Originally found at Learning Moveable Type, revisited via ***DDtB: Portrait Illustration Maker – Let’s make an original icon!!

I actually find this “self-image” slightly disturbing, so I added the headset and optional cat to make it less so. It must be the “uncanny valley” thing people were talking about when comparing photo-realist “The Polar Express” to shiny-fantastic “The Incredibles.”

As previously mentioned around here somewhere, it’s possible to set a gravatar that shows up when you comment on blogs that have enabled this feature.

Choosing the “face” shown on the Internets is tricky – should one go with reality, or fantasy? There are a number of ways to go here:

Reality is pretty boring but…

… it’s hard to go wrong with a snuggly cat to pull focus from those problem not-so-photogenic areas.

Cartoon icons, of course, are easy. Pick a character, any character. You’ll notice a theme developing with these, all of which I considered using at one time:

Yes, you too can be your own Southpark character. A little more advanced than simply picking a favorite character.

or simply become a superhero…

Another customizable avatar from Weatherpixie. File this under “so not me it’s funny.” However, she’s added a Christmas tree for the season, so maybe I’ll bung it back into the Index.

A lot of people go with anime avatars, especially for bulletin boards…

such as this one for the Mutts forum.

Of course some simply must go for the “impossible fantasy” element…

…or the “cute fuzzy” fetish may rear its head…

… but if you can find a funny animal character that is shown actually keeping a journal, you’re golden.