Well, I do it for fun too, I enjoy it a lot so I could as well work with it.
Pretty much everything I know 'bout it is self taught, so "somethings that you wish you knew when you started out" is a rather long list.
Being a graphic designer is not always an easy task, you'll throw yourself into a field with hungry competitors if you plan to do some freelancing, or even run your own company.
Dropping everything to start a own company might not be the wisest of moves (I'll assume that you ain't planning to do that). Start out with having it as a side thing next to some other
kind of job, it may be much better for your wallet. Many graphics designers here does the same thing, I can't speak for the rest of the world though!
It also happens that customers doesn't want to pay the bill, so prep yourself for that you might do a lot of work for nothing. I can't quite say
how often it might happen or not. It can be quite common here from time to time.
Well, just send a link if you want it in. I'll take a look at it. And yes, the other one was pretty crappy in a sense. I almost went for re-texturing everything
cause it would have been way easier than chopping up everything in submeshes.
I don't have a clue about when the update is supposed to be out, and today for you is almost "tomorrow" for me. Midnight is just 1½ hour away.
Edit: Alright, I got my hands on the new update, and the IK for the items seem to work as I hoped. Time to rig some tentacles and monsters.