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If you belong to or read any of the art forums pertaining to comic book art you will no doubt find a thread or batch of comments pertaining to “cheating” in comics, or more specifically “cheating” in the creation of comic book artwork. Is there really such a thing as cheating in making comic books? Some would argue yes, there is, and list off reasons why any particular offense is considered cheating. Off the top of my head, the ones that come to mind are tracing photographs, particularly if they are not photographs you took yourself; using poseable mannequins either as reference or to trace over pictures of; the use of 3D software whether it is Sketchup for buildings or DAZ3D or Poser for figure work. Some fan famous artists have been flamed for using porn models for reference in their comic work, which isn’t a sin by any means, but when a character should look happy at say a birthday party, it shouldn’t be because they are on the verge of an orgasm as some characters are often drawn by the artist(s), who will remain nameless. Others have been accused of portraying entire scenes from a photo in their work without changing anything about the original photo. Still others have been accused of using their own past artwork to create newer artwork by recycling poses or faces. Lastly, there are those who obviously swipe the work of another artist and do what should be an homage piece but fail to site the original artist or worse, claim it as their own (I’m looking at you Granito!). So are all of these examples of “cheating”, in my personal opinion, no! “WTF, seriously”! Yes, seriously. Why some of the fan perceived offenses I mentioned are somewhere on the scale of lazy to immoral, they are not cheating. So how did I come to this brainfart of a conclusion? Well, that is a good question, one which I will try and break down for you.
What is cheating?
That is kind of a loaded question because the answer really depends on your perspective and what you are applying it to. Cheating can be boiled down to anything you do that can influence the outcome of a something, particularly in a favorable way. At least that is how it is perceived. I think we can look no further than professional sports for the genesis of where cheating has become a negative thing in our culture. Take football for instance, NFL, not soccer. Athletes train for years to get to a professional level. They learn all the aspects of the game and commit to grueling practices and classroom study to hone their craft. At some point every athlete, especially those whose income and livelihood depend on their body, will seek out ways to perform better. They may employ specialized workouts, hire performance coaches, use supplements, specialized diets, oxygen chamber therapy, cold therapy, chiropractic manipulation, custom fitted gear and a host of other things all meant to give them an edge. These technically can all be considered “cheating” because any one of these or a combination of these can influence the athletes performance. Now, no one would bat an eye at any of these things or think of them as bad or cheating. Honestly they sound pretty routine for just about any athlete. Now if we move over to the “dark side” i.e steroids or PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) this is where the negativity come in. This is what gives athletes and sports a bad name. But does it really? Let’s set aside the fact that steroids are illegal (because the government ignorantly declared them in the same class schedule as cocaine and heroine, they are not by the way). What happens if some players take the juice? Well, if they do it in a responsible manner (Dr. supervision) they get bigger, stronger, faster and perform better. All good things, especially if you own the sports team with said players. Well, not so fast. First not every player does or wants to use PED’s, which is fine, it’s a personal choice. The overarching problem with PED’s use is that if say my team is juiced and the opposing team is not, there is a really good chance my team will win if all skills are equal between the two teams. The PED’s being the factor that gives my team a better chance. So what happens when my team keeps winning because we are juiced? Well, ticket sales for games goes up due to increased game attendance. My team gets more TV time or talked about more on the sports radio channels. Sales of team merchandise goes up and money is raked in by the owners of the team, the merchandise vendors, the soda and beer stands, the hot dog cart and pretty mcuh everything else financially tied to the team. This sounds all well and good, except that the other team(s) who lost get the opposite outcome. The bottom line is that some very rich folks won’t make as much money as the other rich folks who own teams. So in order to not have to hear the team owners whine and complain about dollars lost, they ban PED’s to keep the playing field equal and give everybody a chance in the spirit of sportsmanship. Well guess what? Comic book publishers don’t give a damn about any of that nonsense. No publisher who makes money in the comic book business is going to complain because they sold more books due to an artist tracing photos to help get the work done faster. There is no ruling body who will hear complains from DC and make rulings on art etiquette if they accuse Marvel of using Sketchup models in their backgrounds. All the publishers care about is putting out a top notch product and selling lots of it!
So where does the idea of cheating in comics come from?
