when I was growing up, the best painters were also the biggest alcoholics. Somewhere along the lines, painters quit drinking (at least as much). I blame latex paint and the lack of fumes in enclosed spaces. Those old timers were artists and could do anything you wanted. That is as long as you didn't want them to cut in a room before their first shot had time to calm the shakes.
Civil War reenactment is LARPing for people with no imagination.