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> Not to be a smart ass, but what makes you think I haven't tried, and found that I lack a certain artistic eye for shapes, shadows, and colors

Well, mostly the fact that most people lack "a certain artistic eye" until they develop it, including people who later become competent artists.

>So your comment is fair, in that I certainly could put time in to learn to draw and animate well, but I have a lot of other focuses for my life right now that can't spare that kind of time.

A valid choice. So when you said you'd "give anything" what you really meant was not that you would actually give anything, but rather that you just wish that you could draw well.

Did you read Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain? I am (slowly) working my way through it.

Have a look at this before/after (a 5-day workshop) gallery: http://drawright.com/gallery.htm

If you haven't read Betty Edwards Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, do so. I think it can teach that artist eye. She also has a book on colour - I haven't read it yet.