I think there’s a bit of a hazy line between the two, but there’s a shitload of apologists who mistake one for the other.
referencing - using a reference in order to visualize and execute a concept better
tracing - using a “reference” as a base and using the primary shapes and lines of the original reference with little to no changes in order to execute a work
My favorite case here to discuss is that of yunomi, a Japanese artist who was accused of plagarism. In a 2ch thread with the accusations, there were examples of referencing and tracing (as well as copying/pasting items without credit which is pretty stupid already and I’m sure I don’t need to talk about that).
Let’s go through the references first:
The thing is that these were used solely as references so that Yunomi could possibly figure out the anatomy working in the images. That’s fine.
Note how the lighting on the pants and most of the shapes are exactly the same in this particular image, probably one of the most obvious cases.
The shape of the hands is exactly the same in this case, as are the outlines of the clothing near the girl’s head.
I’m not even going to explain these next ones:
And probably my favorite one:
A lot of artists, basically anywhere but Japan (and I’m not even saying this because “oh mighty Japan,” this is a seriously prominent cultural difference) shrug this sort of thing off as “necessary to the artistic process.” Yes, in most cases that would be fine, if you weren’t doing it digitally and tracing right over the picture. It’s somewhat more acceptable if you create your own references by posing and taking pictures, or ask someone else to do it.
But what people don’t get is that it’s ridiculous to simply trace to start with, and then call it a “work” and show it off and all. That’s playing connect-the-strokes. That should be practice. You might learn a bit, if you’re lucky, but you’re risking relying on references too much instead of learning how these things actually work.
You should learn from your references, but don’t copy them line-by-line. Look at pictures, see how the piece looks in that particular pose, and then maybe play with the weight, or play with the position, or play with the lighting using another reference, or whatever.
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