I agree with all the above, and coming from a traditional background myself, I would like to add... Get a good flatbed scanner to scan your traditional artworks, to bring into Photoshop or Painter. Now days, the prices are very low, but the quality extremely high. The Epson Perfection 2450 Photo for example, only cost $99.00. With it, you can not only scan your flat artwork, photos, and objects laid on the glass (dried leaves, flowers, etc.), but also does a very decent job on 35mm film and slides. (Also comes bundled with Photoshop Elements, which is a striped down version of Photoshop.... but enough to get your feet wet). The Wacom Graphire 4"x5" drawing tablet ($99.00) also comes bundled with Elements as well as Painter Classic2 (which is a striped down version of Painter7). That along with the free Wings modelling program and DazStudio can give you a good start. SWAMP