[vectoring] nike dunk low pro sb {bankers collection}

this is my first attempt on vector in illustrator cs…
jus installed it few days ago…
after reading some tutorials and did some experimentin…
got tangled in the pen tool at first…
this is wat i got…

can anyone tell me how to make the colors to look more realistic…
the stupid brush tool… i select the color to b black… but the brush stroke will be grey instead…

and any tips in vectoring and good tutorials available? so i can learn.
the live trace tool cant go with gradient mesh? when i live traced an image… i need to expand it right? before i use the gradient mesh…