guess you are doing some 3d painting (tell me if it's not),one of the first things i tried to do in maya i think you could see what you're painting by changing the view to texture view (maybe shaded - 5 key - will work too) or by actually rendering the whole scene. Unfortunately i'm a newbie and cannot be of further help, but i hope that this is the problem.. And mine is the solution(jk ) Bye