Marketing guru and generally wise human Seth Godin has a great post today on his blog entitled "Tools vs. Insight" in which he makes an important distinction:
Knowing about a tool is one thing. Having the guts to use it in a way that brings art to the world is another. Perhaps we need to spend less time learning new tools and more time using them.
Every week I speak with someone in the gallery who has conflated the tool – in this case the camera – with the creative process and is convinced they need the newest one to allow them to adequately express themselves. I often suggest that Keith Richards (or any legendary guitarist) could go down the street to the Salvation Army store, purchase a guitar for $25 and make you wish you could find a guitar as good as that one.
Vasari's "Lives of the Artists," contains the observation: "Learn the craft, then set it aside." Exactly.