Thank you! Very helpful not just for the beginners.
Photoshop works for me with photo editing and basic painting. There are other apps that allow for more powerful digital painting.
Wacom used to be the only real choice. But now you can also get good tablets from Ugee, XP-Pen, and others.
I'd recommend a XP-Pen Deco Fun Large ( https://www.xp-pen.com/product/905.html ) drawing tablet. You can pick them up on Internet in good condition for a very reasonable price.