Everyone seems to be up in arms as of late over the idea that tracing is acceptable on DA. With everything I am about to say, please don't think I am all for tracing and art theft. Actually it is very much the contrary. I have had my art and intillectual property swiped more often than I can count! It has always been resolved though and usually in a somewhat peaceful manner. With that said there are a few things I would like people to keep in mind. When I was a kid I traced a lot of art from my coloring books to get a feel for how I was working. After I had spent all this time tracing and then changing things, I was VERY proud of what I had done. I was a kid and noone is gonna yell at a 9 year old for tracing. I still red line poses on occasions. I will sketch over a magazine or photo referance to get the pose sorted and then work from the roughs. Actual comic book artists will vector over an reference image of a building or structure to create a wireframe for future use. This saves time and money for the companies producing the books. Tracing is out there and used A LOT! So saying all tracing is bad is sort of like saying all vegetables are bad because you don't like asparagus.
Don't get me wrong. I don't like the idea of someone tracing my art and throwing a minor alteration as my own up on their screen. I have had people do this. Its a hard pill to swallow, but there is something to keep in mind before we fly off the handle. Those handy dandy bases a lot of people like to use. You know the ones, ones that are obviously copied from the shows we love...yea someone traced that. You may think its not bad because the base was traced from a TV show. Well, technicaly that doesn't matter. It was still traced and with the way everyone is looking at it, still bad and should be banned from DA. That means everyone who used that free base for their art, something they worked hard on and are proud of, well they all suck right? Because they traced!
My point is that Tracing is an ever preasent thing on both the internet and DA as a whole. Before the internet (when I was 9...well before I knew what it was) Tracing was still out there. Getting upset at blatent tracing because it came from your art hurts. In the end though it is no worse than the guy that made the base from a screen cap on MY LITTLE PONY. It may seem okay when using mass media, but its no different then snagging an image on DA. It hurts more because it was your art and you saw who did it! Your an independant artist so it must be worse, right? Nope! Its just the same, so PLEASE keep that in mind.
When DA looks at these art theft cases, they have a lot to consider. I don't know the numbers, but there is probably a certain percentage of the image that must be the same for the image to be considered copied or stolen. If someone came along, traced a picture in my gallery for the pose and then went on to change the background, shading, overall image itself, only using the pose itself. To someone impartial all they can do is look at the end result images, and determine what the percentage of similarity is. To an artist who knows how much this sucks and what it feels like, it feels like DA doesn't care. When dealing with the hundreds of reports they must get in a day, emotion must be removed from the equation and things must be delt with in a certain way. That way the method can be repeated offering fair judgement to all.
A while back someone copied the descriptions behind my reflected series. The art was changed, but the words were plagerized almost word for word. While stealing the names and the ideas behind the characters, it was the plagerism that pissed me off. It was dealt with, though it did get out of hand at one point. The individual was young and had yet to learn that simply changing names and a few ideas here and there, it was still plagerism. My roommate was recently re-taking a class for her masters and had to go through a massive effort to change her own papers that she had written the first time she took the class. The school had a policy that if the paper was more than 70% similar in its wording and phrasing, it was considered plagerism! I imagine that tracing and art thrft are delt with in a similar manner. Okay the pose was traced. The character is now a pegasus instead of an earth pony. The colors are changed as are the mane and tail. The background is a simply fill verus an elaborate painting. Its only the figure itself that was traced.
Lets say the art was broken into ten pieces, and each piece gets a 1 for yes its the same and a 0 for no its not the same. In the case of a pony its a lil harder because they dont wear clothing that could be identified as the same line for line.
Pose -1
Character body color -0
Hair style -0
Hair color -0
background -0
shading style -0
linework - 0
image size -1
facial expression - 0
pony species 0
That gives us a 20% similarity. Going by the 70% similar plagerism rule i mentioned above, yeah they are similar...but not the same.
So I can Trace?
It depends. It all depends on what your doing with it, why you are doing it and how it will be displayed and used in the future. If you want to loosly trace the pose of a magazine model and then detail and fill in the art yourself, no bigge. Its a referance. You found this awesome piece of art and want to make your character look like that. You painstakingly trace each line of the pose and color it in however you want, then go about not refferincing your reference image just know its not very responsable as an artist. It will also probably also catch you a lot of flack in the future. The word tracing has a stigmatism attatched to it in the artistic community. If you trace something you found on google or on da and someone recognizes the source material, you will probably pay for it in loosing credit as an artist. In the end be responsable and know what your doing. Like a pose and despritly want to use it? try quickly sketching out the building blocks over the image to determine how its put together. then on a seperate sheet, layer or file, draw it out yourself. If you do trace a pose, refferance your original refference image. If the artist says 'no its too close, please take it down." Try and ask them what would need to be changed for you to allow it. If they still want it down, then respect their art and them and comply.
So will DA protect my copyright?
This one is kind of up to you to know. If DA says nothing about tracing or does not classify tracing under their art theft section, then they have no responsibility towards it. They have no way to prove that the original artist did not trace the image off of something as well. The aleged method of creation can not be taken into account and in the end, all that can be done is a side by side comparison. If you feel someone has traced your art and not respecting you as an artist, it is up to the two of you to come to terms with the problem.
So you are all for tracing?
Like I said before. It depends on what going on. If you want to copy line for line and present no originality to the piece at hand, then no. If you want to figure out how a pose works and will redo the image as a whole on your own after? Then sure. Its subjective. If you have to question if your image is too similar, it probably is. If you need a quantifyable answer, keep in mind the 70% rule.
So can I trace YOUR art?
First of off I actually find this question flattering. The fact that you think my art is good enough is really flattering. My answer is again subjective. If you want to use it as a pose referrance there isnt a lot i can do to stop you other than urge you to use actual horses or humans or whatever instead. It will give you a cleaner and clearer idea of what your doing. If you want to copy my artwork and claim it as your own? Then no. You want mae ab adoptable that looks like one of mine?! please don't. I find that rather offensive really. I put a lot of time and effort into mine. People have made bases for this purpose.
If you want to sign a petition that tells DA to treat tracing as art theft, think about the big picture and what this will entail. Bases, all the art made from bases...bye bye. Just be sure you understand all of the aspects of an issue before slapping your name on something.
So thats all I Have to say about that.
Then also watching Laric's versions 2010, I see art as a whole as being derivative and nothing is original, and can see his point as the copy being able to stand alone and be something unique, although derivative. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5OwM5… It was a real eye opener to the "original do not steal" thing here on DA. But art to me is still special and some fresh stuff can come out of the derivative thing. 