VicariousE is wise. Nothing wrong with regular hand-drawn art either, especially paint and pastels easily get as effectual as Photoshop does when done right. If you want to animate/create games with other programs than Flash, there are a bunch of free alternatives: <a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/creator-resources/game-dev-resources">http://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/creator-resourc es/game-dev-resources</a>
Good luck!
VicariousE
Have a scanner? Just draw line art and fill 'em in digitally.