I used to make icons in Paintbrush. They were pretty crude, but they worked. Trial and error isn't all bad. It's a great way to learn.

I probably shouldn't tell you this, but at the Elkhart County Fair a couple of weeks ago, there was a vendor there selling all kinds of trading cards and the like. He had a whole bunch of them with those Anime characters on them that you like. One of them I remember was Fruits Basket, which I've seen you mention several times.