Just a quick plea for help. I am a paper and pencil vetern looking at transitioning to digital art. I am currently studying Poser and Photoshop and I want to get a Wacom type pad. Any advice to this digital caveman? I do mostly black and white drawings presently and I know very little about this product . Any help would be great..

Using a Wacom tablet  and pen would be more natural for a "paper and pencil" person to draw than using a mouse. Instead of dragging your mouse around you would be drawing on the tablet with a pen.  It's pressure sensitive where a mouse is not. You have more control. I use mine all the time and can't be without it.

Attached Link: http://www.wacom.com/graphire/index.cfm

it also takes time to get used to watching the screen, rather than the hand, when drawing IMVHO.

Yes, definitely takes some getting used to, but once you're there you'll never go back!
I still prefer to do any drawings on paper and scan them into Photoshop (MANY people prefer this as well), so don't think you have to stop that altogether.

As far as Photoshop, there's classondemand.net, thegnomonworkshop.com, lynda.com - SO many where you can find educational training or simple tuts on how to accomplish anything you want.

I also highly recommend you get a membership to NAPP - the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Don't have to be a pro to get a membership, and when you get it, you'll get PhotoshopUser Mag, discounts on others (like Layers Mag), access to truckloads of online tuts at photoshopuser.com, etc. MANY benefits!

Incredible learning source!

Good luck and have fun!
-Lew ;-)

I use the Graphire Wacom tablet, best purchase I've made by far. I also use Photoshop CS2 and Poser 7. 

There will be a semi-steep learning curve for Photoshop. Not in the sense that you wouldn't be able to use it right away (you surely can!) but there is sooo much to Photoshop that it will take you a good year to really get a hold of everything it can do.

Hope this helps.

*but there is sooo much to Photoshop that it will take you a good year to really get a hold of everything it can do.

*I got to be slow!  I've been using photoshop for years and there are still things in the program that I don't know what they're for exactly...  lol 

I too have found that a wacom tablet is absolutely wonderful!  I don't know what I'd do without it now that I had a good taste...  :)

Everyone says it takes time to get used to watching the cursor on the screen when using a pen and tablet, but it's really no different from watching the cursor when you use a mouse.  If you've done any work on a computer (even just surfing the net) then you have watched a cursor on the screen respond to hand movements.  There is really not much learning curve in that respect.

Quote - *but there is sooo much to Photoshop that it will take you a good year to really get a hold of everything it can do.

*I got to be slow!  I've been using photoshop for years and there are still things in the program that I don't know what they're for exactly...  lol 

Lucie,
A big difference between using just the tools that work for you and understanding all of the tools/filters/etc.
I've been using ps for quite some time myself and just learned something new and different with one of the filters the other day...lol! A filter!

Man O" Man! Thank you all for the responses! I am sorry I didn't reply sooner but I have been between computers. My new one has Adobe Photoshop cs2,Poser 6,Manga studio/debut 3,Vue 5,Shade 8 and I feel so overwhelmed I wanna puke a little, seriously. I looked at the art pads and there seems to be 2 choices also. Intuos and graphire...which would suit me better? I would like to ask some advice of you all. Faced with all this learning ahead of me I was hoping someone could give me a heads-up so to speak. I have no idea where to begin. Should I concentrate on Manga studio or is photoshop more useful. I realize as a pencil jocky a small victory first is important to keep up my confidence. So Poser and its buddies will be last. My problem is a friend advised Adobe illustrator. I am sure they are all great but do they overlap and say if I busted my hump on Photoshop would I even need illustrator or Manga studio.Is the full version of Manga a better route....i feel like the damn Geiko caveman right now. Any advice is welcome and again thank you all for taking the time. This has to be the friendliest board I have ever joined.