Gifts from God,
I for one believe in gifts from God, as a Pastor, as my Father before me, I was raised believing God gives us gifts or talents as some might say.
I know He gave me the talents I have, but he also made me responsible for them. Was the gift in itself absolute? I mean when my Mother had me, did I come into this world with paintbrush in hand, so to speak, or pencil and pad?
Pardon the exaggeration but just a point, that I look at what I did then (yuck) compared to what I do now. The gift was certainly there absolutely, but so was the responsibility of what to do with it; would I do nothing, then I would still draw at the level I first did. But because I acted from that moment till now I have trained to learn what I do. If I had not practiced, not sought out knowledge, I would have wasted the very talent I was blessed with.
I think respectively, I have restated enough about tracing. Let me add one thought, though: I am not against it. Tracing may have things to teach you, but it's not the end-all or easy way as has been stated, and the dangers around it in place of fundamental training are enough I fear to direct someone on a wrong path.
Oh, and as far as forcing someone in learning a certain way I wouldn't even attempt it; it was never my intent nor my point at all. No one needs me or anyone else to force them to have to practice the basic fundamentals of drawing..
In the end, all who trace will realize that when they wish to proceed further, they will have to learn like all the rest.
Mark