I think this captures the essence of things; I think when you understand your own taste, that goes a long way to creating your style. Many artists copy others in the hope that something of themselves emerges, and I guess that's how it often does. But there's more to it than that. Why do you try to copy one painting or style over another? What in it draws you to want to achieve that? Everyone has their Singer Sargent or Wesson or Seago, and says "I want to be able to do THAT!" But thats an expression of TASTE, and I think the journey of an artist is to understand that taste. I might like the technique of one artist, the contrasts and drama of another, or I might like loose suggestive watercolor that allows the viewer to fill in the details, or I might like being able to capture photorealism. When our work lacks that "special thing we want it to have", it focuses us more clearly on what it is that we want it to have. So in looking at other artists, and attempting to reproduce them, what we really need to be looking out for is not the ability to copy others work in general, but to understand what element in that painting particularly resonates with us. So we can ditch the stuff in it that we dont resonate with, but can perhaps combine that which we like with a better version of what we dont like from someone else. And of course, not just other's art, but also the scene in which we live - the landscape, cityscape, whatever. In Van Gogh's case, the sunlight of Provence, for Manet, his garden.