What Frogboy mentioned. Personal gratification and Glory. It has helped me making my Photoshop skills better, and hopefully more creative. I do it for the fun it brings me, and if people like what I make, fine. If not that's fine too. You can never expect everyone to like what you do. I hope to make more theme based skins, since that is more fun for me, but I always keep in mind that it also has to usable. If I can use it, others can too. I have a rather long list of ideas I want to do, and they will come.
Actually I find most fun in making WindowBlinds skins, but once I get started, I can't get my self to "just" release that. I always have to make more, but due to time limitations I might go away from that concept.
I got into skinning over a year ago thanks to ObjectDock and Winamp, it evolved and has taken me further.
"Top idols" would be the Skinplant guys, Pixtudio and danilloOc.
