Honestly though professional artists trace resource graphics and reference images all the time—many even photobash and render on top. How are these processes hurtful to other artists (assuming they aren't stealing or infringing copyright)? Why do ppl care how others work? https://twitter.com/JayAxer/status/1248708302038392832

Ultimately it boils down to individual goals: are you trying to show something highly rendered, but need to work really fast? Concept artists don't care about some kind of "purity" when it comes to using ref because they're usually more concerned with efficiency. Just as valid.

Transparency is nice and it's definitely weird/annoying when artists refuse to acknowledge when they've used additional tools or resources to create their work but at the end of the day, I don't think any of us should fixate on whether or not someone else is "cheating" at art