Is technique everything?

Looking at Art:

Every recognized master artist during the Renaissance until the modern period has been an excellent technician with an extraordinary ability to manipulate their medium. Today, there are so many art materials to choose from that artists are free to use as many as they like. In addition, distortion to create abstraction and many techniques that are not necessarily neat or masterful are often acceptable and even desired. Splatters, drips and splashes were an intragal part of Abstract Expressionism and made that style very famous. So my question is: Where does that leave artists today? Once technical skill is acquired, is there more to art making?

Work in the Studio:

I have been working for at least the past ten years to get to the point with watercolor so that I feel comfortable with the medium. Now, rather than focusing my attention on technique, I am asking myself, “What do I want to say with my painting?” I have no desire to abandon realism, but I am looking for more in terms of expression while continuing to focus on faces and the figure. These thoughts have been at the forefront of my mind as I have created my latest paintings. Since I will be working in the sculpture studio now that the weather is changing, I will have the same question in the 3D work. A very recent painting is shown here.

Take My Hand, watercolor, 14” x 11”