my 2 cents is that you should learn your fundamentals...anatomy, color theory, design...etc If you dont have a solid foundation regaurdless of what style your shooting for, your going to struggle. Don't let your "stlye" be your crutch.
Theres a fuzzy line between cartoon and realistic...that being "stylized". check out Paul Richards http://www.autodestruct.com/ Certainly not realistic but that hardly matters. The style's great, and as long as you could keep the style consistant throughout the game youd have a great looking game. Same with Warcraft. Id…