I never really feel bad about my first few years of painting, many moons ago, the miniatures were still full of lead goodness and you could accidently rub a nose off a ogre with a swipe of your thumb due to the softness of the pewter. My wife having seen a few of my Ral Partha pieces of goodness will still comment on how horrible the paintjob was. I just tell her, "hey, I had not learned that licking your brush was not the best way to get a point on it, especially with testors enamels". Of course she does not find that funny, but you might. So as one of the other midnight painters out there I salute you! I am also impressed that in Detroit you were able to get the U-Haul through the construction unscathed.
Regards,
Carl