Hiya folks,

I'm actually starting to wrap up most of my outstanding projects (believe it or not, I have an alternate alias on the interwebs) so between that art and this art, I'm almost caught up, aiming to start 2008 with a clean slate!

I feel that I've reached the limits of what I can get out of opencanvas 1.11b when it comes to finer details.

As an example, my latest posted piece (censored and work safe) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/932722/

I find the max resolution and max DPI are severely restricting what I can push for detail and it drives me crazy.

I'm looking for a more intuitive, professional program to work with. Something that emulates real media (pencils, real paint brushes, paints of varying types). I've heard about things like the latest Corel Painter, but before I go and drop my privately stashed budget of $500 on a piece of software, I'm looking for recommendations.

Criteria
-Versatile DPI/Resolution sizes, I would like to start working at actual 8x11.5" sizes with DPI in the 100-300 range, and larger, I have had a fascination with posters for a while.
-Intuitive tool set, I hate photoshop, I've had the chance to try it out on my friend's laptop and it's too technical for me. I'm not averse to learning a new program, but having to remember multiple different presets to achieve the effect of an acrylics loaded paintbrush, is not my idea of fun.
- Multiple color profile support (I live right down the street from an actual professional and discrete printing shop. They support all color profiles, so this is something else I'd like to explore, they also do poster printing up to 60"x60" :D)

I will not download, steal, pirate or otherwise accept copies unless you can prove it's legitimate. Yes I agree they're ridiculously overpriced, but I'm just looking for suggestions on what kind of software to branch out to next from my faithful oc1.11b.

Thanks for your time.