Tracing is not OK.

I've been following this hilarious blog for a while now laughable-lion-king-art.tumblr…

And while it pretty much makes me laugh with every post, I'm also getting more and more frustrated with the "Base" and "Vector" "communities". And I feel a need to vent my frustrations somewhat. Folks, posting traced artwork is not okay. I don't understand why deviantArt doesn't do anything about this.

Bases can be fun as a pastime, I'll give you that. And if you actually do something with them, I might even go as far as calling it "art". I mean, this is technically a coloured "base" but, dang, look at it: mistytang.deviantart.com/art/B… And I can also let slip posting a coloured-in base from time to time for fun, but when people base (hah) their entire galleries around these fill-bucket linearts, I start wondering "What are you even doing on an art site?" Recolouring clip-arts and other people's artwork into my own characters was something I did too when I was 12 and just had discovered the internet. Yes, I did. But I kept it to myself. (Also, I have nothing at all against linearts/"bases" that you actually drew. Those are your creation. Huzzah!)

I don't mind bases half as much as I mind so-called vectors though. First of all, a "vector" is object-based. A trace posted as a huge pixel image does not automatically make it a vector. And no offence, but just because ponies are traced and posted to the left and right every other minute doesn't mean you can do it to anything and post it anywhere (in my opinion you shouldn't do it to ponies either). And, what is the point? You traced a screenshot/clip-art line by line and coloured it. Okay? What are you expecting now? Praise for work you didn't create?

The main thing that really gets me about these "vectors" and bases is that some people somehow think they deserve credit for their trace. The nerve. I mean seriously. It wasn't yours to take in the first place, so what sort of ludicrous claim do you think you have over it? Just because The Lion King is a famous film, does that suddenly make it public property? Erm. I don't think Disney agrees. Technically, I believe making fan art is a breach of copyright too, but in fan art there is at least something you've made by yourself.

If you use tracing as a means of practise I am perfectly fine with it - it's even a pretty decent way to learn - as long as it is kept offline. Posting it online is pure plagiarism and has no place on a site like dA.

Someone needs to start deviantBASE (alternatively deviantTRACE) I think. Then maybe we'd be able to keep it away from the art over here