I spent two years at art school as a Graphic Design major, although in retrospect I think it was the foundations (drawing, color theory, etc.) classes that helped me more with Poser work. I acted in community theater during high school years, and paid a lot of attention to the lights ... stage lighting is definitely analogous to Poser lighting in some regards. I used to do tons of Ernst-like collage work using photocopies of old woodcuts and Exacto blades ... not good for the eyes! :-) I would recommend Poser to anyone, regardless of whether they had prior art training or experience. One of the beautiful things about the program is that it is relatively easy to create good images if you work at it and have a good sense of aesthetics. Even if you don't, you can use the software to develop that and improve.