General

Don't even worry about the program or anything, just draw! Having a good quality program or supplies won't give you the skills. It may change the quality, but still not how well you can draw.

If you don't have a tablet, just draw on paper. Or you can be awesome and use a mouse (For me, it wasn't that hard and I just drew on ms paint. The only thing for me was creating the lineart). I started out replicating pictures. So just take a picture of your avatar just how it is, or any position you want in bannedstory, and simply see how well you can copy it. Once you get the hang of that to get the basic idea, try doing some original stuff. Don't worry about being perfect, just see what you can do so far. And don't be scared to step out of your comfort zone! Even if you're work comes out and complete crap, it's okay. Every bit of practice counts. You'll gradually improve if you keep drawing. Look on deviantart for guidelines and tutorials. Everything, if not, then most, things you'll need to know is there.

Note that I'm not a professional artist or anything and this is just by my experiences. Good luck on your art!

I suggest getting as comfortable as you can, with your ideas and programs too Doodle a lot, get used to the brushes, get used to getting your ideas drawn out (like don't jump into a full blown drawing right away if you are a complete beginner, it might be discouraging if you cannot finish a piece). You may want to start small drawings to get a basic feel of things first (a small scale drawing or even just drawing heads)

If you are more confident drawing on paper, you can scan a drawing then finish it digitally. Or you can draw digitally entirely
There is an ocean of tutorials online, from how to draw to how to use your program

It took me a long time to be happy with my art, I hope you will have fun with it

thanks for the replies! i'll try out stuff over the summer

I use both; they're both good programs. SAI is considerably cheaper than PS but if you're going to take art seriously it's not bad to purchase the industry-standard.

The only way to get properly started with art is to start drawing! Good luck!

I use Paint tool SAI and a bamboo tablet. Find tips on youtube or deviant art, theres pretty much tutorials on everything from what style of art you want, layering, line art, colouring, sketching, etc. Imo just watch vids and look at drawings, then eventually practice and refine your art style.

Photoshop and Sai are both good for painting but i use photoshop but if you're going digital use a tablet (like bamboo)
Just practise anatomy and study other ppl's drawings and practise more

[quote=whotookmycookie]:o no idea what that is...can you give me some info on it? o_o
-searched it up and skimmed wiki page-
Is it free to download...easy to use?
Is there a reason why everyone here use it? o-o...[/quote]
[url=http://knighthead.deviantart.com/art/DreamError-s-Digital-Painting-Tutorial-273406936]I made a tutorial a couple years back[/url]. I pretty much only use Photoshop, no idea where the claim that "everyone uses SAI" came from.

[quote=HastyHeist]everyone here uses SAI[/quote]
:o no idea what that is...can you give me some info on it? o_o
-searched it up and skimmed wiki page-
Is it free to download...easy to use?
Is there a reason why everyone here use it? o-o...

Question. Do you have a graphic tablet? For digital drawing, using a graphic tablet is preferred. However drawing with a mouse <i>is</i> possible, just harder than it has to be. If you are really a starter artist, I'll really suggest for you to go traditionally then to digitally, and looks at tutorials how to draw and such. You don't want to be too stuffed with drawing lessons and photoshop lessons all at once. Photoshop, and other drawing programs, can be very technical.

But if you are not, just get to know the brushes available in PS and layers panel and just doodle. Try doodling in a large canvas, personally, I draw on 2000x2000 pixel with 300 resolution. Getting familiar with photoshop, or any drawing program, the second important thing for a digital drawing, first is knowing how to draw.

everyone here uses SAI