You can find lots of tutorials on the displace tool on Youtube. The best one I found was the one where the guy creates a British flag map over his fist. He explains everything really well.
Hmm, so about the crashing issue in Illustrator, maybe it’s due to a graphics card problem? Sometimes you need to adjust your graphics settings in the program to match it up with the card you have. I think re-installing it might give you those options. I had a similar issue with Photoshop CS6, and it was caused by my graphics card.
Ooh, pyrotensive’s stuff is really cool! “Mo Fresh” really stands out to me, as well as “New Moon”. And Aseo’s work is amazing, too! The one called “Gaby Dela Merced” is insanely cool. The way the helmet was done… wow. (Not to mention the awesome pink hair ^_^)
I never got the hang of speedpainting.. I like to take my time.