I think first things would be, is figure out why it is so dark. What light and mesh display are you using and did you change anything in the properties in Edit > Preference editor.

Did you follow my tutorial on the figure manikin and rid yourself of the materials and replace with the 2 colors? It all seem very dark. Or did you use the ambient occlusion for the image.

I wouldn't worry about UVMapping and texturing until you get the basic modeling setup and then there is a good UVmapping tutorial at PoserPros.

The transperant view does not work with the object selected. It works when you select face,egde and points. Look at the top of your screen and you will see the icons, above loop / rings / Betw.

BTW - I think those shorts look pretty good for your first try.