One thing confirmed in my mind today during 2D3D art class - technical skills is the door way to making great art. This is just so true. It reminded me the wedding photography class I joined this summer, my instructor told me the same thing: you need to know how to use speed light, and you need to know every single part of this machine; you can't apply your creative ideas until you master the technical part.
Again and again I hear the same thing everywhere. It's the truth, although painful, that we must get over with.
10000 hours is not a joke.