This was my third painting using my new wacom tablet and photoshop. You can check out my first 3 at http://corndizzle.deviantart.com This was my secound paint the top two were speed painting i try to spend no more than an hour on them, just getting used to photoshop controls and the tablet. This was actually an accident i was messing around with brush styles and some smudge and decided to scribble a ship in, this was just for fun but i like it. I spent about two and half hours on this one. I'll probably update my deviant account more often but i'll try to throw some pics on here when i can.
cool, now that you got the tools and the basic knowhow, check out the potential outcome for your hard work. http://forums.sijun.com (check out the speed painting thread here) and www.cgtalk.com. There is so much to learn if you're willing to put in the time. Good start man.
I have flash and use it for animating, Its allright, but you have much more control over your brush settings in photoshop, thats the main reason i like photoshop, i've used paintshop, im actually trying corel painter next but i havent had time to install it yet. I've worked with vector art alot when i had a just a mouse, gives much better lines. But its so unnatural plus with the brush you'll make a stroke and then the computer changes the look of it. Was actually testing out drawling in flash last night and i hated it. But i've heard good things about illustrator i might have to check it out. using photoshop just feels much more natural, although i've seen some things about corel painter and it looks pretty neat, but every thing seems achievalable in photoshop other than there complex blending system of brushes and the ability to have a "wet" canvas. Im actually look for a new animating prog, due to vector imaging in flash, i can always import photoshop images and then create an avi, but i believe there is a better progam out there. I have affter effects but it seems like it more for working on film, not animation. I've heard all the pros use maya now even to create the 2d animation(south park uses maya, even for there show).
Dude, give Illustrator a try. You can use all the tablet's features (e.g. pressure sensitivity and whatnot), you can draw freehand lines, and you can use whatever brushes, textures and effects you can dream up, just like in Photoshop. But you also have all of the complex line/surface manipulation and interaction provided by what's probably the best vector editor out there. Paintshop Pro is pretty much the same as Photoshop, but Corel Painter is pretty cool. It'll give you an experience more akin to actual painting.