For creating characters and other models you can purchase and sometimes acquire free assets from the marketplace, though id recommend getting blender, it’s a great starting point for those interested in 3D artwork and more than capable for making AAA quality assets for a game if you put in the work to learn it. You’ll also want a program to paint textures, I use procreate on my iPad and corel painter with a stylus on my PC. These both cost money but there are free options out there. As an artist don’t be afraid to just dive in and start exploring. There is a wealth of tutorials on YouTube for blender. As far as Unreal, you don’t necessarily have to know c++ to start creating projects(though it definitely would help to learn of you plan on creating larger complex games) the blueprint system in unreal is pretty powerful and capable of getting quite a bit done and relatively easy to use for those with little to no coding experience. Like blender, there is also a wealth of tutorials on YouTube for Unreal. I like Ryan Laley(blueprint) and Alamars Dev Domain(c++) both helped me learn the basics. Best of luck friend!