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Lilikins I don't think the most important thing is to paint it like it looks like a photo, the main important thing is the impression of the scene. That doesn't mean that I do not have respect of the great work of e.g. the mentioned Twix painting from @dracula - this was an amazing work. On the other hand your Christmas cat was also very realistic looking. If you plan e.g. a painting of buildings or any geometric shape after a photo, then the correct perspective (to me at least) is 100 times more important than painting every single irregularity in the surface of the walls.
I am not sure if I participate the event, as I have currently some ordered scenes to paint for friends and colleagues. But if, then I will most probably use watercolors, and with them I won't get photo realism, but it is not my goal.