>>2600406I'm an artist and I don't think tracing is bad, you can learn a lot from it.
What I do think is bad is to deny that you traced something, especially if it is for commercial purposes. I've watched a lot of documentaries about mangakas/artists and they flat out admit they trace, but they use their own photos/3D models or ask for permission/buy the license before they do.
There's an episode of Manben where Inio Asano (Oyasumi Punpun, Solanin, Dead Dead Demons) shows how he traces the backgrounds and even uses filtered photos on his award winning works:
https://youtu.be/swBhVx9X4n8?t=858I've seen another popular artists tracing photos of their own hands, etc.
Personally, I think it's more like other artists get jealous because it can make an artist look more knowledgeable of anatomy/perspective than they really are. It's also common for other artists to shit on people who used references, and some years ago it was even more common to see people shitting on digital artists. These are the kind of people who will always blame someone else for their own lack of recognition. Just keep doing what makes you happy (and remember to ask for permission if you are gonna use someone else's work to avoid any possible drama).
