Live Trace in Illustrator

Let me be perfectly honest and say that I do love the live trace function...it is a very simple way to make an image your own. Here's what i started with.


And here's what i ended with...i used a 9 bit color preset and the the dark stroke effect from one of the artistic galleries. I went with this direction because I like the dark feel to it...kinda goes with the whole idea of a special ops soldier