I highly recommend Affinity Photo - It's $50 and has almost all the functionality of Adobe's Photoshop - It also has a very similar interface - so if you ever do get into the professional world you'll be ready
This is the protector I use. Just a note, paperfeel protectors will wear down your pen tip much more quickly, so also purchase replacement tips.
If you don't have a computer or laptop of any kind, then unfortunately yeah
As far as recommendations, heres a list https://essentialpicks.com/standalone-drawing-tablet/
Personally, I have a surface pro 7 like this but with more ram https://www.amazon.com/New-Microsoft-Surface-Pro-Touch-Screen/dp/B07YNJGMH6?th=1&psc=1
I got an xp-pen tablet that was only a couple hundred bucks and I'm loving it.
I personally like using Medibang, as I can use it both on my desktop and mobile devices.
It gives you many of the perks of desktop software (layers, brushes, multiple canvas sizes, mirroring, etc) while still being free.
It has some added layouts for comics if you need those as well. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.medibang.android.paint.tablet
Sounds like you're basically going to need a vector program. With the capability for extensions or the like. The rest is using the tools that come closest to your goal.
This Is the one I use. There’s a nice weight to it and it looks nice, however I am on my second one already because of the tips wearing out, so that’s something to consider. Whatever you get, you probably want a stylus with a precision tip(the kind that’s a clear disk).
Unless you absolutely want to stay on iPad, I'd recommend getting a graphics tablet. I've been using a Gaomon M10K and it's honestly a great deal for the price. For drawing you could get Photoshop with the photography subscription for 10$/month. Maybe there's other good software for PC/Mac that I don't know about though.
Ok, lol, sorry. I forgot to mention I'm also an idiot.