Art as a Poor Imitation

I have always thought that imitation is not flattery. So when I think of doing a photo manipulation similar to the works of Andy Warhol, I tend to become defensive and think of it as inspiration. And honestly, I feel that my Warhol-inspired works are far from excellent. The inspiration I get from Warhol is respect for the artist who lived in a time when digital art was not en vogue. I imagine the effort and time Warhol has to devote on every piece. Amazing! Now, with emergence of a lot of softwares on digital image enhancement, anything is possible.

I still don't know how to draw the line between imitation and inspiration or adaptation. As an artist, if ever I imitate or draw inspiration from known artist, I make sure it is paying homage to his
greatness for nothing is greater than the original.