thanks for all the pointers.i will definetly have to pick up a copy of thom's book.for the meantime i've been studying all the renderings and studying the tutorial you told me about.
i will continue to practice.i have plenty of down time at work where i do most of my auto art anyway.i hope i'm not a bother.i'm sure that i will have more questions if that's ok with you and the others in the forum.
thanks again Hermance!!!