my aunt worked for adobe, brought home a free copy of photoshop (i was young at the time, so i didn't know what it was)
then my other aunt signed me and my cousin up for a basics class for it at a college.
Just taught like some basic basic stuff, like what the main tools are, and how to use them
(no pentooling though)
So, with a basic understanding of ps, i didn't actually do much, until i stumbled across forums, and i saw people's signatures, and i wanted to make them. so i asked them how they did it, and they pointed me to some tutorials, and i went from there.
Quit. Restarted 2009 summer.
Then, i had found a gfx forum, and learned there. Had some friends who were better who could help me out, and i just built up from there. Joined a few teams who showed me some new stuff too.
Learning isn't always just how you create yourself, but working with other people does make it easier.