if you're looking for a free alternative to photoshop (and are too law-abiding to dl it via limewire/warez/torrent) you might want to try 'the Gimp' (http://www.gimp.org/).
it is a bit more difficult to use than photoshop, but it has some really neat filters/scripts.
i had know idea you could do this sorta art woth gimp... do you use layers and trace the picture??? (nice sig, by the way🙂 )
