My Trace Corner !

[Daniel E.]

Been putting the creation of this thread on hold since November (2006); Guess now it's time to finally get this mess started.

EDIT:

On June 8 2006, I posted my very first trace in this forum, wich means this gallery now has more than two years worth of traces.

Been goofing off for most of 2008, 2009 though.


00 01 02 03

00= Poor Rena, with that skin color, she almost ended up looking like Kratos from God of War.
The other three were a nice improvement though.


04 05 05a 06 07

08

04= This is one of my all time favorites. I have no idea what was I smoking when I made it, but I sure wish I had some more right now.

06= June 26 2007
I cant believe it actually took me four months before I noticed this trace was missing from the gallery.


09 10

I Wonder why I never made more traces of this two shows?


11 11a 12 13 13a

Yep, a good source pic always help when you trace; And if said source is HQ game CG, all the better.


14 15 16

16= Chubby Soi-Fong FTW!!


17 18

See this two Kanon traces? This is what happens when you rush things up. Remember, take your time, watch things carefully and never post something unless you are 100% certain it is actually complete.........oh, and dont do drugs either.


19 19a 20 20a

21 21a

I like this bunch.....A LOT!


22 22a

Sigh... another Kanon trace that didn't end up as I was expecting.


23 --> 24 -->

23a 24a

Fooled around a bit with a blur effect on these two; Two versions posted here for comparisons sake. >_< !
EDIT: Wallpapers added.

25 25a 25b

My new favorite trace.


26 27 28 29

29a

Yep, this damn show is everywhere.


30 31 32 33

31= The only trace in this gallery that isn't sourced out of artwork. I used the photo of a figure for that one.


34 34a 35 36

36a

The more I trace, the more I use the blur tool.

Not many other tracers and vectorers use the tool, though. >_< !

37 38 39 39a


40 41 41a

42 43 44 45

42 = My very first trace using the shape layers method!

44 = Valky!

46 47 48 49

49a 50 51 51a 52

53



And that's that. I'll be adding more eventually. (or so I hope )

As a bit of a side note, I just want to mention that I didn't draw anything you see in this gallery, they are all copies (traces) of already existing artwork. I only do this for fun and nothing else.

The reason I mention this is just to avoid any possible confusion with people not familiar with traces and the like.

@ All characters shown here are the properties of their respective owners.

[KiNA]

I like the Kaede ones.. thats a given .. but I never knew you did a Carrier?

Carrier have arrived to my HD .. thats for sure ^^

Tracing is something I've learnt before.. but somehow the long time to do 1 trace turns me off =/

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Kira_Naruto

Tracing is something I've learnt before.. but somehow the long time to do 1 trace turns me off =/

That's true, tracing can even try the patience of a saint.

Whenever someone ask me about this, I always tell them beforehand about the insane amount of time this sort of thing takes. The Bleach one in particular took me almost a month to make.

Then again, I am probably the slowest tracer around here.

[Deathkillz]

they look great! and those demonic eyes on ayu and shiori gives me the shivers

where do you get your BG ideas from? O.o they are simple but really affective ~ dam my unimaginative head >.<

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

they look great! and those demonic eyes on ayu and shiori gives me the shivers

Funny thing is, I didn't see anything wrong with the Ayu one until Skane mention it in the image thread. Back then, I was like, OH SHI.....

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

where do you get your BG ideas from? O.o they are simple but really affective ~ dam my unimaginative head >.<

A problem I run across often is the "need" to post the traces as soon as I finish them; This leaves me with little time and desire to elaborate a more complex background, wich translates to the simple shapes and forms I almost always end up using.

To be honest, I would prefer something more cooler and complex. I am actually very interested in seeing your vector complete with a similar background like the ones you use on your sigs.

[Klashikari]

w00t, you finally made your thread ! *drools*

i'm impressed how you involved in your vectors, especially the very good Asa and Mai.
but seriously, i don't think you should mash your mind for the BG : if it is simple but effective, why bothering when you can make things worse? ^^" (yeah... kinda conservative as usual )

i have to say that kaede vector looks rather clumsy to me (no offense, but the difference between this and the others are rather large... is it because of the source picture?) but yet, very good smooth colors ^^

duh, wish i could have enough patient and skills for some "average" vector ~~

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

i have to say that kaede vector looks rather clumsy to me (no offense, but the difference between this and the others are rather large... is it because of the source picture?) but yet, very good smooth colors ^^

Yes, the source for the Kaede pic was a screencap, unlike the others, that were taken directly from very clean game CG pics.

I really like how the Kaede trace ended though; I'll try to post the source pic later for comparisons sake.

Anyway, my next trace will probably be another Shuffle piece, so let's see how that one turns out.

[KiNA]

^ please say its Kareha .. please pretty please? With sugar on top?

[KiNA]

^ From some of the WIP screens he post.. Photoshop.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Kira_Naruto

^ please say its Kareha .. please pretty please? With sugar on top?

Hmmmm... If we think of Kareha as "Yellow" then no, I am afraid my next trace will not include that color; It does have a lot of Orange though. ..and said orange is not wearing any clothes at all.

It comes along with another color, but I'll leave that as a surprise for now.

Originally Posted by kayos

What are you tracing with?

Like KiNa mentioned it, I am using Photoshop CS. I do pretty much everything with the "Paths Method", a not-so popular technique among tracers and vectorers.

