Art questions

DAZ Studio I have played with in the past - the hardest part is learning what all the features do once you get that down you have models, backgrounds and everything to manipulate.... great for people like me who cannot draw.

I also use Picasa to manipulate photos/screenshots.

Both these things work with something already pre-existing, drawing from scratch is a whole different thing.

Bryce or Carrea have the ability to create worlds, although I have not played with this yet.
Blender also can create models you can morph, not much experience with this either - it also animates. I bounced a ball! WOOT!

K thats it from me LOL

Well, I don't make models or animate or anything. I'm not really sure what sorta art you're interested in doing exactly. I just do images, so I use Photoshop (and a tablet for easier drawing), mostly because the Adobe Creative Cloud is a requirement for my major, so I already have it on my computer. Photoshop can be a little overwhelming at first, put there's tons of online guides and videos to help.

If you're looking for something free, as photoshop can be very pricey, my suggestion is to go with a program like GIMP http://www.gimp.org/ or Paint Tool SAI http://www.systemax.jp/en/. Paint Tool SAI isn't a free program, but the developers do have a trial version of the program that will allow you to toy around with it and see if it's something you like.

Do you have a tablet? If not, it may be something you would consider investing in. Attempting digital art with a mouse is great, and if you can get what you want using one, you have mad props in my eyes! A tablet can turn the digital art-making process into something that feels very natural and precise. Do your research, buy the tablet that you feel would support your needs and fit your budget. http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/aboutgraphics/a/graphicstablets.htm