I just need to learn the basics, like, coloring in the background.
http://revision3.com/search/search?q=Illustrator http://veerle.duoh.com/design/archives/category/illustrator
You suck at Illustrator
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/ It refers to CS3, not CS5, but the basics are still the same.
Also http://www.lynda.com/ is all kinds of awesome. I cannot recommend it enough. For $25 you can learn just about any program or topic associated with graphics, web, interactive programming, 3D modeling, SQL… you name it.
Http://www.youtube.com
To join, you must be at least 13 years old and agree to the terms and conditions