Ah, I finally got the courage to ‘enlist’, so to speak. 
I have been browsing CGTalk a lot lately, and I am both inspired and frightened by the level of talent on display here. I am a budding artist myself ( I study acting and will become a professional actor ), and I draw on my free time as a ( rather serious ) hobby. I got a Wacom Intuos 3 some months ago, and I am using Corel Painter X to paint digitally. I am still grasping the medium, and learning bit by bit about how deep and rewarding digital illustration can be. I am not good at the moment, however, and I hope to improve over time.
Anyway, I will put up a couple of my latest attempts at digital painting into my portfolio later on, so you can see what my starting-point is. With that said, I look forward to sharing my views about art with you, and getting a lot of critique and feedback from you, and watching your work as well.
Good to be here.