> I spent 6 months on taught drawing classes. You know what? I *still* suck 
> at drawing.

I've spent 3 years *living* in Germany, yet I still suck at speaking German, 
some things some people just learn quickly, and some slowly.

> You make it sound like all you have to do is practise and you can become 
> good at *anything*. This isn't actually true.

I bet it is, you just have to define "good" and how long you have to 
practise for :-)

> I don't remember. Maybe a week or two? After that I uninstalled it - it 
> *was* illegal after all...

You spent two weeks rendering only spheres and cylinders - did you not think 
to yourself that maybe there was a bit more to it than this and go look?

> AFAIK, Google didn't exist in 1995. Even if it did, I didn't have an 
> Internet connection.

I got a book from a bookshop called "3D Studio Max R3" or some such.

> It didn't take me long to get a few simple images out of POV-Ray. (OTOH, 
> that comes with *a manual*...)

And OTHO it's not terribly complex compared to 3D Studio or other commerical 
modelling/CAD software.

>> http://warp.povusers.org/povtips/
>
> I've read it before - and yet the stuff I produce is still dull and 
> uninteresting.

IIRC you posted something to the binaries group a long time ago and received 
some good pointers on how to improve - that's another good way to learn 
stuff, people are really helpful on here.

> At least for texturing you can just use POV-Ray's excellent texture 
> libraries. (Well, if you want wood or stone anyway.)

You should make your own wood:

http://home4.inet.tele.dk/ibras/povtips/povwood.htm

Combine that with some simple CSG (like the table at the bottom) and with 
Warp's tutorial and I fail to see how you can't come up with a halfway 
decent scene.  But you have to spend TIME on it, don't expect it to look 
amazing after just 5 iterations.

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