imitation

accurate, good, passable

cheap, crude, pale, poor

My brother's cooking is a poor imitation of what our mother used to make.

faithful, slavish

direct

Young artists often improve their skills through direct imitation of the techniques used by famous painters.

in ~ of

The artist created a series of paintings in imitation of famous Renaissance masters.

fair, good, passable

poor

do, give, perform

She performed a hilarious imitation of her teacher that made the whole class laugh.