Jennifer vs. Digital Painting, Round 1

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Insomnia sucks, so why not blog instead?
I've decided to take a stand against my fear of digital painting by trying out some programs (that art trade you saw last time is currently frozen)..

1) Sumo Paint: I found it very convenient to use - no download needed, hooray for more space on my computer- and loved the brushes that were offered (dry brush 1 and 2 were my favourites, and the random chess piece brushes were pretty awesome), but I got frustrated pretty easily since some of the functions didn't work well (in my case, the undo button). I'd like to try this again when I have some more experience.. and patience.
Website:
http://www.sumopaint.com


2)Painter 12: I've seen amazing pieces done with Corel Painter in the magazine ImagineFX, so I figured I could try it out. Corel Painter offers a more traditional approach to digital painting;for example, if you decide to use the (Acrylic) Bristle Brush, the strokes look genuine - just like how you'd paint on a canvas or on paper. Only problem is, I know *drum roll* NOTHING. It's (in my opinion - because I know nothing about painting programs) complex. I'm nowhere close to the point where I know when to adjust viscosity nor grain (note to self: figure out what grain is). This is something that can be really useful if I ever want to imitate a traditional medium like acrylics or oils.
Website(30 day trial):
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/ca/en/Product/1208716842481#versionTabview=tab0&tabview=tab7

3) Paint Tool SAI: It seems as if Paint Tool SAI is a good program.. People have told me it's a good tool to paint with and it's easy (the angels are already singing). I just downloaded the 30 day trial and...IT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Pardon the capslock, I'll return to being polite. Anyways, I find this program (in the 30 minutes I've fiddled with it) to be simple - I've haven't played around with the advanced setting or anything.. just some brushes and the blender- and not irritating like Sumo Paint (sorry Sumo Paint). Here's a doodle I did on SAI (it's hair if you can't recognize what it is)!



*I've used a mixture of yellow, orange and brown (at low opacity) for the hair*

As a newbie to digital painting, I'm going to try out SAI some more and hopefully make some cool stuff. That blinds people.. with AWESOMENESS.

Website (30 day trial):
http://www.systemax.jp/en/sai/


P.S. For some reason the SAI and Sumopaint links weren't working so I'll see if I can fix them up later - the websites are bolded for now.