Opinion on copying a style of art and redrawing it

[Ayanosan]

Discussion closed!

Hai, please forgive me if this is in the wrong forum I wanted to ask this question in general and I want honest opinions.

What do you think of the though of copying a style of art you find from an image online and and redrawing it to make it your own character? Wondering what I mean look at the example below.

http://pre01.deviantart.net/4bda/th/pre ... beql4r.jpg

Forgive my handwriting, I write a lot at work so it tends to come out sloppy in my free time...

In any case what is your thoughts on that, I probably wouldn't do that for a commercial game and I wanted to ask the original artist but they abandoned their blog with no connection to any other social media or contact info. I want to use art like this as I complete my games and get more free time to make more games but what do you think?

By the way don't mind my drawing, it was something I quickly put together I know it doesn't look the best and I am not looking for critique on that.

[Mammon]

There are plenty of people who are very against trace art, I'm not one of them. However, your sketch does seem to have a lot of detail similarities. If you are going to use these references, how about trying to change some details that you feel you can change, like losing the scarf (just adding a few lines from the neck to arms should be doable, right?) or stuff like that. And of course different coloring. Maybe frankenstein some sprites together and then use the monstrosity as a reference?

P.S. You might want to make a topic title more referring to your specific problem.

[puppetbomb]

So far this looks more like copying rather than copying a style.

I agree with Mammon that there are far too many similarities at this point. The pose is similar/same, as well as the clothes that are drawn so far.

Some changes you could probably do to make it more original could be

• Altering the length of the clothing (shorter sleeves, longer pants, bigger obi...)

• Adding more layers (haori, haramaki, shoes...)

• Adding more details (weapons, armor, accessories, patterns...)

• Giving him an accessory (paper umbrella, pinwheel, fan...)

• Altering the pose/expression (happy, angry, arms crossed, slouching...)

Hopefully this gives you some ideas!

[Ayanosan]

There are plenty of people who are very against trace art, I'm not one of them. However, your sketch does seem to have a lot of detail similarities. If you are going to use these references, how about trying to change some details that you feel you can change, like losing the scarf (just adding a few lines from the neck to arms should be doable, right?) or stuff like that. And of course different coloring. Maybe frankenstein some sprites together and then use the monstrosity as a reference?

P.S. You might want to make a topic title more referring to your specific problem.

Oh so I see, it'll be sorta like using a reference to make a character. Losing the scarf good idea I'll do that maybe he's just a fanmade character but for my own happiness I'll do that. And I've always heard of frankensteining characters but never took the initiative to do that. Maybe now is a good idea to test that out I have no clue how to frankenstein some sprites so bless me on that one but I'll give it a good try.

Thanks for your feedback and yeah I probably should change the topic title.

[PencilSlothCreations]

To be quite blunt, there's a stark difference between copying a style and tracing a picture.

When I read copying a style I think of something as in you draw similarly to the way someone has drawn something. For example, say I usually draw anime styled illustrations and that's my own personal style. But then I see a cartoon, let's say Danny Phantom, with a really interesting style. I draw my characters with rounded eyes rather than the anime eyes I usually draw, the proportions are different and the lineart is thicker and sharper. That to me is copying a style.
What you've shown in your example is tracing an already drawn image, to which I am very against depending on the circumstances but it isn't my right to stop anyone who does so (but it's not all bad as tracing can actually help artists grow by teaching them proportions and such quicker; to which I am not opposed to, I just ask that it not be posted as their own work).

What I would suggest that would probably help you with not making your art look traced is to use the picture as a reference. As in, you take certain aspects you like about it and are relevant to your character and use it; but you also have to make sure you're drawing it yourself. If you're afraid you seem to be copying the image, try one of these things: Change the pose, change the features (eye shape, eye size, nose shape or size, proportions etc.), change the gender or change the outfit.

I hope I didn't come off as too harsh ;; I really love seeing people grow as artists and I hope this helped somewhat! Please do not hesitate to ask me questions ;v;b I'm in no means referring to myself as a professional in anything though, so keep that in mind! <3 I hope to follow your improvement and growth~

[Ayanosan]

To be quite blunt, there's a stark difference between copying a style and tracing a picture.

When I read copying a style I think of something as in you draw similarly to the way someone has drawn something. For example, say I usually draw anime styled illustrations and that's my own personal style. But then I see a cartoon, let's say Danny Phantom, with a really interesting style. I draw my characters with rounded eyes rather than the anime eyes I usually draw, the proportions are different and the lineart is thicker and sharper. That to me is copying a style.
What you've shown in your example is tracing an already drawn image, to which I am very against depending on the circumstances but it isn't my right to stop anyone who does so (but it's not all bad as tracing can actually help artists grow by teaching them proportions and such quicker; to which I am not opposed to, I just ask that it not be posted as their own work).

What I would suggest that would probably help you with not making your art look traced is to use the picture as a reference. As in, you take certain aspects you like about it and are relevant to your character and use it; but you also have to make sure you're drawing it yourself. If you're afraid you seem to be copying the image, try one of these things: Change the pose, change the features (eye shape, eye size, nose shape or size, proportions etc.), change the gender or change the outfit.

I hope I didn't come off as too harsh ;; I really love seeing people grow as artists and I hope this helped somewhat! Please do not hesitate to ask me questions ;v;b I'm in no means referring to myself as a professional in anything though, so keep that in mind! <3 I hope to follow your improvement and growth~

Oh don't worry, I never feel as though people are coming off harsh I asked for honest opinions not sugar coated cotton candy stuck on a salad. I see what you mean I'll redraw it again and I will still leave the scarf because I want to see what I can do, changing a few things seem interesting! I love changes and new things thanks for your opinion>3<!

[Katy133]

To paraphrase Pablo Picasso, "Some artists copy; great artists steal."

