seven,
I'm not really that sensitive. I was pretty new to the stuff myself (teenager) and of course I thought I was better than I really was, but I honestly would've appreciated pointers by a professional at the time. In the real world I often spent more time on diagrams, graphic art, realistic styles and typography until I got a little more sure of a style. I love the 3-D stuff, but never got to do much with it. My current company bought me 3D Studio when it was $2,999. But after Max came out they didn't upgrade anymore and it's now unused on an old slow computer (and stuck to a dongle).
In addition to Photoshop and Illustrator, I still get to do some Flash, Painter and Bryce and play with some simpler 3-D tools. But it's not my primary job any more. For a few years I've managed a group of web developers. But please let me know if your website comes back up, I especially love good 3D-based images.
Gamaliel