Thjought I'd pass along a tip for a software find for digital painting.
I came across this great free software the other day. ArtWeaver.
http://www.artweaver.deIf you've ever had a desire to get Corel Painter but don't have several hundred dollars to spare, this is a good alternative. It's very similar, in its interface and what you can do with it. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it comes closer than any other program I've seen.
I do have Painter (I got it for a deal at a computer store) and Artweaver is almost as good.
And it's totally non-commercial freeware, put out by some guy who is just doing it to do it. No registration, spyware or other junk.