Tracing isn’t any kind of art, fine or otherwise. However, artists do trace images frequently. Tracing is a tool, like a pencil or piece of paper. It’s an interim move used to transfer an image onto another matrix like a printing plate or canvas, whatever media the artist is working in.

The reason is simple: When you draw the form you see before you, you’re virtually tracing that form in your mind. You then trace that mental image by drawing a line that matches the one in your mind’s eye. Thus, when you’re physically tracing a drawing, you’re teaching yourself to trace images mentally.

Tracing is a word similar to copying, but in the art world, they are completely different. Tracing is a term used when someone uses tracing paper, a layer using an art program, or by putting a sheet of paper over an image, and just complete draw that image line to line. It is also the same with copying.

The short answer is yes, it does! Tracing a picture or art from other artists can help you improve our drawings if you trace the art consciously! This might seem like a silly way to learn how to draw objects – but it does work. Tracing objects will not turn a person into a certified artist.

Many artists today also use tracing as part of the process of creating – more than you may realize. Clearly, these artists do not feel that it’s cheating to trace. For many artists, the product of the finished work of art is most important. The quality of the work outweighs the process.

It means that tracing is legal, so long as the original artist does not object. Tracing is different in most cases because it is not artwork that has been copied physically/digitally from an original. A tracing is a reproduction or derivative based on original artwork and that is not theft.

It is illegal for you to sell said artwork and pass off your copy as being done by the original artist, that would be uttering a false instrument or forgery. It is illegal for you to sell a copy of the artist work without the original artist permission. That would be Copyright infringement.

Making an exact copy of an artist’s work, fabricating the paperwork, and then selling it at auction as their work is definitely illegal, it’s called forgery, but there is nothing criminal about tracing specifically.

Like literary plagiarism, art plagiarism also comes in many forms such as theft and tracing. Art theft is the “obvious” stealing of artwork and publishing it as your own art. On the other hand, tracing is an act of duplicating the original artwork either with little or no change at all.

Tracing is useful, but limiting. If you cannot draw a reasonable likeness freehand, you are unlikely to produce good results even if you DO trace. You will certainly never be able to draw realistic looking work from your imagination if you are too dependent upon tracing photos for accurate proportions.

When it comes to art, we are taught from the cradle that copying is wrong. Of course, there are situations in which copying is most wrong. You don’t copy something and pass it off as your own. You shouldn’t copy something and then pretend it’s the original.

Signs

1. Good anatomy, poor shading/colors. The anatomy is fine overall, but when it comes to color this person is at a very elementary skill level.
2. Good anatomy, poor color theory.
3. Good anatomy, no line variation.
4. Mixed skill levels in one pic (frequently clothes and hair)
5. Frequent, huge style shifts.
6. Knowers.

“Optical devices certainly don’t paint pictures.” That said, tracing is an excellent way to learn how to draw. Hyperrealists, who spend upwards of hundreds of hours on their work rely on tracing -because if even the tiniest little detail is in the wrong place it will throw the whole painting off.

It is okay to trace references if they are your own references. For example, tracing photos you have taken of buildings or landscapes or people posing. If the only way for you to create something is by tracing it from someone else, then you’re not ready to make that artwork. Keep practicing instead!

Tracing a pose from pictures is perfectly fine for private learning purposes, and to an extent public art if you credit the source. Selling pose-traced art, though, is ill-advised; in that case, you’re safer doing referencing, where you don’t trace it outright.

While it’s true that tracing will give you results, fast (and I’ve seen graphics artists do it that way because of that), it’s detrimental to your skills in the long run: you develop a habit of relying on exact reference and of focusing on the lines instead of the volumetric shapes that make up your subjects.

How to Use Photos without Violating Copyright Laws

1. Always ask permission to use a photo.
2. Give proper credit to the creator of the photo.
3. Understand the Fair Use copyright.
4. Use images with Creative Commons licenses.
5. Purchase stock photos.

According to internet lore, if you change 30% of a copyrighted work, it is no longer infringement and you can use it however you want.

One good way to see if a photo is copyrighted is by reverse searching for the image. Right click on the image and select “copy image address”. Then paste this into Google Images or a site dedicated to reverse image search, like TinEye. This will show you where the image is used, and where it has come from.