Read some thoughts on tracing this morning, and specifically someone being upset that I said I had done so before (and will again). They felt that tracing was fine for new artists, but not for “pros”.

It’s the other way around.

Techniques to streamline your workflow (photobashing, tracing, using 3D etc) are great, but best applied when your fundamentals are already sound.

Copying a reference is easy. It just takes time. Learning to manage your time well (and thus your income) is a crucial skill.

It should go without saying that I am not talking about tracing the work of another artist. That’s objectively shit, and not something professional artists do.

Honestly, if art students focused on just making shit and caring less about process they’d progress a lot faster.