First attempt with a tablet and a few pointers (image is a trace and not original)

Righto then.
My repaired PC arrived laden with interesting software. Woot!
 Unfortunately there is no sound whatsoever due to an issue with the soundcard so i can't look at C4D tutorials which was what i had planned...

Sooooo... I decided to get the graphics tablet out and see whats what.
 As a short aside, i have had an unhealthy fear of this thing after 3 minutes playing with it when it arrived months ago but i have decided to persevere.

First things first, If you are worried about using one, don't. It isn't that hard to get used to.

 I decided to start light so twoc'd an image and a background off of google to trace. Don't start trying to just draw an original piece straight away, this will probably put you off for life. I then started tracing and was swearing and shouting in no time, but, and its a big but, this stress goes away pretty quickly.

My tips are:

1, Don't obsess over following lines exactly, this is stressful and not an issue. Cleaning up mistakes is so simple it hurts so just sketch away.

2, Get comfortable with your tablet in an easy position and stick with it. It is easier to move around the tablet than to keep moving the tablet (if you get what i mean)

3, If you dont like the lack of feel or if the stylus moves too easily put a piece of thin, plain paper down over the top. Can't express how much better this is so just try it.

4, Keep going. Don't keep 'rubbing out' lines you dont like as this leads to the dark side... Stress.
Just keep going, the aim is to get comfortable using the stylus, not creating an instant work of art (see above for proof of a crap first attempt).

I will be documenting my progress as im planning on doing an hour or so as often as possible along with my first attempts with a couple of other media.

The above image is a trace of work by 2 far better artists so it is not original at all.