Sculpting Skin

Smooth surfaces do not exist in nature.

That's a bit of an exaggeration, but sculptors that embrace the idea will almost immediately see their work improve.  I speak from experience.  I wasn't half bad at capturing form, but it was only when I started to pay attention to texture that I saw some real growth in my work.  That's why you'll frequently see me drawing attention to the surface textures of work featured here. 

If you're at a loss for how to do texture work this tutorial by Serbian artist Sendy at the EffectsLab is a perfect place to start.  He runs down a complete collection of tools and then demonstrates how they're used to create realistic, and downright horrific, skin textures.