I liked this reminder to look closely at others work. I do already do this myself. I had some points to add that are of course just my opinion:

there's nothing wrong with copying just certain elements you like (as opposed to copying the entire piece). I agree that going down the exhaustive list of question is super useful, but, I think it's natural to be drawn to a particular element in a composition or design (I do illustration so that's what I find myself studying).

It's a bit less intimidating to copy say just the water affect used in an illustration, or a figure and clothing. Undoubtedly, you see specifics that you wouldn't have without recreating it.

I also like to use the accessibility tools on my Mac or the three finger tap on my iPhone to zoom way way in to see exactly how something was done. Perhaps it's my old eyes, but this is required to really glean what's going on sometimes.

Lastly, I'd make the analogy of great musicians I've met over the years having been in that arena in my "past life". They always had a huge repertoire of songs, tasty licks, etc., that they had copied. Eventually, it would morph into their own style.

Of course, never put these copies out directly :)

Lovely article, thanks for taking the time to write it Erik!