Why does everyone think I layered them? So you are telling me that if I ask you to draw me this
and tell you to draw it in a realistic style exactly how it looks right now, you are going to send me a foot, because if you don’t it’s consider copying?
No, but she may send you an altered version of it, because instead of drawing on top of this reference image, she used the photo as an inspiration, without actually using it as a base.
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Pretty much what @/May.I.Write said.
Also also the above latter example you sent was a direct reproduction of the photo of a lady sitting crossed-legged in a chair. I’m not accusing you of copying as much as I’m asking you what artistic liberties you took because right now it looks like your “referencing” of images is equivalent to running someone else’s work through an editing program.
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I’m checking out a lot of freelancing websites like fiverr and so many people do this and sell it as art, it’s crazy 
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If I follow your logic, this person right here who is painting has no inspiration and no style.
Painting is no different than drawing.
I followed an art class, and one of the methods that I learn consist of using a grid to draw something you see. You go square by square. It takes a hell lot of time. But in the end, what you draw resembles what you saw.
And @Ara.Pia I drew a PICTURE, not a DRAWING. I did not take a drawing and drew it again. And let’s be serious for a second, you ever saw an editing program give a good art? The ones that I see people use usually turn out like that
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The lady painting is not painting on top of the photo, which is what I said it looks like you’re doing. I never said you can’t reference or take inspiration from photos or other art. Please don’t put words in my mouth or twist them.
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Well that’s what I did, I put the image on my computer, looked at it and did it on my phone. Don’t go saying I did something that I did not do.
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I said that’s what it looks like you’re doing, at least to me. I did not see you do it, so I’m in not going to insist you’ve traced anything. I’ll leave it at that, I do not want to continue this any longer, because from your messages it seems like this whole situation is very hurtful to you. If you’re saying the truth, then it’s very impressive how accurate and similar the art piece was to the reference, and how you can draw in different styles, however if you secretly know or don’t want to admit that you may have traced/copied, I hope it’s just a learning step. Nonetheless, I hope the rest of your time on the forums is pleasant.
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No, I think I’ll leave the forum completely. I just spent a whole hour debating with strangers whether I can draw or not. What is next? Debating if I can write? As I said, I’ll finish helping the few people that I was helping. And ask a moderator to erase every trace of me from the system. I already have to deal with strangers in real life, it’ll be too much to add strangers from the internet 
. I don’t want to spend my time being disappointed, angry, sad, and feeling that I’m always wrong.
Your art skills are good from what I’ve seen. BUT I will say: Whether you traced or used it side by side to draw it, it looks exactly like the original work (all details look the same even if you drew it all naturally). When you’re working on art, you can totally be inspired or even use a reference photo but add your own touch to it. You don’t want to make the exact same picture and claim it as your own because in a way that is theft if every single detail is the same. You want to add your own flare of creativity and your own ideas.
I’m sorry you feel this way. Thread is out in the public open for anyone to respond so we are giving our inputs 
You should always keep doing what you love and are passionate about but just in keep mind that we do not mean to upset you, it’s just when there’s an exact duplicate of a photo, the need to protect artist’s integrity kicks in. It’s totally fine to feel this way and if it helps you can message the person in a PM to discuss with them. Take care not to stress too much and look after yourself 
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I think your art looks good! I think whoever had commented at you previously was asking is whether you copied your original outline from another image/art piece. doing so doesn’t make you “bad” or a “scammer”, and it’s actually a good way to practice if you’re unsure about anatomy - only thing to remember is if you’re going to sell commissions is to create your original outline on a blank canvas and draw either from your imagination or do an occasional “look up, look down” in a mirror, printed picture, etc. if you need reminders on detail placement. here’s what I mean…
lol this is me
a sketch of me drawn with myself under, to guide anatomy. wouldn’t sell this, but it was helpful to see how eyes, nose, hair, etc. are all spaced out.
my hand
I drew this a while back while holding my hand out in the air and making a rough sketch with boxes/lines of where I saw bones and went back in and added color. still wouldn’t sell this but I guess supposedly I could.
anyways, this isn’t to beat you up or whatever. if someone accuses you of something you feel you did not do, you can just show them a picture of your original outline - also, a lot of apps has a time lapse option that can show you creating your outline/painting process if it ever ends up coming to that. sorry you’ve been feeling down 
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I’m coming at this from an artist point of view, I apologise if I misremembered this. I’m pretty sure I read the original thread that you’re referring to. Whilst I believe that maybe the situation wasn’t handled in the most amicable way possible, I don’t believe that the person who pointed it out is necessarily a villain either.
From what I remember, you included that original example (which did look identical to the one that the person compared it to) with no mention of a reference or anything in the original topic post. Whilst tracing is okay for practice, I believe the main problem was that you didn’t disclose that you wouldn’t be selling such items in your shop. It’s all well and good you saying after it was pointed out that you only did it for practice & had no intention of charging for art like that (as selling such things is immoral and I’m pretty sure illegal), but for all they knew you could have been doing this. I see why they pointed it out. I’m not saying this to disrespect you, nor to say you definitely did trace or whatever, just to say that in the future it may be a good idea to mention when you use a reference & be clear about what you will actually be selling if you decide to open commissions again in the future.
