Draw your Character

[Anarnee]

Its still theft. Popular meme or not. Why? Because they surely did not receive permission from the owner of the art to do so. Had the person redrawn it them selves then that's a different story. They are using someone else's work to gain popularity.

Yes, there are tons of bases on the internet that allow you to fill in the details of a character, but those too are for the most part made without permission of the artist.

Something being accepted by many doesn't make it right. Specially when you go about telling people that you did it all with your own skills.

[Morsmordie]

snip

You're missing the point here...

Everyone agreed that copying other art is fine so long as you say that you did... If she said "oh look, I used this as a reference/I traced a part of it, but I changed it, look how pretty it looks" then people would have been okay with it. No one is attacking her for the fact that she traced the stuff. They are simply saying that it's silly to deny the fact that she did it even though there is blatant evidence that she did.

Also, once again since you seem to randomly skip bits when you're reading a comment, she wanted to charge people for money and that is just not right. She wouldn't have drawn the full thing and even if she edits a few things, she's still copying someone else's work. If she was talking to the artist and they got a share of that commission money, that's fine but she is simply taking full credit for something she didn't fully produce. THAT was the problem, not the tracing.

[Demus]

Did you guys not see the part of my post talking about Rei Ayanami, Shana, and Char Aznable Clones? Yes what I posted is a meme, but that doesn't change the fact that copying other people's art is something that happens in mainstream Anime and Manga quite often.

Also, I am not defending the person, I am defending the Art.

Again, you're horribly confused. Those are tropes, not obvious line tracings from another artist's hard work. There's a difference between stealing someone's art and saying it's yours, and emulating a character archetype.

[Tule]

Its still theft. Popular meme or not. Why? Because they surely did not receive permission from the owner of the art to do so. Had the person redrawn it them selves then that's a different story. They are using someone else's work to gain popularity.

Yes, there are tons of bases on the internet that allow you to fill in the details of a character, but those too are for the most part made without permission of the artist.

Something being accepted by many doesn't make it right. Specially when you go about telling people that you did it all with your own skills.

It kind of does make it right, because the people generally aren't passing it off as their idea, their style, or making money off of it. The idea of the meme is to just have fun and joke. No one think you came up with that drawing. If they do then you set them straight, this person is this thread is tracing and claiming its their own art. Thats the difference.

[Shenandoah]

Whoa, calm down people. I think I am horribly confused as well. I said I've never traced anything and I still stand by what I said, because I've never digitally/physically just grab his picture and just started drawing over it. I've sketched all of them by myself, and I think it as my own art and that's that. I've never called them my style, but apparently there's more to it than just that.

Let me say though, back when I first started following Shunya Yamashita style, I looked at his stuff (from the Sweet Dreams artbook more than most admittedly) and try to draw from there. From specific angles, specific poses, but mostly expressions because I really like his style. I did tell you if you really look for it, you will find similarities. If that's count as traces, then I guess that's true. I just thought tracing means, like, just totally tracing/drawing over something, and I've never done that. I still sketched, cleaned, scanned and colored them all by myself. But I digress. I think I misunderstood a lot of things already.

In regards to commission, I have not made contact with any people whatsoever. I think they who requested commissions from me can attest to this fact that I haven't just come and hastily contacted them. I've never taken a commission in my life before and it's all still new to me. I said I'm willing to (because who doesn't want money, to be honest xD) but after reading the thread I think I have a better understanding on what's allowed and what's not. I made a genuine mistake and I'm grateful for people who defended me, but it seems that I am wrong. I'll happily admit it.

Also, I'm not trying to run away, because I still am going to complete all the requests either way. When I said I'm staying out, I was just going to post the requests then be a lurker in this thread because I don't want to derail the thread even more, but the discussion is apparently still going, and now it's in the danger of being off-topic-ish. Mostly though, I hate for other people's art to just be buried. I apologize for being the center of attention that derail the thread where it has become a request-spam fest, and sparked a discussion where people should have just posted their art of their characters. I really do. I just thought it's fun to draw other people's characters. Never meant any harm. Again, I'm sorry that it has come to pages of discussions and for being vague about things, I really am. It seems I still have tons to learn and understand about art, but I am actually kind of grateful that I've been educated by people on this thread and will proceed accordingly in the future.

[ruinedmirage]

With the evolution of sites like DeviantART and how easy it is to find a piece and profit from it, artists who do legitimate work feel more pressured and sensitive than ever due to the issue. Whether you trace, copy from sight (which seems like Shen's case, according to her), or flat out use someone else's design for reference with their consent, there's a phrase that can save your ass.

"Credit where credit is due."

If you're art even resembles vaguely another popular artist's, you can be sure SOMEONE will notice at some point. It's great that people get inspired by other people, but in the overlays provided, you're walking a very fine line of doubt in most peoples' minds. Even by saying, "I applied ______'s style to FFXIV characters!" people would be super mega accepting about the issue, because in modern times, finding originality is something is important, and claiming originality is even harder. lol look at all the patent lawsuits going on now XD

[Demus]

I said I've never traced anything and I still stand by what I said, because I've never digitally/physically just grab his picture and just started drawing over it. I've sketched all of them by myself, and I think it as my own art and that's that.

Bullshit. Look at the bangs on her hair and tell me again that you sketched it yourself.

[AmyNeudaiz]

I honestly don't see the big fuss. >.>
Also, doing the "phasing" gif makes it appear more similar than it actually is. It's a little unfair of a comparison.

[Shyluv]

The eyes, shoulder/neck line and the cheeks don't exactly line up. I used to trace and make adjustments for characters I had thought up in my head. I'd just change the eyes and hair. If it were me and I were to trace, I'd have also traced the hand.

Some people can just look at something and be able to draw an almost exact copy of it. I watched a guy at the fair do it. He did have a huge list of artists he was inspired by. But people were so impressed by his being able to draw a very close resemblance without actually tracing, they were putting in requests for a dollar.

Honestly though, I'm more a fan of her coloring. It's soft. I like soft.

Not to say her style following the artist she admires is bad, though.

On topic, though. Here's a very bad attempt at drawing my main character. Needless to say, I didn't trace for this one.

[Anarnee]

It kind of does make it right, because the people generally aren't passing it off as their idea, their style, or making money off of it. The idea of the meme is to just have fun and joke. No one think you came up with that drawing. If they do then you set them straight, this person is this thread is tracing and claiming its their own art. Thats the difference.

Whatever helps you sleep at night dear~