"Most of the time, the real technicians are not exceptional artists, I've found. "

Absolutely. A lot of the people who profess to be knowledgeable about their medium of choice often have galleries that are mediocre at best. They may have the best UV mapped node-enhanced all-singing all-dancing image of the week... but the picture often lacks that which I ( and it might well just be my opinion alone ) consider to really make a picture... and that is genuine feeling.

It may well just be a romanticised view of mine, but being an artist is something that you carry in your heart, it's a passion, a way of life. You can learn an application inside out and upside down, but if you don't hold that fire inside you then it will always be technically brilliant, but artistically lacking.