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  I know it sounds corny, but, just like in nature, selection plays an
 important role in GIMP in general, and skinning in particular. 
  You can choose the selection tools from two places:
  
  
  -the toolbox:

   
  
  
  - the 'Tools' menu:
  
  

  Now I won't stress too much all the tools you can use to select; I mean
 come on, you know how the 'Rectangular select' works, or the 'Free select'
 tool. However, I will talk about the 'Smart scissors', the 'Fuzzy select'
 and the 'Color select'.

  Ok, first, the 'Smart Scissors'. This tool helps you select parts of an
 image, guiding itself after the contour. The selection will 'snap' to the
 edge of an object:
  
   

     
   

   Now this could be usefull when you want to select
  only say, the belt for a custom skin.

   To make sure that what you'll select is actually
  what you wanted, place a good amount of points when
  selecting; although the tool will select something
  even from three points, my advice is to go on a
  pretty large amount of points.
  

  As for the 'Fuzzy select', you'll notice that this tool selects continuous
 zones that have pretty much the same color.
   
  

     
   

   What is the maximum difference that still alows an
  area to be selected? Well, that depents of the 
  tool's properties.
  
   Remember, you can adjust those  properties in the
  toolbox! Yes, that stupid looking window at your
  left; it's title is usually GIMP.
  
  Watch carefully the folowing images:

   

  'Prag' stands for 'Threshold' in Romanian. As you can see, if you increase
 the threshold, you'll have larger selections. That easy.

  The 'Color select' tool works almost the same way, except the fact that
 you woun't get continuous zones selected. Instead, you'll get several zones.
 I won't put a picture for this one because it's pretty easy to use it.

  Now this pretty much covers the tools themselvs. It's time to talk about
 some real selection operations.

  a. Adding to a selection
  So you've selected a portion of the image, but you want to select other
 areas too, since you'll want to alter them the same way. What you need to
 do is pick a selection tool and, KEEPING THE SHIFT KEY PRESSED, select 
 that other area.
  While keeping SHIFT pressed, you'll notice that the cursor has a '+' sign
 next to it. That means that you'll be adding your selected area to the 
 current selection.

  b. Subtracting from a selection
  Basically, you've selected a little bit too much and now you want to get
 rid off some parts. Well, choose the selection tool best fitted, and,
 KEEPING THE CTRL KEY PRESSED, select the area you want to discard from 
 your current selection.
  While keeping CTRL pressed, you'll notice that the cursor has a '-' sign
 next to it. That means that you'll be subtracting your selected area from the 
 current selection.

  c. Intersecting selections
  Well, this type of situation doesn't appear that often like the two mentioned
 before. However, if by any chance you need to select an area that already is
 in a selection, KEEP BOTH THE CTRL AND SHIFT KEY PRESSED while selecting that
 area. This way, you'll select areas that were part both from the current selection
 and the one you've just made.
  Again, the cursor changes. It'll have an 'U' turned upside down, the mathematical
 sign for intersection.
 

  Shortcuts:
  - CTRL-A          : select all
  - CTRL-SHIFT-A    : deselect all
  - F               : free select
  - Z               : fuzzy select
  - E               : eliptical select
  - I               : inteligent scissors
  Since I'm out of ideas regarding selection, I think I'll stop here for now.