@Marisa, stop me now if something like this already exists or if there is a better forum to put this topic under.
Is anyone interested in being a design mentor to me? I am really wanting to learn to design. I downloaded paint.net and am learning how to use it. I need to go SLOW, like really slow because I don't have tons of time to devote to this. I am a quick learner. I am looking for someone to teach me a bit, challenge me some, and especially someone I can bounce questions off of. I would really love to be good enough to sell my designs or be on a creative team.
Whatcha think?
Kate, such a thing DOES exist here, though it's not super-formal. There are the tutorial videos which can help you learn how to create elements and papers, the designer challenges that you can just jump right into, the freebies forum where you can share items you've made (and possibly get some feedback from people who download them), the monthly blog trains where you can share your designs as part of a giant collaborative kit, and the Commons which is a community of us mentoring each other and being able to make our designs available to the entire PixelScrapper community.
I'm not super-familiar with Paint.net, but a quick look-over suggests that it has the basic capabilities you'll need, and you should be able to do the steps in the tutorials here while using it; you will probably have to learn to find Paint.net's menu locations for things like layer effects, but that's the only real challenge I see in using it for your initial designs. Personally, I'd lean more towards GIMP or Photoshop as a long-term software, but that's because they seem to have more capabilities when it comes to creating more complex elements and papers, and you'll eventually run into something Paint.net just can't do, like using the Pen tool to create vector layers. For me, changing software is relatively easy, just a case of remembering the new menu layout and shortcuts, but I don't know how your memory works with that. Layered PSD files are the standard for multi-colored paper patterns and elements, and there IS a Paint.net plugin that you'll need to install to be able to open and save those files.
As far as questions go, feel free to ask in Software Specific Questions or the Designer Challenges forums. I'd suggest starting with some of the Build Your Basics challenges and then finding the tutorials for how to make the specific element type called for by the challenge.
We don't have anything official going on at the moment, although I've tried some things in the past, and it's something I'm considering for the future. So that's not a lot of help to you right now, but I any feedback about what you'd find helpful I'll certainly consider as we make future plans.
It will likely be difficult for you to find a designer who can assist you with paint.net. While they can certainly offer advice on design, if you want actual software guidance you're likely going to have to consider Photoshop, or possibly PaintShopPro, although if you're serious about designing I'd strongly recommend learning Photoshop.
I would highly advise rethinking your choice of software. You really, for most things, need a more advanced design system. I use Photoshop Elements mostly, and dabble in Photoshop CS. Most professional designers use Adobe products, so trying to mentor someone using different design software would not be easy. I would say look into PSE, it's usually about $100...not too bad for a beginner design studio. Also check out the Commons process here at PS and the Designer Challenge forum too! This community is super open and sharing, so ask questions! Someone will answer! And I second the Tutorial section, but again, it's mostly all for Adobe software. Not being familiar with paint.net, I'm not sure how the tutorials would transfer over.