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« on: October 27, 2017, 02:51:46 pm »
What sort of viewpoint are you going for? 3/4ths like an RPG or front on like a sidescroller? Orthogonal or with perspective? Because the top suggests RPG orthogonal but the shelves are front view in perspective. Either way with overhead lighting your top planes should be lighter than the sides. If the object is facing the light I also like to get rid of the outline and instead highlight the line between the top and side facing the light, it makes it really pop out. If you're going for RPG then you'll need to add a lot more to the depth of those shelves, they should be almost as deep as the top is, the difference between them only the thickness of the backing. If it's side view then your top should be only as deep as any of the shelves.
Your current shading does have some issues. What's casting the shadow all around the top of the cupboard? On the corners of the drawer section? The front edge of the shelving sides? The answer to all of those should be nothing, there shouldn't be shadows there because there's nothing getting between those places and the light. To get the shading right you've got to think about the path that light takes and how much would be blocked by what and by how much. If you can't figure it out then that's the lovely thing about references. You don't necessarily have to. If you have troubles finding some online, creating some with a flashlight and any bit of shelving would help.
Besides sorting out the shading and perspective, I think what would help this piece the most is giving those edges some actual thickness. Right now they're a single pixel thick, and it makes it all look a bit like it's made of cardboard. Making those edges thicker and shading them will go a long way towards making it look more like wood.
As for texturing, it's like adding in the highlights and shadows for the grain of the wood. Cracks are shadows, bumpy up parts highlights and such. I like to do more to the edges since that's where the wood will weather fastest, making the grain of the wood stand out more. Before adding any shading in figure out which way you think that grain would run first. Keep in mind that usually wood grain is cut so it runs parallel to the longest edge. So on that top bit you'd want the grain to run left and right instead of up and down.