I started by applying a leather texture over the entire thing set on overlay (which also made it a bit darker, I could have corrected this but didn\'t really care). Then I used dodge/burn and the paintbrush on several different layers to add details. There is still much to do on that, but I didn\'t feel like putting forth the effort. A good thing to do is take a look at textures from other games if you can get your hands on them and see just how detailed they get. Even better would be to get your hands on the psd versions of a texture by someone who really knows what they are doing (not me). That helps immensly.
As for learning photoshop do a few tutorials to get a feel for the interface and learn what the tools do, but don\'t get hung up on using filters (which is what 95% of the tutorials cover). The paintbrush in combination with different layers using different blending modes will give you far more control.
Edit:
originally posted by rosmerelmer
i don\'t know who made it up but:
if you want your stuff to be in-game then you must not post it on the public forums.
Not true. If it is good enough to be in-game, and if it is needed, it will be used (assuming the artist accepts the PS license). They just can\'t have art in PS that\'s been used in 5 other games. It needs to be original. In fact, some of cherppow\'s art that was posted on this forum is now in-game (the rat eye icon for instance).
Oh, and about the battle-scarred armor, I think everything looks better worn than shiny new. Maybe not with big gouges in it like I drew, but it definitely needs some wear.
:emerald: