If they're using photographs to trace poses from, and the adding their own details, that isn't stealing. While I haven't done that sort of thing since I was like 12 (I'm 23 currently) and it shows a lack of professionalism and expertise in their field, I think you're overreacting. - Now if they're downright stealing other people's work, that's another matter. But the person in question admitted to tracing to create poses.

For all you know, they took bits and pieces of anatomy together in photoshop, turned the opacity way down, and traced over a cobbled-together image to create their tracing. There isn't any evidence that they are actually stealing, and I think the way that you spoke to them, calling their work "shit" (no matter how low or high quality quality you think it is) in the screencap you posted is just plain rude.

Personally if they can't be proven to have stolen anything, I don't see why people shouldn't commission them if they feel inclined. Sure there are plenty of other artists on FA who may be better or worse, but people can make their own choices.

I think your heart is in the right place but you're going about this all wrong.

I know I'm not the only person here who thought "porno trace" when looking at this

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6347137

the foreshortening gives it away

He's got two things in his gallery that are traced from each other. :x I dunno if there's another picture he traced them from, but yeah.

(Links are NSFW)
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2493464/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3590820/

From looking over his gallery, more so the Egyptian stuff, I see high references to how he draws his Jackal heads very closely resembling that of Dark Natasha's work, along with a few of his naga characters having a close resemblance. I have honestly only seen one person (Dark Natasha) draw the heads and more so the years of Jackals like that.

This itself is not proof of tracing, but highly referenced I think is pretty clear.

The other thing that makes me kinda weary is how he can make a very nicely detailed picture one moment, and then one that isnt as high of quality the next.

Its not enough to make me point out Thief, but it does cause me to want to tread lightly when dealing with such a person.

most of the stuff seems to vary from animee poses to porno-traced poses.

The porn traces will be damn near impossible to track down unless we have a resident porn expert who has literally seen everything. Porn poses are pretty generic too so it's not like you can immediately recognize stuff. It's blatantly obvious that's what he's doing though.

I do think that people should be told if he is tracing. I wouldn't want to buy a traced commission regardless of what it was traced off of.

That's a shame, I liked his character's design.
He could probably do some really great stuff if he could cast aside his crutches and learn to draw for himself.

Beware well earned.

Dayum, I commissioned two ref sheets from this guy and I've been using them a lot. It'd suck if they were traces...

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5895373/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4757605/ (NSFW)

I am kind of taken back by the tone you used with him at the very beginning.
He simply stated that your art needed work but was still good.
Than you straight up used 'Shit' to describe whats in his gallery.
Traced or not, that's completely uncalled for and rude.
You didn't even have a confession of tracing at that moment and you insulted him over a couple of words.

As well, your telling everyone who has commissioned him to ask for a refund? What of the commissions he said were 'fully original'?

He doesn't seem like English is his native language... The work doesn't look traced to me because his lines are very sketchy. It looks like he probably eyeballs, but maybe doesn't trace. I wonder if he understood what you were saying.

To be honest, if he is tracing, he isn't very good at it... He seems to be at a very basic level with his art.

I've frozen the above thread about the legality/morality of tracing now that we've started a discussion post about that very subject here: http://artists-beware.livejournal.com/530639.html

Please feel free to continue your discussion there!

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/764870/

Looks like the head and some of the anatomy came from

http://www.unicornlady.net/Gallery/images/18/grove_of_the_sun_copyright_h_kyoht_luterman.jpg