hi new to Maya, I put a polygon planer, pPlane1 and assigned a new material, lambert and went to color to add a picture file on the planar but it doesnt show in the design window. But when I do a quick frame render it shows on the preview but I dont see it on the pPlane1 it just has the standered dark grey render when you push 5? how can I see the change in design view?

and if you can direct me to tutorials for modeling simple characters and animating for starters would be great.