pap64~ I do love the collaboration process between so many talented artists that each have their own unique strengths, and I love seeing others pointing it out. So many seem to give all the credit to the animators. Of course they're important, but so many others are needed to contribute in order to make a final film with a cohesive look and overall structure that works. I totally agree that most artists have their niche; it was something I thoroughly discussed with a friend last year when I was lamenting about my lack of anatomy skills (I really need to go back to art school).
I don't think any artist is ever completely satisfied with their own work, not even the most popular professionals that so many of us look up to. I think we all have an envy for an ability we've struggled with or feel we never had to begin with. But I think we all have a way to contribute creatively to anything we're passionate about.
And I totally agree that it's gotta be both awesome and painfully frustrating to be a part of the process. While they were on a much smaller scale, my very first collaborations with different artists were amazing experiences for me, allowing me to feel accomplished over work that I was in no way capable of doing all on my own. And conforming to someone else's style can be enormously frustrating/challenging, but often well worth it.
I had so much ambition and drive when I was younger, I even competed for and won a scholarship at a big city art school where I specialized with more realistic work than my current friends are used to seeing from me:
I only lasted a year though, as I put my dreams on hold in order to care for my mother when she was dying of cancer. After we lost her . . . well, I let my dreams die with her. Oh, I still drew a little here and there, but the ambition and drive I had once possessed was completely gone. I spent a couple of years in limbo before becoming an airbrush artist, and that was a position I felt I had little creativity with, mainly because we did little beyond stock designs. Sometimes I got to work on something a little more original, fun, or detailed, and I did learn a lot in my time there. I even toyed with making up some original characters but never really went anywhere with them. I spent four years in that position before getting laid off, and once again stopped drawing as I got busy and distracted with other areas of my life.
I didn't really start playing around with a pencil again until I started working with groups of children a few years later, where I'd often draw to teach them about various things and sometimes simply for their entertainment. One day I drew one of my characters while everyone was coloring, and several girls asked if they could color her. I asked them to hold on a moment while I inked the drawing with a Crayola marker and ran off to make photocopies to pass out. This isn't the exact same picture (it has since been lost) but this one was made around the same time of the same character:
And to my surprise, they all interpreted her as me, matching my hair, eyes, and uniform with their crayons (I had short hair at the time). It was a fun moment and made me realize that maybe I could really get back into art again and perhaps put some passion back into drawing like I had when I was younger.
I was extremely rusty at that point, but I started drawing various things to copy for the kids to color, everything from Disney to Pokemon to realistic animals. I'd use those copies to teach the kids how to draw step-by-step, use them to tell stories and teach information, and even gave them tips on blending colors with markers and colored pencils (these were kids aged 6-12). This is how my coloring looked at the time (Crayola markers and colored pencils):
I eventually started getting more ambitious and nervously started sharing my work online . . . to little reaction, lol. But I can't blame anyone, once again I was way rusty and had a long way to go before my art became a little more refined. Here's an Ariel I did back then along with a more recent one:
I had to retrain myself how to draw all over again, and pretty much everything I've learned about cartoon figures and coloring has been self-taught. Cartoon proportions and forms are deceptively simple; I actually have a much easier time drawing something realistic and still have such a long way to go with my learning.
Okay, I think I've rambled on long enough for one day.
I appreciate all the comments so far.
But thanks again. 
Never actually got to meet him though, he's a bit older than me. But the teacher had some of his student work hanging up in our classroom 
