I belong to the school of thought that it is a good thing to copy other artists work (for your own practice, obviously, not to pass it off as your own). I find it helpful to draw from other artists work because it helps to experiment with using different styles in order to find your own. I used to only copy exactly what I saw, but I find that nowadays when I draw from others' work I tend to change things, sometimes just slightly, maybe only a few details, sometimes drastically changing the style (like in the third picture). As time has gone on I have found ways that I like to do things and I have started to develop a style of my own, but as I am still not very good when it comes to drawing out of my head, I still need something to work from to help me get poses and clothing right.
The first picture comes from some concept art from the second season of Darker Than Black. The second is from アンのマゴマゴ図書之国 (Ann no Magomago Tosho Land), and the third from 天使1/2方程式 (Tenshi 1/2 Houteishiki), both in Japan's Hana to Yume manga magazine.
The first picture comes from some concept art from the second season of Darker Than Black. The second is from アンのマゴマゴ図書之国 (Ann no Magomago Tosho Land), and the third from 天使1/2方程式 (Tenshi 1/2 Houteishiki), both in Japan's Hana to Yume manga magazine.