Are you tired of the generic (but artistic) Instructables siloette? No more with my: Make an avatar Instructable!!

Wow, I sounded an awful lot like some infomercial salesperson...

But more importantly, having an avatar is about expressing one's creativity, and it's the first thing that many users see. Your avatar should express you, and show the world (or instructables) who you are.

Step 1: Do's and Don'ts

To make sure that your avatar doesn't offend anyone, make sure that it follows these "Do's and Don'ts".

Do:

Respect intellectual property and rights. (There's alot of free-to-use art at Wikimedia Commons)
Be Creavitve.
Be Original.
Ask permission to use other people's intellectual material.
Feel free to use your own pictures.

Don't:

Steal or Plagerise.
Use inappropriate material (on Instructables atleast)
Use religious insults.
Use Eric Wilhelm's picture (Or any admin's for that matter), or the Instructable Robot avatar (unless you ask), or, unless you modify the later. (Eg. Kieth-Kid, NachoMahma, etc.)

Step 2: Type 1: Hand Drawn

If you're an artist, good with pencil and paper, or just can't draw on the computer, this is probably one of the better options for you.

You Will/May Need:

A Writing/Marking implement.
Something to draw on.
A Scanner or Camera (Scanner preferably...)
An imagination.

Pick something to draw.
Draw it.
Scan it to your computer.

It doesn't matter what you draw, as long as you like it, or find it funny, or something like that.

Step 3: Pictures

If you have a camera, the possibilities are unlimited!
This is probably the most preferred method of avatar creation on Instructables.

You can take pictures of:

Rocks
Nature
Animals
People
Etc. (It can't be too risque on Instructables, or you'll get in trouble...)

All you need is a camera.

Finer stuff:

Lighting is important, look at the pictures below. Too see the difference that lighting makes.

If you have a hobby, take a picture of that, let your imagination run wild!!

Step 4: Messing With Pictures on Your Computer

Some of the more interesting Avatars are created on the computer.
There are more programs than I can name, but some of the best are Microsoft Paint, and Adobe Photoshop.

An example of a picture created in MS Paint is My avatar, with no more than two colors and the "brush" tool.

You can also edit or change photographs, even in Paint. Just open the picture with Paint, and mass around with it.
There's so many ways to express your creativity (or lack thereof) using the computer.

Step 5: Misc.

There's some more stuff that doesn't seem to fall into any categories.

If you're a writer, take a picture of your book (Minus your name...).

Use pictures from previous or upcoming Instructables!

Use any of the pictures in this Instructable (Not including my profile picture, the Cello picture, Kiteman's profile picture, or The Instructables Robot Picture...), feel free to use them!