I'm new (3 years) to 3d modeling and animation. I do devote a lot of evenings and work downtime to learning new modeling, lighting, and rendering techniques. I look at buildings in my neighborhood and interesting objects around the city and think about the best way to build them in Lightwave. I'm constantly taking photos of surfaces when I'm out. I see the same people on the train and in my neighborhood. They are used to seeing me take closeups of rust and concrete. Two gentlemen at Whole Foods seemed very concerned when I was photographing cantaloupe skin last week. I take a lot of pictures in alleys. That's where the good brick surfaces are hiding. I've been waking up mornings and getting very upset because I had worked for hours modeling in my sleep with nothing to show for the time. I guess that's a good time to practice. Always seems very real.