Honestly, who the hell knows! I couldn’t pinpoint the exact origin of it but it does exist. But why? Why is it so important to some people to point out that something was traced or a 3D model etc. That’s a good question. I think it is rooted in a few things. First I think it’s a bit of hero worship. As comic art fans we all have our favorite artists. As an artist myself I have a slew of favorites who I admire and look up to. But also as an artist, I respect and appreciate what they do and realize to them it is a career. I think “civilians” tend to look at an artists work and see what they can do and to them it’s like magic. These people whose work they admire can literally conjure beautiful pieces of fantasy from nothing but their hand and a pencil. They create something where once there was nothing. Being an artist, if you think about it, is the closest thing a human can get to being god outside of childbirth (creating another human). I think when a civilian sees exactly how the art they love is made and realize that not everything is conjured straight out of the artist brain, that there may be reference used, or some tracing or 3D work, it kinda kills the magic for them a bit. It’s like loving sausage until you see how it’s made! Seeing how comic art is made may be a let down for some people who think artists pull everything right out of their head. Since their image of that artist is now tainted they equate their art techniques to “cheating” because it’s not strictly out of their head. I know this sounds pretty crazy but I’ve heard it myself. I will draw something and use a reference pic and someone will say “oh that’s cool, but you looked a photo, it’s not like you really drew that”! Really, here’s the pic, you give it a go and see how yours looks! In my head a strangulating murder is taking place on said fool.
I think another scenario is artist on artist hate. Well not really hate, but you know what I’m getting at. One artist may be really good pulling things from their head and can pull off some things a less experienced or talented artist cannot do without reference. So of course if the less experienced/talented artist can achieve a similar result using reference the more experienced artist may throw some shade their way to alleviate their ego being challenged. It’s as if the less experienced artists work is not as valuable because the result wasn’t achieved the same way as the more experienced artist. I’ve seen forum comments that echo this sentiment in a bunch of places. Why? Honestly, who cares! Look go to any art school and in any given class you’ll have the one or two prodigy types who are just that good, then you have everyone else in varying degrees of talent. No ones work is more valid than anyones else’s, so why try and put people down. There is room for everyone to create. The marketability of an artists work is determined by the free market and the people willing to pay to consume it, not other artist or haters on the internet forums.
So it’s not cheating?
Now that I ranted a bit let’s get to why the things mentioned are NOT cheating. To do that, I am going to approach this from the perspective of a graphic designer and not a comic artist. “Why the hell are you doing that”, well because the answer is A. I’m a professional graphic designer (who also draws comic inspired art) and B. because at the end of the day, a comic book is a piece of graphic design. It’s no different than a catalog, brochure or sales aid. Basically, graphic design is the intentional pairing of typography and images to create a device to communicate a message, tell a story, convey an idea or sell you something. In the case of comic books, they are created to tell a story but also to sell you the brand. Marvel Comics tells you great stories with their characters but they are also constantly selling you the Marvel brand. So does DC, IDW, Dark Horse and pretty much every comic book brand. Ask yourself how many acton figures you own, how many superhero movies you’ve seen or how many comic book character tee shirts you own, then tell me they aren’t selling to you. Having said all of that, in graphic design we have to employ many techniques to achieve the result that is going to solve the clients problem in an aesthetically pleasing way. That means if I have to trace something, I’m tracing it. If I have to freehand draw it, I freehand. If I need a 3D object I buy a model, model it myself or pay someone to do it. Most of the time we are using photographs which are sourced from stock photo sites or you have to pay a photographer to do a photo shoot unless you can shoot your own photos. Whatever technique I have to use to get the job done I use. This is also true for comic book artist, but for some reason when they do it it’s a travesty! I wonder how many of the people complaining about how an artist gets their work done are actually professional artists themselves? They have no idea what it is like to have to solve creative problems on a daily basis when you are up against a deadline! Not to mention, the artist may have a family to take care of, bills to pay, maybe an ill parent or other personal issues to deal with while trying to get their work done. While I say that, I realize I have it easy as I can use photos, comic artist have to draw everything. While the comic artist draws their imagery, keep in mind that although the art is beautiful and cool, at the end of the day, it’s just a piece of production art, at least to the publisher it is. They use it for their purposes and then give it back to the artist. The end result is a cool looking comic book that can be enjoyed. So who cares if the artist traced all the hands in his art to speed up the process. It still looks cool in the final printed book right? Why worry if your favorite artist traced over Sketchup models to get the look of the background buildings looking right. Maybe he/she had a family emergency that week and had to do that to make their deadline. The book came out on time, it looked great and you bought one and enjoyed it. So why are you complaining about how it’s made. One of my favorite artist has recently been rendering out DAZ3D models and digitally inking over them to complete his work. Although his work looks a bit different then it used to I still enjoy the book, so why crucify the guy for not drawing traditionally? Keep in mind, artist are people with lives and deadlines. Sometimes life encroaches on the deadlines and at times you may have to use the technology at hand to help get the job done on time. That’s called being a professional, not a cheater!
Tracing?
