Raw LLM Responses

Tracing your ref is not the same as copying. Legally, if you change the image 20% different from the original reference you can call it yours and claim copyright (which, to my eye, this artist did all different colors and had a different finishing style for the image that made it his own). It's silly how we don't expect singers to write ALL their own original songs, even to practice singing. We don't expect a chef to milk a cow and make his own cheese before he can create a dish to call his own, right? Some of ya'll are holding visual artists to crazy standards we don't do in the other arts. Even the old masters like Da Vinci and Michelangelo had teams for 20-30 apprentices working with them to accomplish their work. Vermeer traced from life using light and mirrors hundreds of years ago. So can we stop gatekeeping tracing references, please? Holding other people to your own personal standards turns art into this cult-ish, harsh environment online. We need to be supportive and kind to each other, especially when sharing our art makes us vulnerable. Again, copying is only good for learning purposes. And studies are important at all stages of your art journey. But references are necessary. And sometimes tracing is a useful professional tool to get you to the next step or essential to meet deadlines. If you're trying to ruin someone's life because the traced AI art for reference, you prob have too much free time on your hands and more than a few of your own insecurities ;) So grow up. work on yourself. Work on your own work. Rinse and repeat