I'm going to be brutally honest here: back away from the photoshop tools. Not that they can't make good content, but that as a learning tool they will only hurt you more than they will EVER help you. Anyone who has ever messed around with photoshop tools(like gradients, filters, bevels and such) in their early graphic years will look back in a few years and cringe.

If you want to accomplish something, then get the pen/brush tool and do it by hand.