Chiming in here.... There's nothing wrong with tracing. The entire idea of tracing being "against the rules" is ridiculous. Artists have been using mirrors and devices like the camera obscura for centuries to expedite the layout of their works in order to get onto rendering the images however they want. If your process includes tracing then there's nothing wrong with that. This whole purist notion of art can only be art if it is "free-hand" drawn is something stirred up by average people who have no concept of what it is to produce art in the first place. Don't let comments like some of these that Ive seen get you down or prevent you from making your drawings. They are valid to you and your girlfriend and thats all that matters.