Phantast - just for the record : being a former commercial illustrator and present systems programmer, I actually CAN do it all from scratch. All the way back to making my own paints and brushes (it's real yucky, messing with pulverized red clay/earth and egg yolk, I can tell you) - and all the way forward to modeling, tex'ing (pathetically, though), posing, lighting, rendering etc. I can even code C++ (which I believe Poser is written in), if I feel masochistic enough. BUT there's one skill I don't have, unfortunately the one I consider the essential one for an artist, whatever an artist is. I can't get ideas! In the spirit of Silver's excellent analogy above, I sometimes feel like an entire film crew w/ actors, cameras, sets etc. ready - we just haven't got a director w/ a script, so all my poor skills are just loitering around the coffee machine, waiting for some creative explosion to happen. So I'd be grateful if we could give the it's-not-art-if-it's-not-all-your-own-stuff discussion a rest, and start a discussion where all the creative people shared the secrets of creativity with us creatively challenged guys and gals.