You probably won't understand what one node is doing, but any journey begins with one step ;). Learn how to set up a decent shader and you'll be much happier with the stuff you do. Everything is not just textures, simple specular, reflections and bumps. You can create some really good stuff if you take the time to learn. Tho, seeing as how you jump from one thing to the other I'm not sure you'll learn much in the short term. The material room is its own beast, but worth learning.

Laurie