Paleold Art....

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Sometimes I wonder what it is vis-a-vis dinosaur art that some people want. Should I trace skeletons? Should I use Gregory S. Paul's skeletals, or David Peters' fine work? Or the estimable and meticulous Scott Hartman or Qilong (Jaime Headden)? Or Nima Sassani (Paleo King)? Or Palaeozoologist? Or several others who do fine skeletal reconstructions?

Or should I copy from their flesh restorations or trace movie screencaps from March of the Dinosaurs, all three Jurassic Park movies, Walking With Dinosaurs, Dinosaur Revolution, Dinosaur, or Speckles the Tarbosaurus, as well as several others?

Or should I go back farther, to the days of Charles R. Knight or Zdenek Burian? Mark Hallett? Doug Henderson? Should I do like SO MANY do and trace elements from old pics here and there; God HELP me if a customers asks for something even remotely original?

Should I claim to use GIMP and measure pixels from photos of skeletons to get my creatures correct and lifelike? Should I draw/paint pics of specimens or try and get cool depictions of living creatures in their worlds?

All the people and sources mentioned have my respect and admiration, even liking, but should I merely copy/trace/emulate their work, or should I make my own art...as they do?

My choice is to study the remains as best I can, thinking of the fossils as WHOLE and LIVING creatures, not just dead taxidermy mounts, devoid of life. I have spent and still spend MANY hours studying the bones, studying living animals, their ecosystems, their personalities, and their behavior, after which I create my own pictures. Not in the style of Knight. Or Burian. Or Paul. Or anyone else I can think of.

I can think of many pics I've done that are not scientifically perfect. Nobody I know of can truthfully claim to be entirely accurate. I've done little that I show that I am ashamed of, warts and all.

How many here can claim that? How many here think creative art is only done by tracing other people's work?

How many ARTISTS are out there? I got an idea quite a few. Let me know your opinions, please. Tell me your candidates for creative artists and why you like them, whether they seem to fit my criteria or not.
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Algoroth's avatar
Seems I touched a nerve. I see tracing as a necessary technique. If you can only trace, however, I have a hard time seeing you as what I myself would call a creative artist.

Let me clarify something. Tracing is extremely useful for those of us, like me, who work out the basic design before doing the finished work...tracing allows cleaner art easier and faster than working it all new. Tracing from a projected design on to a wall, for a mural, is also recommended.

Provided you don't lie about your source and you have permission, I have no problem with tracing or copying in general. However, I have run across  "artists" to whom the word 'plagiarism' doesn't exist..."artists" whose idea of original art is tracing other artists' original efforts. "Artists" that do this all the time who think they are Rembrandts or Frazettas, who, frankly, even trace lousy.

Doing a good job of tracing requires way more than simply following a line. I say it comes down to this; do you trace because it's necessary, then add your own talent and touches, making it into a new, legit piece? Or do you simply trace and claim to have created it?