It was a learning experience and a half, no doubt about that, as there were new things to learn at every step, but they were intuitive, and every time I got stuck I just doggedly worked at it until the answer became clear. I found it remarkably easy to get to grips with, and I bashed out my very first model in a matter of days. It's wholly different to anything I had done in computer graphics (CG) before, so I anticipated it to be complicated and stressful. That is called subdivision modelling, or subpatch. Because things like humans and animals and caricatures have smooth rounded curves over most of their form, and need to "deform" in a specific and familiar way when their bits get moved around, it means using a method that avoids sharp creases and corners. I had done a lot of hard surface modelling before, that is things like vehicles or buildings, but not so much with organic stuff, which required a different approach. The skills I had planned to educate myself on, not through formal education but by nutting it out myself from books and tutorials and experimentation, were (jargon alert) 3D character modelling using subpatch, and character rigging and animation.
I had planned to take a year off, maybe two, to learn a couple of new skills and take my career in a completely different direction.
When I left my last full time job, I was flush with cash and full of promise.