Photoshop Tutorial For Dummies

I've learned a valuable lesson within the past two weeks. 

My photoshop abilities remind me of a childhood experience that was, well, kind of embarassing.

To explain this phenomenon with Photoshop CS (not 2, not 3, and hell no, not 4), let's take a trip down memory lane:

In Kindergarden, I was always the kid who was mechanically challenged. I couldn't tie my shoes (it took until third grade to figure that out) and I most definitely could not open those cardboard Mayola milk cartons that came in either whole, chocolate, 2 %, or skim. I usually spent the first half of the lunch period tearing at the neatly folded crescent where there was supposed to be a spout. By the end of lunch, I'd destroyed the carton by finally ripping it open into a box shaped cup and managing to spill a third of it on my sweaters. 

This reminds me of how I feel when I get in Photoshop. 

Perhaps it's because these four years i've managed to get by without ever having to "create" anything solely using Photoshop. Regardless of the reason, I feel like I slowly tear apart the seemingly flawless and simply explained tutorial, leaving what is considered "amateur" products. I tried my best to work this week with layers since last time I realized there was so much I didn't know about them. In the process, I also found a cool new tutorial site that is in fact, resourceful, clean, and reliable! >> Tutorial 9

I tried out the tutorial where you create a surreal landscape using layers and different manipulations with the brush tool (something I also need(ed) dire help with.

Create a Surreal Environment Using a Photo

On a positive note, regardless of my final product for the past two weeks, I've learned a substantial amount of new things about Photoshop. I feel like I'm starting to see the program now as a tool with a million new functions I was previously unaware of. That's daunting, but it is something that overtime I will be able to master, much like the milk carton, and eventually the shoe tying.