Hey Peter ~ well, you're right: use of fingerpicks does make your mistakes sound out loud and clear. The corrollary of that observation is this: they also make good, correct playing much more audible. And I might add that they can serve to make a broader range of sounds possible to generate. Obviously, you're able to generate a louder sound when desired, but you're also able to make your quick, delicate, single-string runs and arpeggios, etc., sound very bright and clear, even at relatively low volume levels.

I'm not sure, however, that I'd recommend that a beginner commit to learning the use of fingerpicks. It's a whole extra learning curve to surmount, for one thing, and it puts you in a position where you have to have your picks with you in order to adequately "show your stuff." If you rely upon your fingernails and fleshy fingertips, on the other hand, they're always readily available ("at hand," if you will). Even for those who learn and become dependant upon the flatpick, it's usually pretty easy to find and borrow one ~ if indeed you don't always keep one or two in your pocket, along with your loose change. Because most players use flatpicks, most guitars you might have occasion to borrow are likely to be accompanied by a pick you can use.

Another problem with fingerpicks: they can pop right off your fingertips in the middle of a performance, leaving you in an awkward position. This never happens to me at home, or with friends, or in any low-pressure situation; however, since I recently resumed "playing out" after a 30-year hiatus, I've occasionally experienced just enough nervousness to cause my hands to tighten up a bit, falter, catch a pick on a string, and have it drop to the floor or ground or, worse yet, into the soundhole. Yikes!