I have photoshop cs3. I can manage to find a higher version once I get the hang of the program. I have a wacom intuos. For traditional media, just pencils, inks, and paper. Digital media is still on entry level. Like your baby step in using a tablet but instead of creating organized sketches you can only muster disfigured doodles.
I don't have the opportunity to study the art because most of my time is spent on learning another profession. My love for learning the process is the only driver why I allot some time teaching myself the craft. If I can render an image just near half the quality you got on this post, that would already be a goal met for this year alone.
Ok that's great, I'd recommend CS6 because that's what I use, but 3 should be fine as well. :) I also use a Wacom.
Have you seen this video by Shaddy Safadi? He's a famous concept artist with lots of experience. Here he goes through all the things needed to set up.
After that I recommend looking at the rest of the series as well, I think it's 12 videos.
Thank you for the lead. I appreciate it! :)
No problem. Schoolism.com is another great resource, it's not free, but for a low monthly fee you can look at many hours of great lessons from amazing artists, personally I've looked at Sam Neilson's classes on painting, highly recommended