Links:

Tutorials!

Good list of tutorials. Look for concepts that relate to a particular problem you want to solve. Check out the Cow in the Camera Mapping tutorial, that is an excellent lesson on creating realistic textures from photographs.

Shaders!

These are handy to download and see the logic behind creating specific textures. Note how many use the Facing Angle to some degree or another.

Rhizome.org The New Museum of Contemporary Art's website dedicated to new media. This is the place to see what other people are doing with technology and art.

CGSociety.org this is a direct link to the Maya forum, it's an excellent place to research modeling techniques or ask a specific question about any problems you might have with 3D or Maya. You can also search for ways to solve a particular creative problem, usually you will find several answers debating the pros and cons of various solutions.

Stephen Wilson's page dedicated to links about Art, Technology and Science is about the most comprehensive resource I've seen, categorized by subject.

Comet Cartoons Michael Comet's excellent site dedicated to animation and 3D, this page is a download of examples of good and bad animation techniques

Human Skin Shading Detailed description of how to create skin that looks life-like in Maya

Highend3d.com This is a good site to find samples, tutorials on all things 3D. The quality varies, so evaluate the results achieved before diving in. Some of the Maya textures are worth downloading and opening in Hypergraph to see how they were put together.