Best advice I can give is to commission someone for a colored piece and resize the file for avatar viewing with a image editing program. Then upload it to a free image site like Photobucket.com and link it to your forum account.
what TS said. it took me a very long time before I found something I liked on the intarweb, and even so it was a pure fluke that I found it. commissioning a piece not only guarantees its what you're looking for, but has a special meaning to you.
Summer Heat
The first one I had I fount at this site.
You can google for images for things like ffx avatar (ffx = final fantasy X, that's how I found this one).
Then you need to resize it to 80x80 (crop the image you want first if it's a part of a large image), I'd recommend the free program irfanview for this.
Then as others said, upload to photobucket. Photobucket itself has a resizing feature but I found irfanview to have best results since you can sharpen the image and apply some visual effects.
I think you need to go for the obvious, like a woman holding her index finger to her lips. Shhh....
Actually, just did a search on "Shh" and turned up these. Lot of good ones there. You could pick Laurel or Hardy, that'd be cool.
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction
Since you asked so nicely
... here ya go...
However if I may add, a PLEASE wouldn't have hurt, OR, a hey I really like your work... While I have no problem doing free art for those who ask me nicely, I ONLY did this because your toon was very easy, AND because it took all of 5 seconds.
But here's my new policy: only 1 to a customer and I'm reserving the right from now on to say NO, HELL NO, and my current favorite, GIMME A BREAK!
Yeesh! 
I'd like to also quote from the Forum Sticky on HOW TO REQUEST FOR FAN ART:
I've seen a lot of threads around of people requesting art for their characters. I've also seen some frustration when those threads go ignored or (on occasion) slightly flamed.
Here are some of my bits o'advice:
1-Be polite: that means that if you are asking someone for someting, you might want to include a "please" in there somewhere.
2-Make it easy on the artist: post up screenies that are easy to look at. If you post up shots from far away, or ones taken in a CoT storm, I'll have no idea what your character looks like.
3-Respect the time it takes: each piece of art takes a certain amount of time. A sketch can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. A finished piece can take weeks! Don't expect things to get done asap all the time.
4-We do not all need the experience: This one sounds kind of harsh, but it's true. While I love to better my skills, and working on different characters sometimes helps in that, it bothers me when people say "ah, do this for me and you'll get exposure in my comic", "you can practice on my character". Honestly, there are some fine characters on these boards... but just to remind some people; artists can create characters too.
5-Time is money: Wow, this one sounds even worse. I really don't want it to sound so crass but I have to say, when someone does work for me, I pay them. If someone programs my computer or designs a page for me, I believe in compensating them for their time, skills and effort. To me, art is no different. If someone is working on a pic for me for 10 hours, they need to be compensated. That is why I love to draw for others here, and why I love having artists draw for me.
6-Have an interesting character: This one is subjective of course, but having an interesting character helps out so much when hunting for an artist. Each artist will have their own opinion though, so...
7-Note that every artist is different: Each one will draw/paint in their own way. Look at previous works to get a feel for the artist that is right for you.
LJ
LJ, you're my hero of the day!
I guess I'm too much of an old curmudgeon since I no longer do free art. The last free piece I did outside my SG was last year, for Gamma Girl (which was fun to do, I gotta admit).
Thanks Doug, while I'd live to give you any joy, I'm feeling guilty now... my wife, the queen of niceness, and obviously not native new yorkers like you and I, said to me:
"You should have given him a link to the sticky and just said, please read this and afterwards if you could ask me in a polite manner, I would be happy to do an avatar for you..."
And she's right, I'm a little too reactionary sometimes, Hush could be 12 years old and NOT know any better, and I really should have been slightly nicer. So I guess in other words I should treat everyone as if they were 12... just kidding.
See it's a miracle I do anything for free?
LJ
*rethinks idea to ask for an avatar spoken in lolcat*
MA Arcs - #67636, #92202
deviantart page
Slag Heap: Why you hurt Guardian!? Guardian no hurt you!
you already HAVE an avatar...
[ QUOTE ]
you already HAVE an avatar...
[/ QUOTE ]
*tries the Jedi mind trick hand wave*
you don't see an avatar. :P
MA Arcs - #67636, #92202
deviantart page
Slag Heap: Why you hurt Guardian!? Guardian no hurt you!
Hey, I know on which side my Avatar is buttered.
Appreciation flows.
I've been viewing forums for over two years and I always noticed the avatars of forum posters . In a way it sort of defines a person personality . I've tried browsing the net for pics and nothing seems to fit me well. Now after many contest for the devs and the artwork produce from the many artist of the CoX community ; is thier anyone out there that can help me construct one ? I would really appreciate.