We all have "clip art" in our minds of the various objects we attempt to draw, but due to our own complex perception of the world, these mental images are often not entirely accurate. How to get past this? Well, despite the stigma, tracing is a strikingly powerful method - actually used by painting masters for centuries - to push past your mental filters and allow you and your drawing muscles to experience rendering a subject with complete realism. 

In this episode of Art Creativity & You, Margaret and Mackenzie put this method through its paces with photographs of their own hands, graphite-impregnated paper (your new best friend, we promise!), and a willing sense of adventure...

Why Tracing Is Not Cheating from Margaret Welty on Vimeo.