I'm testing out a more painterly style as well! I'm trying it out for the ME Secret Santa, it takes some getting used to. Cell shading is so much easier and quicker, having to really stop and think about my color choices and blending. Its times like these I wished I had invested in Painter, since its better suited for that type of art instead of photoshop.

Investing in a tablet is worth it! I've had a wacom intuous tablet for the last 4 years, and it was worth it. Wacom's got a super cheap line of tablets out now, the very cheapest being something like $80.