zai, I have to agree totally with you. The EYE can be taught. In fact, pretty much anything under the sun can be taught.... up to a certain point. Anyone can learn to be a photographer of sorts. But what distinguishes a good photographer from a mediocre one isn't the EYE - it's something else which is almost indefinable. I think it's the ability to think 'outside the frame'. Just occasionally, I'll be shooting and suddenly see something or think of something that's way off base. And when I do it, it's always brilliant. It's a gut feeling I get that says "Hey! Look at it this way. Isn't that great?" So, yes... the EYE can be taught, but to make a photograph (or a layout) really stand out from the crowd, it needs that flash of inspiration that sets it apart. The better the artist, the more frequently those 'flashes' come. To offer you all a bit of hope, I was watching a discussion the other night about human intelligence. Pretty fascinating stuff. The thinking used to be that not everyone was born with the same amount of intelligence. Some people were more intelligent than others and that was that. Nowadays, scientists have a much deeper understanding of the human brain and know that it's one of the most flexible organs in the body. They now reckon that anyone at all can develop their brain and increase their intelligence way beyond what they're born with. The current thinking can be summed up like this. "Not everyone is born equal in intelligence... but they can BECOME equal" I think the same applies to a lot of the arts. You may not be born with natural artistic abilities, but you can educate yourself and develop what abilities you do have to make yourself a far better artist. Finister said (about poser) 'very easy to make awesome renders without really knowing any technical aspect' That's really my point. Everything is relative. When you first use poser, you go "Wow! I'm so cool!". Then, once you start comparing what you've done with other people in the community, you say "Er.. maybe I'm not so cool after all" But by using the program, watching how others do things, learning and practising, you improve. And THAT is what it's all about. Improving, and developing your abilities. The Meaning of Poser Life - The End (LOL) mac