Gregory's Server
All art is valid, and you're allowed to do whatever helps you make the art you want to make;
:artpaw: Turn the paper around because you can only draw good lines in one direction? It's fine!
:artpaw: Draw in pencil first in multiple iterations? Do it!
:artpaw: Use a million reference images? Yesferatu!
:artpaw: Trace the things you're having trouble drawing? Totes McGoats :D
The things that enable you to create are not 'cheating' - they're tools.
@Curator
Commercial artists do those things all the time, BTW.
It's useful to do exercises where you put artificial limits on yourself to push certain skills. When your personal development is the point.
But when it comes time to produce, cheat your heart out. There's no such thing as "cheating", when the point is just results.
Took me awhile to get that.