To get started, basically just draw. It's hard and will take some time before you get to a level you might deem as good enough, but the important thing is to get started and drawing whatever you want. Follow guides or courses on YT or in forums, you can find many learning materials online (and I think some in here as well) to get your fundamentals down, but don't get too bogged down by it, balance studying and drawing what you want to see.
For hardware, do you need a drawing tablet? Not necessarily, but it can make the process easier. You can still draw using a mouse and some people do, but a tablet feels more natural, especially if you've already dipped your toes in the arts. Hell, some of us still use pen and paper and then digitize it.
If you do go for a tablet, with screen or not, depends on your budget. A tablet without screen will take some getting used to since you're looking at the screen of your PC while interacting with the tablet surface, so there's a bit of a disconnect between your eye and hand movement, but is much cheaper compared to one with a screen. Meanwhile one with a screen you can actually see where your pen will do something, but is obviously a bit more expensive. I haven't checked that side of YT in a while but Brad Colbow was a good channel to see reviews. Also, don't go for the expensive or premium options starting out, non-Wacom brands and middle to budget range tablets have been getting really good and are very competitive.
For software, whatever you have available. You can use basic windows paint, photoshop, anything. Of course, more specialized tools are better but when you're starting out you have better things to focus on.
As for options, paint is basic as it can get, photoshop is great but adobe can go fuck themselves, GIMP is the free open source option, medibang is pretty good and then there's the paid ones like Krita, CSP or paint tool SAI. I can't recommend the paid ones as they can be a bit expensive, so don't, unless you plan to stick with it and really think their features will be useful to you.
For animating, I can't help you with that since I'm not too informed on that side. All I know is that you can use Live2D, Spine or the old reliable of drawing every frame. Traditional animation is a different drawing for each frame of animation, while L2D you need to break down the image into different parts and then animate them in whichever software you use.
Example of a broken down texture2D
Majority of 2D games here use the traditional way, but check the games you like, delve into the files to see how they do their animation and choose whichever you prefer or find easier to work with.
You might also want to learn animation, which is a different skill compared to just drawing, with different fundamentals and things to consider. "The animator's survival kit" is one of the best resources out there and you can find it online easily. You probably won't need to go full on with it, but it's good to know some basics.
It will take a lot of time and effort, and you won't see good results quickly, but they're skills that are invaluable, especially for indie devs, so keep at it.
Some additional tips:
-Don't feel discouraged that you can't draw to the level you wish for. Instead, look at your previous works and see your progression and how much you've improved. It will take time, but you will reach your goal.
-Join art communities or find other artists, they can help you out and encourage you to improve, give tips on what you can work on or improve, or learn and improve alongside them.
-Trace the art that you like and study it. Learn the style, the strokes and lines, how they've colored the piece and what colors they use, etc. From there, apply what you learned and try redrawing the image instead of directly tracing it. Then once you have the skill, try doing your own original piece in the style you learned. Of course, this is all for learning, don't actually trace art from others and pass it as your own / use it for your games.
-And again, balance out studying and drawing what you want for fun. If you just do art studies you can easily burn out or get bored, but only drawing what you want can make your progress slow if you don't have the fundamentals down.
Alternatively, use AI. Personally, I don't like it nor do I recommend it, and preferrably I'd rather people hire artists or learn to draw themselves, but it's an option and everyone's circumstances are different. Just remember to disclose your usage of it and don't go around being a jackass to artists.
If anyone has any more questions or want some book / pdf / course / channel recommendations, just reach out and I'll try to answer.
TL;DR: Just draw, learn some basics, tablet is not necessary but recommended, use any painting software that is available, do your own research on animation, you're in for a long ride so strap in and enjoy the journey.
