Digital Painting

hey fellow forum goers,
ive been hangin around these forums for quite a while now and hopefully i havent got on the bad side of anybody, and maybe some people even think im an okay guy? well the time has come that i have a question. I've been thinking about getting into digital painting. I really like the stuff ive seen and think it might be an okay way to learn and to express myself. My question is, would you suggest that i start off using the mouse to get the hang of it? or should i buy a graphics tablet? I've found a couple just really simple entry level tablets that i can afford. I was just wondering if anybody could give me their opinion on if i should start out with a tablet, or start with the mouse then move on to the tablet. Thx

YES - Get the tablet -its amazingly different than a mouse / I'm running on a small wacom.

I don't have the money for a wacom, but I'd sure love to get one. I've played with one though, they are really nice. It might be hard to get the hang of it at first, but the things you can do with them are amazing.

Well, gettin ga wacom is really awesome, but I think it's good to start learning with the mouse right now. For example, set your paintbrush tool to a certain size, set opacity and flow to 25% each, and start painting with it and screwing around so you understand how the paintbrush tool works, and how it can be used to create shading.

http://noir.org/tutorials/2dTutorials/Photoshop/Spyroteknik/Digital_Painting/index.html - this gives you some idea of how it looks over time, until you get to the finished product.

but yeah, check out wacoms too. Basically, the difference between a wacom and a mouse is that a wacom is a mouse that is pen-shaped, and allows for pressure sensitivity. Might not sound like much right now. You'll understand when you try it out.

Painting with the mouse is like racing a weed-eater. It just wasn't made for that particular use. The wacom is incredibly handy.

I got a pretty big Wacom and it's a POS. Never worked, support didn't help, i should just take this junk back.

Nos.

well im not looking for anything super high quality, just somthing that is gonna work. But it seems like the concensus is that i should buy the tablet and learn on that rather than the mouse. I think thats what im gonna do. Thanks

It didn't even work.

Granted, i probably got a faulty product, but support really isn't helpful. They keep telling me my monitor's magnetic waves are messing with it or some crap like that.

Nos.

Nos, you shouldn't let some crappy support guy spoil all the good things a tablet can do for you. I know the first impression counts for a lot but wacom is really great. It's a pen!! you can hold it and work with it loads better than with a mouse. It's just more natural.

Take your tablet to the shop you bought it from and ask a guy there to test it on one of their computers. If it works there..then you really have a problem - if not - they'll replace it. In all my tablet using years I only heard 2 or 3 people complain about wacom tablets. And in all cases it was a malfunction and they loved it after it was fixed.

Ok, i bought it online from buy.com, i believe. I still have the box, software, etc. Do you think i could go to Best Buy or something and ask them to replace it, or will i have to contact the website i got it from?

Nos.