Th difference between copying and inspired to me is that when you copy you go in with the intention to forge or make the exact same piece without any personal artsy touches. Being inspired means that you found something that you really liked, took the idea with you and recreated it with your own personal touch.
For my character remix project i did simba and some monkey dude from the lion king and i switched their faces by projecting, tracing then painting them.
For my final project i did a dia de los muertos version of chicks head. It was a challenging project because there was so much shading to put into it, so i decided to only shade half of it giving it a very original look. Also i didn't do a typical skull design on her, she had flowers as eyes and a third eye in the center of her forehead.