplash.com/photos/77mkL_qR8_w

I traced this @ 9 years old



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