I'm willing to entertain and discuss any different opinions that aren't "you should never trace anything ever" BUT:
When I care about the fact that you traced something while making your art
You traced somebody else's drawing, in whole or in part, and you do not credit them and do not acknowledge that you traced - you try to pass this off as entirely original work.
You recreated somebody's photography as an exact copy, with or without directly tracing it, and did not transform it in any way, and you do not credit the original photograph. You try to pass this off as entirely original work.
You traced one small piece of somebody else's drawing because you couldn't figure it out and didn't have a better reference anywhere, and you do not acknowledge that you traced another artist's work, and you do not link to the original and give credit. You try to pass this off as entirely original work.
You DID credit the artist, but they have expressed discomfort and frustration with people in general or you in specific tracing their work regardless of the credit, and you do not apologize or make any effort to revise your work to remove any traced elements.
When I could not possibly care less about the fact that you traced something while making your art
You traced somebody's drawing exactly as a study because you're still learning, and you want to understand what that artist sees when they look at their subjects and how they break down their forms and shapes. You keep this study to yourself and don't post it anywhere, because it was for learning purposes only; OR, when you share it you acknowledge you were tracing in order to learn, and link to the original with full credit.
You recreated somebody's photo as an exact copy, and acknowledged that it was a study of a photo, and gave credit and a link to the photographer.
You did a rough gesture sketch on top of a photo to get the spatial relationships and proportions of the thing down - such as a pose - that you intend to replace with distinctly different subjects. You then remove this rough stick figure sketch from the reference and proceed with freehand drawing something original. The final piece is clearly referenced, but completely transformative and not a copy of the original photo. You may or may not credit the reference.
pixelskylines
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kianamaiart
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