To Trace or Not to Trace

[Yorky]

I absolutely agree Char, I trace when I need to, usually I draw feehand.

Doug

[painterbear]

If it helps those of you who draw and never, ever, never trace anything on your watercolor paper feel superior to those of us who do, well you just keep on patting yourselves on the head and saying how much better an artist you are. Go on, feel happy.

As for me, I can draw but I don't really enjoy it unless I am doing a drawing for drawing's sake. When I am getting ready to start a painting, I want to get the image on the paper as quickly as possible so I can get my paints and brushes wet so I do trace it. If those of you that only draw and never, ever, never trace think that that makes my paintings inferior to those who start out spending their time drawing an image, well, so be it.

But, I agree 100% with what Char said ^^^

I absolutely REFUSE to stand in judgement of those artists whose drawing skills are less than stellar. How ever they get the "bones" of a line drawing on their paper is fine by me. Drawing by hand is NOT the only way... it's only one way of many options...

I wish that our community would not negatively judge these artists, but encourage them in their effort and desire to be creative. As a community we sure need to be more supportive!

Again, why would you automatically assume that these tracers are using other artists' compositions? Sheesh...

Sylvia

[vhere]

I don't assume that

just pointing out that it can be a severe pitfall

[CharM]

Vivien, I guess I was generalizing somewhat and I apologize... I firmly believe that emerging artists will eventually find their way... and those who want to take their art more seriously will begin to strengthen their skill sets when the time is right... for those who just want to have a bit of fun, they shouldn't be made to feel less than artistic.

Now and again, I've seen some pretty bad freehand drawing and thought that perhaps the Artist should have considered tracing the image!

I think also, that if you were to do a Search here on WC, you'll find that this topic has been discussed ad nauseum... and the recurring message is not necessarily positive or supportive to those who cannot or will not draw freehand.

If the drawing itself becomes the finished artwork, then freehand drawing skills are absolutely imperative. However, when a watercolour artist simply needs a line drawing of the major shapes, then it's really not as important.

And, for those who love to draw, then it's a moot point... it is part of their process and an important step in creating their vision.

My point is and always has been that everyone approaches their painting a little differently. And one group should never feel more superior than another...

[hblenkle]

If they are not selling the painting, using other's paintings has been a time honored tradition. When I switched from Oils to Watercolors, I found some Watercolor paintings I liked and tried to copy them. A guide to show what the Watercolor should look like. Otherwise I would have produced Watercolors that looked like Oils. Not bad, but not what I wanted. After a month the local Art League classes started up and I started taking classes. I felt I had a good start by practicing that month.

[oty]

Some years ago, when I started to play around with watercolor, I had no drawing skills/background at all, but I wasn't interested in drawing at that time - all I wanted was to mix the colors, that was the magic. So, I used to trace every little thing that I wanted to "color".
Now, although I am using all the time photos for reference, I am trying to achieve different things (especially after Virgil's tutorial) - trying to get a better composition, simplify thing or add something, which means tracing doesn't really help.
Of course, with my drawing skill, most of the time I do not get the right proportions, or the right perspective, but I guess that is in the learning process too, and I hope that with practice it will get better.

[hblenkle]

After years of painting classes I was not happy with my drawing skills. It had been 10 years since I took drawing classes. I took a drawing class at the local college and it was great. Well worth the effort. Originally I learned from a book. Decided to take an adult study class in drawing, which was great. The college class was even more advanced. The level of drawing skill made a big difference in my painting.

[71art]

I trace my own freehand drawings and paintings too. It allows to refine, merge, duplicate etc.

[SSB]

Good thread.

I invite everyone to try this. It helps both those who can and those who can't draw:

Draw every subject three times (or more). Trace it once (if possible, as in from a photo or through a sheet of acetate) and overlay the trace over your drawings. That way you can check your progress.

Remember, tracing a photo is not properly interpreting it to compensate for the camera, which warps both shape and color.

This is what I do, though the real artist in the family usually nails the drawing in the first or second attempt. When I draw something three times (or more) I always end up with a better drawing than I thought I could ever do. It always feels like a great accomplishment! I never get that from a well painted trace.


