I'd go with Paint Shop Pro 8! Its affordable and comes with a very well written manual. Then get out there with you're digital camera and collect some good texture starting points.
(don't use images you find on google-images....you could have a lawsuit on you're hands....of course if you make it unrecognizable then you only have to deal with the guilt factor:P)
Now there is only so much you can do with photo editing tricks, so I would encourage you to buy a Wacom tablet. They aren't cheap, but they last forever. This will allow you to make lots of freehand touches and so on.
(don't use images you find on google-images....you could have a lawsuit on you're hands....of course if you make it unrecognizable then you only have to deal with the guilt factor:P)
Now there is only so much you can do with photo editing tricks, so I would encourage you to buy a Wacom tablet. They aren't cheap, but they last forever. This will allow you to make lots of freehand touches and so on.