Corel Painter Essentials 3

Recently came across some wedding images that had been reworked with Corel Painter. It's little brother Painter Essentials 3 sells for about $80-$90. Has anyone tried this out, is it worth it, and how steep is the learning curve (for someone not artistically adept with crayons )?
There is a trial I may download, but I'm also looking for some comments of others that may have used it.

So am I.

Should I do my virtual paintings in PS CS3 with some downloaded brushes or fork out the money for Corel Painter Essentials or the full blown Corel Painter?

I've been looking here https://photography-on-the.net …php?p=2892336#p​ost2892336

But that's $70-$129 for a tutorial with brushes whereby essentials has the additional tools that may make things easier? There are also free PS technique listed within this forum, but I was looking for the best choice.

goldenllama wrote in post #3072768
Corel Painter Essentials comes bundled free with a Wacom tablet (along with other software). If you're considering buying the program already, may as well nab the hardware that takes you to another level entirely.

Great idea. I didn't know. I want a tablet too.

goldenllama wrote in post #3072768
Corel Painter Essentials comes bundled free with a Wacom tablet (along with other software). If you're considering buying the program already, may as well nab the hardware that takes you to another level entirely.

Good advice, especially if in market for tablet... (Tablets are great for photo editing, but I'm guessing they'd be almost essential to an artist doing sketching, virual painting, etc.)

My Graphire4 came with Corel Painter Essentials (not sure version) and PS Elements 3.0. Cost about $75.