Is copying oK? Yes I believe copying is ok and shouldn't be so put off. Inspiration can go as far as making someone want to replicate what inspired them and if that means doing it in the same way as the original then by all means more power to them. I'd been taught and told in the past that copying is "plagiarism" but it's really just an extent of enjoying and appreciating the original. Through this unit Iv'e learned that copying isn't bad and one should be confident in taking on the original piece as a challenge or making it their own.
Above is a picture of my character remix project in which I obviously took Goofy's head and put it on Donald's body. I used photo references that I took from Google and free handed it. I used pencil as my medium, it took 2 class periods.
For my finale project in the artists steal unit I took a picture that was meant as photography art and remade it in charcoal. The charcoal really makes the silhouette of the shark really stand out in the black and white of the water caused by the sunlight. The merit of this project is that I picked a picture that was simple enough to remake it with a medium and still have it look relatively realistic.