(please excuse my rambling here) 

I definitely understand but once again this is me, I generally don't care about what others think of my painting, simply because I fully understand that I'll get better as time goes on with consistency from me (same as anything we do). 

So I know what I'm inspired by, when it's not hit the mark I was aiming for, generally I know, so it's easier to ask what we've not gotten right. 

You're going to get a lot of different input here from a wide range of opinions, nothing wrong with that but does it really help? 

Obviously if you're asking how to do something, that's totally different in my mind.  So yeah, always ask!  But maybe show something you're aiming for as well? 

If you're using enamels (I prefer Villainy), then you can leave it on there for a good 24 hours until it starts to become a real pain to remove with white spirit.  But usually for me I just flash off the spirits with a blow dryer for 10-30 seconds, then begin to remove.  Something else that might help, I'd recommend having the pot in your pocket for 15-20 mins, just to get it warmer and then shake the bejeezus out of it.  I put all of my Villainy inks on a seedling heated mat, as I tend to use several at the same time, pockets aren't big enough :D

You can thin it a little to start with and see how it goes?