Painting Exactly or Altered?

When you're painting, how important is it to you to paint the subject exactly the way it is, or not? On the Painting Forum, Elyne has posed this question, saying:

"Do you paint exact the way the subject is in real life or do you alter it? Personally when I paint or draw something from a certain object it always looks different or not accurate enough, is that a good or bad thing?"

The responses so far have included Varks saying she has found that "likeness is not just in the details, but in the whole posture" and Tina who says she spends "long time looking for the most important lines, which have to be accurate". What do you think? Join the discussion here...