Hello Brinkstrigg!
First of all, thank you greatly Jonathan and Bushmaid for tackling these questions quickly and to the point.

In an effort to save some of the reading through everything though, I am simply going to answer a few of the questions in a more pointed fashion here.
1. The simplest way to get your avatar uploaded is to PM either myself or Katie (Vanya Katerina Jaynin) with your avatar as an attachment. We will then ensure its adherence to the guidelines and resize it if necessary before placing it in the gallery for your future use.
2. Drawings are acceptable for avatars. Please be sure they fall within the guidelines though, as with all other kinds of avatars.
4. Tales of the Realm, The Fireside, the subforums in the Realms and Beyond, as well as the Art Guild are the only forums not visible to all visitors and are member-only forums.
5. Here is the thread Jonathan referred to:
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=1150