Now, when I say "steal," I mean that in a good way. The same way I use the word "cheating" when I talk about animation tips.

In terms of stealing elements another person's art style, I think that's fine. To use myself as an example, each of my VNs has a different art style depending on the story:

• Three Guys That Paint uses watercolours because the story focuses on a housepainter. There's also a lot of blues and oranges used in the colour scheme for foreshadowing an important element.
• Must Love Jaws uses a more watery, wobbly art style for an underwater effect.
• [redacted] Life uses multiple art styles for different scenes as a reference to different types of games.

But the examples from my VNs are more about art technique than style, so here's some more examples:

• The game Neverending Nightmares uses an art style that is taken from the artist Edward Gorey. It's not "similar." It's "there's no way this could have been a coincidence"-similar. It was noted on their Kickstarter page. And the game ends up looking interesting and stands out because it's an art style that lends itself well to horror and a sense of uneasiness.
• Four Last Things uses an animation style heavily-influenced by Terry Gilliam: Taking pieces from old paintings and using them as body parts for cut-out animation. It ends up evoking a surreal, humourous feeling similar to Monty Python's Flying Circus.

However, in terms of copying a pose of outfit, the contents of an image, you will need to get permission from the artist (or use royalty-free reference images) to use them in a game.

[Ayanosan]

To paraphrase Pablo Picasso, "Some artists copy; great artists steal."

Now, when I say "steal," I mean that in a good way. The same way I use the word "cheating" when I talk about animation tips.

In terms of stealing elements another person's art style, I think that's fine. To use myself as an example, each of my VNs has a different art style depending on the story:

• Three Guys That Paint uses watercolours because the story focuses on a housepainter. There's also a lot of blues and oranges used in the colour scheme for foreshadowing an important element.
• Must Love Jaws uses a more watery, wobbly art style for an underwater effect.
• [redacted] Life .

But the examples from my VNs are more about art technique than style, so here's some more examples:

• The game Neverending Nightmares uses an art style that is taken from the artist Edward Gorey. It's not "maybe it's a "similar." It's "there's no way this could have been a coincidence"-similar. It was noted on their Kickstarter page. And the game ends up looking interesting and stands out because it's an art style that lends itself well to horror and a sense of uneasiness.
• Four Last Things uses an animation style heavily-influenced by Terry Gilliam: Taking pieces from old paintings and using them as body parts for cut-out animation. It ends up evoking a surreal, humourous feeling similar to Monty Python's Flying Circus.

However, in terms of copying a pose of outfit, the contents of an image, you will need to get permission from the artist (or use royalty-free reference images) to use them in a game.

Sounds cool thank you for that but links for royalty free image sites would be nice please I don't know where to find any.

[Katy133]

Sounds cool thank you for that but links for royalty free image sites would be nice please I don't know where to find any.

It's challenging since I'm not quite sure what type of poses you want exactly, but here are some general photo references for casual and action poses:

• SensiStock has many different images of different models.
• Stock-Unrestricted is a collection of stock images from different artists.
• DesignDoll allows you to manipulate a 3D human model into different poses for you to draw at different angles.
• Eirian-Stock
• The Resources/Stock Images/Models section of deviantART.
• OpenGameArt has human rigs you can open in Blender (free 3D animation program) to pose.

You'll need to read the Rules of Use for each artist (generally, you'll need to provide credit to them in the work you create, and some artists need you to ask permission from them if you post the artwork you made outside of the website they've posted their reference).

[Ayanosan]

Sounds cool thank you for that but links for royalty free image sites would be nice please I don't know where to find any.

It's challenging since I'm not quite sure what type of poses you want exactly, but here are some general photo references for casual and action poses:

• SensiStock has many different images of different models.
• Stock-Unrestricted is a collection of stock images from different artists.
• DesignDoll allows you to manipulate a 3D human model into different poses for you to draw at different angles.
• Eirian-Stock
• The Resources/Stock Images/Models section of deviantART.
• OpenGameArt has human rigs you can open in Blender (free 3D animation program) to pose.

You'll need to read the Rules of Use for each artist (generally, you'll need to provide credit to them in the work you create, and some artists need you to ask permission from them if you post the artwork you made outside of the website they've posted their reference).

Thank yuo very much I found DesignDoll to be a really good one but I am still currently browsing through the rest, all of them are really good. Thanks for the help!>3<

[Lesleigh63]

Try putting 10-15 references on the page and take a little bit from each of them to design something new.

[Ayanosan]

Try putting 10-15 references on the page and take a little bit from each of them to design something new.

Thank you as well I will try it all! >3<

[Aviala]

What you're doing is very similar to tracing art, which is extremely frowned upon in art communities. You can do it for practice and that's fine, but if you intend to publish your work and you're copying art exactly as it is, that borders on art theft. Someone else worked hard on that art (years of developing the skills to draw it etc) and you're just taking their hard work and calling it your own. I hope you can see why that's unfair to the original artist. Please don't trace art, especially without permission. It's considered very rude.

Others here have already given great tips on how to do better, like looking at multiple different references etc, so I'm not going to get into that. Good luck!

[Ayanosan]

What you're doing is very similar to tracing art, which is extremely frowned upon in art communities. You can do it for practice and that's fine, but if you intend to publish your work and you're copying art exactly as it is, that borders on art theft. Someone else worked hard on that art (years of developing the skills to draw it etc) and you're just taking their hard work and calling it your own. I hope you can see why that's unfair to the original artist. Please don't trace art, especially without permission. It's considered very rude.

Others here have already given great tips on how to do better, like looking at multiple different references etc, so I'm not going to get into that. Good luck!

Thank you as well I see a lot of people are saying as you are saying, thank you for adding in on your part!>3<