Making things look real

I have been working on a piece related to the BP oil spill a while back, and i been have a lot of trouble trying to make it look real. But i just started it so ill see how it goes. I watch a few video's on illustration. Saw some great stuff people painting in Photoshop. After watching some video I kind of know a little more about making illustration look more realistic. I hope I can add some of these Techneacs to my work.On another subject, I need quite a few piece for my portfolio. I think I'm going to dig up some old stuff from other art classes for my breathe, and as for my concentration. I guess just buckle down and work on it a lot.