You know in my early years as an self-trained artist I was known for photorealism - basically painting photographically. Later I went to university and the teachers said: "do you want to be a camera?" - I realised that I was wasting my time and wanted to paint the way "Arthur" painted. The problem was that I was now sucked in toe "detail" - as a way of trying to loosen my brushstrokes I tried painting on sytrofoam because it is virtually impossible to paint too detailed on there. It worked and really helped loosen brushwork.
I will definitely enter the "my costed" thing - always nice to see you stop by my good friend @thedark horse
I agree with your teachers and glad you learned this. Even painting in a realistic way there needs to be artistic interpretation. Without the artist putting their vision into their work it's without heart and soul. So hard to explain what I mean, but I'm guessing you get it.