Respectfully, this is the only comment I’ll be leaving on here because I’m not interested in starting any drama. Your art is real pretty & I think you could go far with it!
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I’m glad this thread was made. Artists usually use multiple references (unless Issa fan art) to create 1 overall art piece. Therefore, they won’t b accused of stealing. Imma admit though, the forums ppl can love blindly accusing ppl of smth illegal without evidence & without considering the consequences. Idk y, it’s weird to me & in all honesty, p*sses me off. However, the piece up there looks heavily referenced, not traced. Usually, heavy referencing is ok, however, the photo up there is a stock photo & therefore, u must pay to use it. Otherwise, it breaks copyright law. Anyway, don’t b put down by this! Lots of artists tracing/heavy referencing for practice. Including @ck_artandesign! One of the best artists on episode. It’s totally ok! Dw, eventually u’ll get to a stage when u can create original art (v soon I assume bc ur v talented) anyway, maybe don’t open requests till u hit this time… however, ur choice. Maybe they had good intentions by accusing u, idk…
Anyway, perhaps practice a lil more using more references, to piece together a total art piece instead of just one reference & then it’s totally ur art!! That’s how artists create their art! 
good luck, lovely. I’m sry u feel this way abt this forum, they probably meant well (:
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As somebody who moderates a moderate sized art website, I’d like to add my two cents to the conversation.
There’s a specific set of copyright rules when it comes to the internet that all digital creators must follow. These are called DMCA guidelines, and in short, any image that isn’t marked as royalty free may not be produced and sold for monetary gain without explicitly written permission from the owner of the photo/image. Failure to comply with these rules could actually result in some massive legal repercussions, which is why it’s such a big deal.
Since you don’t appear to be selling these images for profits, you’re technically not doing anything legally wrong because you’re not directly profiting. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean nothing at all was done wrong - the mark was missed since you’re giving away potentially copyrighted pieces - like the man in the brown jacket - away for customers to use, and that is wrong and an infringement on the owner’s intellectual properties. This rings especially true if it was an art scene used for an episode story, and the author of the story is monetarily profiting off of another creators copyrighted work.
Reproducing, tracing, and coloring over existing images/creative works is okay as long as these pieces stay in your possession and aren’t being sold, as nobody’s intellectual properties are being infringed; and tracing is an excellent way to build up muscle memory so that youre comfortable with attempting anatomy for yourself, but again, these practice pieces shouldn’t be given away.
Nobody here is saying that you don’t have talent and saying you’re a thief is a bit harsh, and frankly that’s just not the right way to approach the situation. A much better way is to educate. However, what Line did is a perfect example of how many people in the art community can and will react if they feel as if your artistic integrity isn’t authentic. People won’t stop to think about your feelings, I’ve personally seen huge artists within my community who pulled in thousands a month, lose it all in an instant because of tracing/painting over/heavy referencing. This is why it’s so important that you develop a style of your own without means of heavy referencing, or whatever the case may be in your situation.
TL;DR: I’m sorry your feelings were so badly hurt, and it sucks that it hurt you so badly that you’re quitting art all together, but I’d take this as a learning experience because this is honestly just a small taste of a much larger community.
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So… I don’t really like getting into fights or drama, but I think that I should probably share my opinion as a beginning artist as well. I think that your art is beautiful, but I think that it is wrong that you traced some of your work. I totally get that you need that money and to be fair, so do I… but, you probably shouldn’t call those your works and the next time that you do trace or highly reference a picture or a drawing, then you should probably put the picture that your were tracing or referencing on that post as well. Also, I think that if you can shade that well and trace that well, then in the future without tracing or referencing, then you should be able to do commissions just fine.
Sorry I’d that came out a bit harsh or anything like that 
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I can’t believe that happened to you. I’ve been active on the forums for a while now, and I must say, I’ve seen FAR too much toxic behavior from some of these people. Some people just look for excuses to complain and “cancel” people.
You by NO means deserved that. You shouldn’t be accused of copying someone else’s drawing because you decided to use it as a reference image for practice. That girl had no reason to clap you for that.
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Don’t let some random person stop you, your letting her “win”.
Anyway, your art looks so good. That last one is super realistic that I thought that was a photo at first!
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I agree with this. You need thick skin on the internet.
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From the buyer’s standpoint, the reason they’re commissioning from you isn’t just because they love your art style, but bc they also want an original piece. I can understand the frustration they got when they expected an original piece but got almost an exact copy of the referenced work. And it’s even more of a waste of money on their part when they could probably gotten the rights to the referenced work for personal use with just a couple dollars.
That’s just my input tho. There’s nothing wrong with coping something exactly like the original work tho. I did this multiple times for different projects for art class, but I also didn’t sell those works either. It was just to challenge my art skills. Plus, I’m pretty sure that’s considered illegal anyway (someone fact check me on that)
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Correct! It’s against DMCA guidelines and could get someone sued for theft.
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