Personal Imitation

On his blog, Griffin asked: "Can an artist imitate their own work?"

All art is based on the artist's experience. Sometimes it comes from the life of the artist and sometimes it finds it's roots in other pieces of art that the artist has encountered over his or her life. Artists also build off of their own work. If you look at an artist's work from across his or her career, it is usually possible to see a gradual growth or change of style from the first piece to the last. By reviewing their work, artists can see what works and what doesn't work. In their next work, they can change or not change the style accordingly. Is this change a type of imitation? I don't think it is. Rather, it's the development of the artist's skill and personal style.

 If a piece of art is consciously inspired by the work of a different artist, should the original artist be credited?