I would make a case for photoshop or like because we do so much stuff that is not covered my photoshop sites like spec map, bump map and fixing normal maps. I have learn a lot myself to use photoshop but I do not know if this is how the industory does it.......dave I agree. If not a separate forum then at least tutorials. As to 2d, it might be true that it's too distant and to broad topic, it might be better to actually visit some existing 2d forums instead where you'd also get a better feedback, or use WIP session as Genny suggested. On a side note, the best way to improve a drawing skill is to take some life-drawing classes imo. You can find some 5-10$ drop in sessions in most cities.. it's priceless, I learnt more from that than from any book.