[KiNA]

Oranges? lots of oranges? Oranges are good.. I love oranges and not wearing clothes? .. Thatll be fine too

Couldn't help it .. but here's some no clothes oranges as well .. Should you need any more references ...

Spoiler for NSFW:

Spoiler for pic comment:

Gotcha

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Kira_Naruto

Couldn't help it .. but here's some no clothes oranges as well .. Should you need any more references ...

Lol, I could end up using some oranges as a background now.

Oh, and here's the source pic I mentioned a few post above:

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

Lol, I could end up using some oranges as a background now.

Oh, and here's the source pic I mentioned a few post above:

Wow, I'm surprised. Your trace is actually better that the source pic! Sure, the source pic is poor quality (and maybe it's just that particular one), but it's still very good nonetheless!

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

Wow, I'm surprised. Your trace is actually better that the source pic! Sure, the source pic is poor quality (and maybe it's just that particular one), but it's still very good nonetheless!

Well, if you ask me, to try to improve the original pic is actually the whole point of tracing; Or at the very least, to try an make a cleaner version of it.

I'll post some more source pics later on.

EDIT:

Ok, here they are:

Originally Posted by kayos

Now that I've seen the original source and your piece I've noticed your piece is incomplete. If you're wondering what I'm talking about I just meant the strands of hair in front of her face.

Your hair strands curved above the eyes while the original falls down to the eyes. But overall it still looks good... except for the curve part above the eyes.

Why did you cut it off?

Believe me, I know what you are talking about.

Clearing the face of some hair, to give the eyes more "room" to shine, is one of the things I do most often with my traces. I also dont believe in always making a 100% perfect copy of the source, so I sometimes re-draw a lot of parts while tracing.

Check out her hands and her handbag to see some of the changes I did there. The eyes, the details in her shirt and many other little things are in fact different. Of course, this is actually a very recent development in my work, so my older traces dont show such little changes (and I dont plan on always do those changes)

Anyway, I am very impressed that you actually noticed. You are the first person ever to comment on such things. That's certainly worth a cookie.

Oh, and to put things in perspective; Mai's boobs are actually smaller in my trace (22) and yet, nobody in the Kanon image thread actually noticed (or commented about it)

And yes, the source pic was also there. >_<!!

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by kayos

Yes their eyes are beautiful but there are better ways of shortening their hair than curving it. It's just kind of odd to see it like that.

Avoid making the curves and do straigh cuts? or perhaps reworking the entire piece of hair altogether?

I sometimes notice that the hair literally stops/ends where the eyes begin, thus following the curve of the upper part of the eye itself. I made the curve, but it's mostly a shorter version of the one already there.

Another thing I forgot to mention is the black outlines themselves. I dont always want to cut the hair, but if too much black gets together in a small place (i.e: the eyes) it could end up looking somewhat unbalanced in certain places.

This is mostly the reason why I stopped using brush size 4 px since trace # 07.

Still, trying to look things from your own POV; One solution could be ditching the black outlines completly. I have been tempted to do it a couple of times in the past, but always change my mind at the very last minute.

I'll keep your comment in mind for future traces (except for the next one; I already chopped the hair there ), Although I must admit to be quite proud of those little changes, since it's probably the only thing that makes my trace a bit more different than the rest.

.......Almost like a signature.

EDIT:

Oh heck, I already break the 1000 post mark without even noticing.

[i0td]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

15

Hehe. One of my favorites since I first saw it in your signature . Everything is spectacular. Keep up the great work.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by kayos

Yes, reworking the entire hair. Since you are modifying it why not go for a complete change.

This is the solution that seems more practical at this point.

Originally Posted by kayos

You really don't need that thick of an outline. The way some people used outline varies in the thickness depending on the area. Sometimes the shading is more powerful than the outline.

This almost sounds (probably is) like the shape layers method. I do plan on moving to this technique at some point; Though as it stands now, I find it a little difficult to master.

Originally Posted by kayos

Well by all means, if your happy with it and it's your style don't let anyone including me stand in your way.

Eventhough I can be stubborn in a way only mexicans can be, I still find your suggestions very interesting. I will take them into acount in the future (or at the very least, try to)

Thanks for the feedback. It really means a lot.

Originally Posted by i0td

Hehe. One of my favorites since I first saw it in your signature . Everything is spectacular. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for the comment.

I'll try to have my next trace ready before the first week of the next months ends.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by kayos

Sure no problem. Glad I could be of an assistance. So when are you planning to post more traces.

Oh, I already posted a new one in the Shuffle image thread.

It's part 1 of a 3 phase project, so I am holding the update here until I can get the whole thing complete. This are the traces I mentioned a few posts back when I said "Too late to changes the curved hair now" by the way.

As for the trace posted.............

I wanted to try some effects, (like in my sig) but I could never get them to work right on the trace; So right now, I am hoping to be able to include something more fancy in the final version instead of the RAW traces that I have been doing until now.

I think I can have something ready (part 2) in a week or so.

EDIT:

OK, I was finally able to improve the Asa trace. Two versions are now posted in the Shuffle image thread for comparison sake. >_< !!

[Zu Ra]

I had seen your traces before Daniel E in Bleach SubSection . I didnt know a thread exsisted for them . One word to describe your traces Awesome , kudos dude great job

[Radiosity]

That's some really nice work there Daniel It seems you use a similar method to me, with the Pen tool? I have to ask: How do you get your outlines so smooth and non-jaggy? It's bugging me considerably that mine turn out jaggy, likely due to the way I do it.