But…but.. what about people who trace everything? They most assuredly are cheaters right. No, wrong! Consider this scenario. A person desperately wants to create a self published comic. They have a great story but they kinda suck at the art. They decide that since they cannot draw that well they will instead shoot photos or get a stock photos (paid) for all of their scenes. They will then trace over the photos for each of their panels to get the basic art structure in place and then pencil in the light/shadows and details on their own. Should we condemn this person for trying to create something that is obviously a passion for them because they cannot execute on the level of other more seasoned artists who do not need to trace photos? No we should not! Obviously the artist in this case would probably like to draw better and perhaps tracing the photos will help them out in that sense, at least if we are to believe what comic book legend Neil Adams says about tracing photos. We should encourage this artist because to not encourage them might rob the masses of a really great story. To not encourage this artist may crush their creative dreams and why should we do that. Like I said earlier there is room for everyone to create. Take the final piece of work for what it is and don’t worry about how the artist got there. Although there is artistry in how a person creates a piece, that part of the journey is more personal to the artist. The final product is the artistry they share with the word at large. Though there are some artist that share their process, not every artist is that open and we should accept that.
3D?
Ok, so tracing may not be that bad, but those 3D model users are definitely cheating, I just know it! Uh, ok, calm down. To answer your question, they are not cheating. They are simply using the technology of the day to speed up the tasks they do on a daily basis. For instance if all you did was draw with a pencil and someone approached you with a brush and a set of paints, wouldn’t you want to try using the “new” technology to make better art at a faster pace? Of course you would, so why are 3D models a bad thing? If an artist can use the models as reference or incorporate them into the page layout and still get a result that is consistent with their personal style, isn’t that a good thing? Especially if they can get books done faster. If you want to see really cool 3D work used to create entire comic books then go look up artist Brian Haberlin and his book Anomaly or Anomaly: The Rubicon. Brian uses a combination of digital and traditional techniques to create some awesome comic art. Is his work less legitimate because he used 3D models in the work instead of drawing everything? Of course not. Are animated movies less fun to watch because the hand drawn animation has been replaced by 3D animation, uh no!
Recycling?
“Alright, we’ll let the tracers and the 3D people slide, but these recycling guys gotta go”! Really, you’re mad because an artist recycled a face from an older comic he/she drew and put it into the current issue. Really, that’s the battle you want to fight? WHO CARES!!! Look if an artist decides to scan in their work so that they can swipe from their own art, let them and quit your bitchin! At least they are using their own art. I’ve read of comic strip artists doing this with some of their characters stock poses. This way they don’t have to redraw it a thousand times. That’s not cheating, that’s called smart!
Swiping?
“Ok, I see your point, the recyclers can stay, but the swipers are just evil”!
I will agree with you and disagree at the same time. If an artist swipes another artist work for the sole purpose of doing an homage, I see nothing wrong with this at all, provided proper credit is given to the original artist. This is not cheating at all. However, there are some individuals with loose morals who think nothing of swiping other peoples art and claiming it as their own. This too is not cheating, it is outright theft and it is evil! Back about 2010 there was a self proclaimed artist, and I use the term artist loosely, who was accused of swiping the art of famous comic artists, making some changes in photoshop and claiming the art was his own. Some were outright trace overs. No credit was given to the original artists. Thus the term being “Granito’ed” became synonymous with having your art stolen. After appearing at dozens of cons over the years he was finally confronted by real artists in the industry who outed him and had the con remove him from the show he was at. Word got around and he was banned from basically the entire con circuit. I actually bought a few prints from this guy back before he was outed. Once I found out about his theft I trashed all of the prints.
Those little art dolls?
“How about those little figure reference dolls that are so popular now, those have to be cheating”. For the love of god, no, they are not cheating! Those little art dolls such as the Body Kun DX & Body Chan DX are awesome!! You can pose them in so many ways and the male and female work great together. They have accessories like swords and guns and they even have stands to help pose them in the air. You can pose the figures, take a pic and either trace over it or look at it for reference. Total time saver! If you don’t like those there are others like Max Factory Figma Archetype Next Male and Female Action Figures. Seriously, you can’t go wrong with these. It’s almost criminal to not get a set and use them. Again, not cheating!
To be clear, there is no cheating?
Correct, all of the things mentioned are just techniques used to create production art that at some point will finally be used to produce a comic book. The only way I would view these techniques as cheating is if you are learning to draw comic art and you rely too much on these techniques to the detriment of your learning to draw. At that point you are cheating yourself of the joy of drawing. Seasoned artists and pros may use these techniques, but they have also put in the time to learn to draw, they are using these things as a time saver, not a crutch. Remember when I said cheating depended on your perspective?
Well that’s all I’ve got. I’ve been wanting to write something about cheating in comic art for a while since it is so hotly debated in art circles. This is just my opinion so feel free to agree or disagree. Now to go work on my anatomy book post.
