Definitely take advantage of the free programs out there. I was doing digital art for 3 years before buying Poser. There is a lot to learn and no need to go and blow bucks right away. Visit the Terragen forum and ask tons of questions and read a lot. Download the freeware Terragen, links are in the banner to the forum. I started with Bryce, which is realitively inexpensive now. Certainly a great first app to have and quite frankly, I still use Bryce as my main app.