Oh heck, it sounds intimidating from any perspective. You don't have to be a beginner to find the whole concept intimidating, I promise! I wasn't willing to sign up until I'd been making icons for probably a year and a half -- and even then I did it because I was frustrated at my stagnation.

The sorts of issues you're wanting to tackle sound like you could use an icon beta. jalabert has been there for me since I started. She's wonderful at saying, "Why did you make him urine yellow?!?" (Yes, she really said it and yes, she really was right to say it.) Once I'd developed until I could make icons that met her requirements, I kind of stalled again. I was lucky enough to have paddies, an icon maker whose skills I so strongly fangirl it's a bit embarrassing, offer to critique 15 icons I'd made. She was very kind in how she phrased her critiques but she had some excellent points and offered me some excellent tips and pointers.

I will not hold myself up as an expert of her caliber but if you ever, ever have a question and want my opinion, I would be honored to try to help you. If you want to show me an icon, tell me, "I don't like 'x and y' about this icon but I'm stymied on how to fix it," I'd be more than happy to look over them and try to suggest options to you, assuming I have ideas on how to help. I will repeat, as well, that any time I do anything that you want to know more about, I welcome your asking me about it. I'm happy to write a tutorial, mail you the *.psd file, or even just chat.

If you think you could benefit from a review like paddies did for me, I'd be happy to try to do something like that for you though my skills and graphics acumen is nowhere near her level. I mean it when I say I've been very lucky to have people help me and I'm willing to do my best to pass forward the favor. :)

You're correct that very detailed feedback like that isn't likely to come from participation in LIMS -- but it isn't out of the question, either. In the round I participated in, one of the very first people knocked out had problems with cropping images and the comments identified that weakness. She very honestly asked for help and lots of people chimed in with suggestions and tips and "here's how I do it" suggestions. I learned a few tricks that I've since used. :)

I could handle the negative feedback because I knew that I wasn't making the sort of icons I wanted to AND I get an amazing number of very positive comments when I post. My ego's more than bolstered but I know that way isn't the path to improvement. I'd gotten all sorts of very complimentary comments back when my icons were oversharpened to Mars and back. I didn't stop oversharpening until paddies identified it in nearly every single icon. I have no lack of positive feedback; I crave constructive criticism.