Quote Originally Posted by bearden314 View Post
Thanks. Ideally I would like to use the plug-in as I don't have a tablet, so its hard to use velocity to emulate brush size with a mouse (I have tried this multiple time prior to posting the OP).
That's what using "Emulate Stroke Dynamics" is for. It fakes the velocity part when stroking a path. In particular, it increases the velocity as you move along the path.

I have also tried inkscape and well... it gives me headaches to put it lightly lol (even when following the tapering tutorial). Thanks though, maybe i just need more inkscape practice.
There are some very good built in tutorials under the help menu. The actual process of working with paths in Inkscape isn't all that different from paths in The GIMP as both are based on Bezier Splines. Inkscape just has a nicer interface for path editing, and can do "live" path effects.