I assume you also disapprove of zed shaw&#x27;s &quot;Learn X the Hard Way&quot; books (which, btw, have many adherents and praises), which he explains partly here? <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7207283" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7207283</a><p>The irony is that even in painting, there is a fair amount of &quot;rote&quot; or repetition needed before ones &quot;creativity&quot; can be explored.<p>This may be somewhat tangential&#x2F;distracting, but I find the whole notion of &#x27;creativity&#x27; problematic - many artists also think so (“Amateurs look for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work.” ― Chuck Close).