Creating Avatars from personal art

Could you be of more help in creating avatars out of personal drawings, photos of cars, and getting them into that 100x100 pixel size? Is there a program that will strip the info and keep your image recognizable? Is there a paint or drawing utility that will allow you to specify the size of a drawn or pasted object and strip the extra pixels without ruining the effect?
How about making the wheels turn? I want! I want! Wahhh - of course, you could ignore this thread, but for those of us who are proud of our drawings but a trifle stupid in the computer department, is there a drawing add-on that will do what I am suggesting? I use paint by the way, because it is so simple. I have used other programs with more whistles and bells, but which ones offer the icon product that fits your limits?


:banghead:

I also use paint, and am a bit on the computer illiterate side. With paint, I just kept reducing the image size by 5% under "Stretch/Skew" in the "Image" pull down menu and then try to upload the image to AF. Once AF allows it, I know I've hit my target size. Hope this helps.