Reality check
give me an artest that thinks 
"it makes me realise how amaturish all my efforts have been."
because they will try harder, even if they dont need to(as in this case)
sorry to say this but you are wrong, your work is your own.  from your comments "I'd rather a badly rendered original character, than a beautifully and postworked clone" i feel you are moving up to the next level. and look forward to what comes.