Is it 'okay' to trace, copy, or eye-ball artwork?


I don't think so unless the person get permission from the original artist. (Unless it's one of those laughable 'How To Draw: ____" books which are meant for you to copy.)

Referencing is another ball-park. Say you need a reference for a cartoon character, right? Somebody drew it. But you don't copy the image completely. You drew the cartoon character in a completely different angle, used different expression, and also drew the character with your own original style/flare. That's not copying. That's not stealing. It's fanart. It's your own interpretation of that character at that moment in your mind. But if you took that same cartoon character, and copied it's artwork completely as you see, that's copying. That's not good. Not good at all.

If you trace, copy, etc it's totally disrespecting the original artist. You're basically saying you cannot think. By copying, you're being lazy. You're 'stealing' so to speak.

So yeah. I don't like it. I do think that its helpful for beginners to practice and get the hang of things. To get an idea of how they can draw and pull things together. But beginners should not use it as a base or template. It should be strictly practice and doodles only, for their eyes.