Some additional thoughts:

Tracing in order to transfer a freehand drawing to other surfaces is a good practice. Transferring isn't tracing. The point is to have the image pass through your eyes and brain at some point previous to the transferring.

Gridding is absolutely not tracing. Anyone who thinks gridding isn't OK I feel is splitting hairs.

Tracing to "get to coloring" is generally a bad idea.
But- sometimes I trace my own drawing two or three times on different surfaces to begin exploration of different color schemes. This can more accurately be called "practicing painting".

Tracing in lieu of any actual drawing at all is substandard art when compared to drawing that has been processed through a brain- think of your brain as a special photoshop filter there is no shortcut for!!!!!

Understand, tracing is turning off your eyes and brain, no good can come of that. I personally don't care what happens to get beautiful artwork, but the work I like the most seems to always be done by people with absolute drawing proficiency. Remember, Picasso didn't draw cartoonishly because he had no choice.

PS: haven't any of you perfectly traced something and it looks way off? You actually hurt yourself when you convince yourself it must be right because it is traced.

PPS: In full disclosure, I do sometimes trace something for the sake of truly instantaneous painting. These works never look right, it ends up being a comic routine where I think halfway through "OK, start over and do it right". Don't get me wrong, sometimes it can be the only way to get going.

PPPS: Try tracing something, but then turn around and freehand it. I have noticed when I "give up" on a trace and restart freehand it seems to sort of count as practice towards the final work.

[scribblet]

Originally Posted by painterbear

If it helps those of you who draw and never, ever, never trace anything on your watercolor paper feel superior to those of us who do, well you just keep on patting yourselves on the head and saying how much better an artist you are. Go on, feel happy.

As for me, I can draw but I don't really enjoy it unless I am doing a drawing for drawing's sake. When I am getting ready to start a painting, I want to get the image on the paper as quickly as possible so I can get my paints and brushes wet so I do trace it. If those of you that only draw and never, ever, never trace think that that makes my paintings inferior to those who start out spending their time drawing an image, well, so be it.

But, I agree 100% with what Char said ^^^


Sylvia

Me Too !!

[scribblet]

Originally Posted by kate252

there is a guy on the oil forum who does fabulous paintings which are all traced- i think he is under the name of Bob Martin. he is not to be under estimated- not at all- his skill lis in his brush work and use of color. his paintings are vibrant and strong- very strong.

the only reason why i dont do traced work- is because it doesnt fit in with my usual- apparant approach- which seems o be loose and quite quick.

i think its all about what style and approach that fits you

it sounds as though you are are naurally inclined and finding this way of working- enjoy and embrace it!

ive just been over to oil forum and found him straight away- he was talking about how he got firt place in a competetin- im not surprised- take a look at this!!!!!

they are outstanding, I can only dream (in watercolour)

[pumkin54]

It seems that people are assuming that those who trace don't know how to draw. I don't think the two necessarily go hand in hand. But just because you can draw doesn't mean you always want/have to. Preferring to read a story rather than write one doesn't mean you don't know how to write.

[pa-paw]

Tracing is without a doubt a shortcut that is sometimes taken by folks who can draw. Drawing well requires a certain amount of patience and labor that is not required in tracing.

[McKeeJane]

I've drawn freehand, I've traced...now what I usually do is study by doing a sketch in my sketchbook, then paint on my wc paper without an underlying drawing...who knows what I'll do next week. Personally, I just don't feel any of it is cheating.
However, the original poster did ask for everyone's opinions regarding tracing and I find it interesting to hear what people actually think about the subject. It's going on inside people's heads, whether they post it 'out loud' here for everyone to read or not. I think this started as an opportunity to find out how different people judge skills, paintings, etc...disagree, of course, as you will - but I think we should all just learn from it and not take it so personally.

I mean, I think most of us already realize that there are many who consider tracing cheating...if we decide to do it anyway, we know we have reasons good enough for ourselves. That's really all that should matter in the long run.

[pa-paw]

Interestingly, I just downloaded a Carrie Stuart Parks DVD in which she advises everyone to use some form of transfer to get their drawing on to the watercolor paper.