Is It Okay to Trace?

Find Out Why…Or Why Not…

Is it okay to trace? It’s a question that I’ve battled back and forth with many times over the years. And, I’ve come to the conclusion that the answer is yes…and no. Granted, most of my art school teachers would vehemently shout a resounding NO! But there is a time and a place in my opinion, and in the opinions of many professional and well-established artists. Let’s dig in a little more, shall we?

First of all, let’s go over why it’s okay and even beneficial…

The human eye transmits over 10,000,000 bits of information to the brain every second.

Tracing is one of the first ways that we learned how to draw as kids. As a learning tool, it is outstanding for getting you to see things that you normally would not see. In the normal day to day of things, the human eye process and sends roughly 10,000,000 bits of information to the brain per second. Can you imagine actually registering and being consciously aware of all that info every single second? This is why most people often gloss over the minor details of their day. The eye takes it all in, but you don’t really notice much of the details. Tracing forces you to slow down and trace over all of the details you’d normally otherwise not notice.

Let’s assume that the previous paragraph was talking about tracing over a photo. What about tracing over another artist’s work? Very early on in my artistic schooling, my mind screamed NO! But lo and behold, some of my art professors had us doing tracings and studies of the masters (DaVinci, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, etc.). Again, this work is a study. You are studying the masters and how they executed their work, their methods and techniques. However, that was not the extent of things. While we did the masters’ studies, we also did tons of our own work, hopefully incorporating what we learned by tracing and copying into each drawing.

You may be surprised…

Camera Obscura by Unknown – file:///C:/magical%20motion%20museum/00%20pre-lanterna%20magica/camera%20obscura/001_a01_camera_obscura_abrazolas..jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52154597

Many well-established artists trace very frequently. The common thought is that if you’re tracing, you’re cheating or you must not know how to draw. The fact of the matter is, as I mentioned before, the old masters used tracing regularly. Jan Van Eyck, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Botticelli, and DaVinci, just to name a few, all took advantage of the technology available to them. At the time, the camera obscura projected an image onto a wall or canvas. The artist traced the outline of the image and then used the tracing to paint the most famous paintings of all time, paintings which now grace the walls of museums around the world, such as the Louvre.

If I gave the traced image, on the left, to someone who couldn’t draw, they’d never be able to achieve the finished piece, on the right.

These masters of long ago, as well as the well-established artists of today, do know how to draw and can, if time permits. They don’t need to trace, but if they can trace and save two to three hours laying down an outline, then why not? They still need to rely on all of their skills to complete the drawing. If I gave a perfectly traced image to someone who couldn’t draw and asked them to take it to a finished photo-realistic rendering, there’s no way they’d be able to do it. Why? Because the simple fact of the matter is that they lack the drawing skills necessary.

And frankly, if someone pays hundreds or even thousands to commission a pet portrait or a portrait of a loved one, that artist better make sure that the finished piece looks exactly like their subject, with every detail accounted for and exactly where it should be. The tracing ensures that every detail is as precise as possible in the least amount of time possible. The artist’s skill still comes into play in executing the rest of the drawing or painting. Value, color, saturation, tone, and knowing where to put highlights or when to play down certain aspects which may not carry over well in the finished artwork are just some of the factors the artist must handle with skill in order to pull off a successful portrait.

Now let’s address why tracing is not beneficial…

Tracing, as already mentioned, can be extremely helpful in the learning process. However, if the artist is not taking the time to practice drawing without tracing, then there is no benefit at all. It’s like learning to ride a bike with training wheels but never taking the training wheels off. At some point, the artist needs to strengthen their own skills in order to be able to draw on their own without tracing. Continuing to trace without having the skills to do it on your own is basically cheating. If you’re tracing an image, leaving it as is, and saying the traced outline is yours, then yes, that’s cheating.

The difference between that and the professional artist who uses tracing as a time-saving method? The answer is simple. If it came right down to it, that artist could draw their subject without tracing and they could take it all the way through to the finish piece. Don’t forget that even with the tracing, the person who lacks the drawing skills, will be unable to take the tracing all the way through to a finished piece. They will not know how to accurately work with values and add all the subtle details. Even by attempting to trace the entire thing, the lack of skill will be painfully obvious.

The other reason why relying on solely on tracing is not beneficial is that, depending on the work you’re tracing, you can inadvertently pick up bad habits. For example, if you’re tracing over another artist’s work, you’re assuming that the work being traced has no errors. The fact is that artists are human and quite prone to error. If the artist whose work you’re tracing is only moderately skilled, you’ll be tracing over their errors and incorporating the tendency for that error into your own habits. An analogy for this is, if you’re trying to bake a cake with a cake pan that has a dent in it, every cake you bake will reflect the same dent. That being said, make sure the artist you’re tracing is reputable and well known for excellent work and therefore would be less likely to make amateur mistakes.

In conclusion…

So to tie a bow on the subject of tracing…yes, go ahead and use it as a practice tool if you’re learning. And if you already know how to draw, use it as a tool to speed things up or to make your pet and people commissions as precise as possible. And no…do not use tracing exclusively if you don’t know how to draw. Do the work necessary to establish your own skills. Trace the subject five times and then attempt to draw it on your own five times. The truth is, there are no shortcuts to learning how to draw. You must put the time in through practice. Also, trying to pass off a tracing as your own work is just sleazy.

And really…if tracing was good enough for the old masters, it’s good enough for me!

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