"As with painters, there are many programmers who only replicate things, never coming up with something original.
Genuine artists are different."
I wouldn't call people who only replicate not genuine artists! Replicating good code practices or doing painting master studies is very important to technical knowledge, and being able to deconstruct something and put it back together the same way you found it is a pretty good skill that does take some creativity and curiosity. I get what you're saying over all though!
"As with painters, there are many programmers who only replicate things, never coming up with something original.
Genuine artists are different."
I wouldn't call people who only replicate not genuine artists! Replicating good code practices or doing painting master studies is very important to technical knowledge, and being able to deconstruct something and put it back together the same way you found it is a pretty good skill that does take some creativity and curiosity. I get what you're saying over all though!
You can't create good code just by following good practices. Code can never be better than its design.