Tracing and transferring images

[Jacqueline Dunster]

I am new to this forum, but I am hoping this is the right place to post this topic.

I was perusing Amazon.com for good drawing/art books, and found a bad customer review for a perfectly decent book on drawing portraits. The reviewer poo-poohed the book because it taught "details and all that stuff". He said, "there's a simpler way." The reviewer then went on to praise another book (which will remain nameless) that taught the "grid" method only. (The reviewer said that he didn't even use the grid method for his drawings, he just went ahead and traced the photograph.)

I was appalled by this attitude. I almost popped a cork. Since when is learning and understanding the portrait considered a waste of time? What's so wrong with really learning how to draw? I hope this person's opinion is in the minority. How depressing.

I am pretty stuffy and stubborn about this issue, I confess. (I will remain a "purist", who only wants to draw freehand.) But am I the only one? I have always assumed not.

I've been drawing and painting for a while, but have an education based more on illustration (where tracing is not uncommon). Being the stubborn "purist" that I am, I've never traced a photo when creating one of my portraits. I never liked the idea.

I understand that some artists in the past have used the grid method, and I understand that the grid method can be a great help for learning, and for certain tasks. But I always assumed that fine artists who used the grid method also knew how to draw as well. However, the impression I'm getting is that some artists nowadays don't know how to really "draw" and are unable to get an image unless they use a grid, or trace it. I guess that's OK for more "funky" artwork, but for more "traditional" forms of artwork, it just doesn't seem right to me.

So, I am curious. Is the lack of drawing skill a common thing for many artists? Is it acceptable to trace (or grid) a photograph in more traditional fine art portraiture? I assumed not, but I am kind of out of the loop. I thought this forum would be a good place to ask!