Karura-Art

Hello everyone!

You might be wondering why it has been so quite on my DA, but that is because I am very busy with preparing to move to England! (and I'm working, a lot xD). I will be living in Broadway England for 12 months, as I will be doing an F&B internship for my last year of school. 

Another important factor that is taking up my time is Youtube. I have decided to share my experiences in England with the world (though mostly for my family and friends). I'm quite bad at keeping in contact with people, so I decided to make weekly video's talking about my adventures and showing the places I visit.

If you want to follow me as well, please check out my channel! www.youtube.com/channel/UCuHHe…
Hit the subscribe button and click the bell if you want to be notified if I upload a new video. I'm aiming to put up at least one video a week

Lots of love!
~CC

Hey guys,

So, there is something I want to address. It's been bugging me for a while and its almost an embarassing secret by now. The thing is.. I trace. I think. The point is I'm not really sure where the line lies in terms of when you would call a drawing traced. I often sketch/trace over a pose, in stead of reproducing it by eye. This make me more comfortable, since I'm sure I'll get the proportons right. After this, I just draw completely on my own. So in a sense, you could say I'm a pose tracer (though I don't do it with all my drawings, I practice drawing them myself as well). 

However, the reason I feel so bad admitting it, is because of the overall stigma the word 'tracing' has. People often state in their contest rules that tracing isn't allowed, or people just express general hate to people who trace. But when I read this, I imagine people who trace complete pictures, start to finish, and (often) call it their own. I don't want to be part of that group. That is why it feel so, so horrible saying I traced something. I often rephrase it, saying I sketched over de pose or that it is heavily referenced. But it's essentially tracing, I guess. 

What prompted me to write this, is this drawing I made today. I did it just for practice, tracing over a picture I took of my friend two years ago. 
 
It's just practice. Yet I felt inherently bad about doing it. Every time I looked at the lines and felt a bit of pride about how it looked, I had to smothered it in my mind, saying 'it's traced, ofcourse it looks good!' Even though I drew the eyes and hair myself, and colored it (my shading style looks shit with lines), it still inherently didn't feel like my drawing. And yet I want to feel pride. I want to show people I made this, yet I can't, because I'll have to admit I traced the pose. It makes me feel so conflicted. 

I don't think tracing in itself is bad. I learn a lot by doing it. I learn about poses, about the way fabric wraps and falls and it gives me a clean template to practice my shading. However, I still feel ashamed when I use tracing, even if it's for a little bit such as for a hand. It feels like cheating.

And I hate it.

Yet I'm not yet good enough to do it on my own. 

I'd like your opinion on this matter. It might give me some peace of mind. When is it tracing? When is it bad? And should I use it?

Lots of love~