Holy controversy Batman!
just got done reading all that, and have a few comments to make
First, on topic, some nice work bud.
Now. In regards to the "OMG YOU USE TUTS!" or the like... So? he still did the work. Where else is someone supposed to learn? Life is one big tutorial. Likewise, if thats your argument, Anyone who uses renders, or even photoshop for that matter, is not artist (myself included) because hell photoshop does half the work for you. If someones going to gripe like that, let them show me something they made in MSPaint that looks JUST-AS-GOOD as anything here, and then we'll talk. Jeezuz. /rant