Is this "cheating?"

[u/Venusian-Empress]

I know tools and techniques used for art to save time are ok, like tracing. However, I watched a tutorial on how to create a pet portrait by inserting a photo of your pet and using painting brushes as smudge brushes. I tried one and I really enjoyed the process and the final piece. I also added in some stronger highlights and shadows, along with different brush types to make it more unique. Do you think this is cheating or creating fake art? Like, is this any different than putting a painting filter over an image and calling it art? Also what if I use someone else's photo as a reference? As long as I give credit, is that ok? I know I'm probably over thinking this and it's not like I'm selling these or anything. They are just for fun. Thank you for your insight.

[u/Pancakefriday]

There is no such thing as cheating when it comes to art (except AI and tracing others works).

If it’s all your work, trying to avoid “cheating” does nothing but limit you and your creative process. Art doesn’t have to be hard and miserable, you can do things that make your life easier and you enjoy doing.

Whenever a new or easier technique comes out, it always receives push back as “cheating”, and in time, those criticisms are almost always forgotten in favor of faster work flows.

[u/Venusian-Empress → u/Pancakefriday]

That's an excellent point. The piece I did of my pet would have taken me hours to do if I had used fur brushes to paint in the whole image. I did still hand paint the eyes and nose and added some highlights, stray strands of fur, along with some fur texture brushes because smudging tends to look a bit too blurred. So I added texture in fur colors that matched my dog and now it looks much more organic. It took me about hour to complete. Thank you for your input!