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Apologies, but I felt like I needed a small visual for my little rant here.
THE FOLLOWING IS MY PERSONAL OPINION.
So I was browsing a few artist's sites today, and something caught my eye. Well, okay, a FEW things caught my eye, one of which being that Kaa is one of the most famous hypno-themed cartoon characters ever (and yet no one has any love for Sauron, the energy-draining pterodactyl from Marvel's X-Men). Despite my belief that most of these people forget the fact that Kaa EATS the people he entrances, I'll set that aside for the other thing I noticed.
Every single artist I saw was using the EXACT SAME HEAD POSE over and over and over again. This, of course, screamed tracing to me. And while I have nothing against tracing in order to figure out how to work a pose, or draw a certain character, I DO have a problem with people who trace, then claim it as their own.
Now, one of my friends, who he himself is a Kaa fanatic, said that the reason was that Kaa's design is so hard to draw for most people. I'll...partially agree with that. Yes, it is hard to draw. But, with practice, it becomes easier.
As a demonstration, I've spent the past hour in Flash doing up these two pictures. The one on the left was traced from two different screenshots. The only thing I added was the background, and the tail part of Kaa. The drawing on the right, on the other hand, was done with zero tracing. Granted, the left one probably looks more official, but it still looks blatently traced.
To sum it up, here is my belief. If you're trying to draw something new, tracing is fine. However, don't POST the tracing and say it's your art. It's a trace. It's not yours. Take the time and practice drawing the character.
Also, I want to apologize if the traced part here breaks any site policies. I don't make a habit of tracing, so if I break any rules here, I'll gladly take it down.
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Posted by Surge 14 years ago Report
Pretty sure no one will bitch about the trace given the subject of the submission-- if they bother reading the description. If they do and still gripe about it, they need to be slapped.
You make a damn good point. :V
Posted by Leshana 14 years ago Report
Taken on its own is one thing, but as an illustration for the article in the description it's textbook fair use.
Posted by Leshana 14 years ago Report
First off I'd like to say I fully support Kaa eating any and all of his catches!
Anyway, I think the non-traced drawing looks just as good as the traced one. That said, in the absence of the comparison I would not have guessed it was Kaa except by association with hypnosis. I don't know who that girl is, but I think the right-side one looks better; perhaps indicative of which is harder to draw.
Posted by Houyo 14 years ago Report
Taking a look at this, the snake has a very distict nose I never noticed before.
And uh... Row row fight the power? Lol, I get what you're saying. I agree, and I gotta say the official one looks boring compared to the unofficial one.
Posted by Ka-Atis 14 years ago Report
Traced art often lack the artist's personal touch.
I agree, it's fine to trace in order to learn how to draw a character, but then it should be re-drawn, or at least - the traced character modified enough to be something more than just a copy. Instead of just copying/tracing the original, the artist should figure out how the character would look like when drawn in his style.
Posted by taito 14 years ago Report
I have never traced anything myself. I will say that the non traced one has more personality to it.
Posted by Silver_FangXxX 14 years ago Report
Honestly, in my opinion, the free hand drawing is better. She's looking directly into his eyes instead of listening to him blab on and on. Since she's hipnotized, she probably can't hear a bloody word that snake is saying, so she'll be devoured in blissful silence.
Posted by Silver_FangXxX 14 years ago Report
And I forgot to mention in my last comment that if he hypnotized me and kept talking, I'd snap out of it and throw him across the forest just to shut him up. I don't mind being vored, but if the person or animal eating me won't shut up, they're in for a surprise.
Posted by pendingdele092b492 13 years ago Report
As a Kaa fanatic myself, I can't stand the amount of obviously traced stuff I see everywhere. I'd honestly rather see Kaa drawn in the artist's own style, even if they aren't the best artist, than see him in the same few poses over and over and over again.
Just my two cents on the issue. Though, given how late I am in giving these two cents, maybe interest has blown it up to a whole three cents now! How cool would that be?