Differences between Tracing, Eyeballing and Referencing

Due to many issues that came to light this year, we've decided to prepare this thread for artists to grasp better what we consider tracing, copying, eyeballing and proper referencing.

What is not allowed - tracing, copying, eyeballing, gridding, frankensteining/frankendolling. You CAN exhibit such art if credit to original artist is given - however you cannot make profit on that.

- Tracing is drawing over the photo/art.
- Copying is drawing a copy of a photo/art not necessarily traced, or traced with an artistic deviation.
- Eyeballing is producing a copy of the photo/art without tracing. The copy might differ enough in anatomy or details to not match perfectly, but it's still obviously a copy of the original.
- Gridding is producing a copy of the photo/art using a gridding technique.
- Frankesteining/frankendolling is picking various photos and creating a collage from them using a head, body, paws from different angles/photos and tracing/copying it.

What is allowed - referencing.

What is propfer referencing, exactly? Let me explain. There are two kind of referencing, close reference and normal.

What we consider Normal Referencing is using multiple photos or inspiring art that help you understand how anatomy or perspective works for the subject you're aiming for. Based on the gathered refs you can create your own, unique art. Your final art does not resemble references, however it is inspired by them. The inspiration can be visible or not, but does not have to be credited.

Close reference is similar as above, but you are using few sources or your final outcome resembles one of the sources very closely, although it is different enough to be your own art, and not break any copyright laws. In this case, we do prefer when people credit the original when selling art, to be fair towards the buyers, who might not prefer close referencing.

Visual Presentation

I have prepared this fast visual explanation of how certain things are different.


















Original picture found here

May we ask for examples that happened on Lioden? Sure you can! Let me show you in next two posts what is okay and what is not okay!

Note: Tracing part contains art done by players on Lioden. Since it's a traced art posted on OUR forums or submitted as custom decors, I consider it public enough to share as examples on what not do. I do not mean any harm or ill-will towards the artists - this is purely for educational purposes. If you want your art to be taken down, PM me please and we can talk.