Maybe you don't have to have a degree in artistry but a decent idea of what exactly the heck you're doing does help. I've taken a look at some of those tutorials and they seem pretty straightforward but it when it comes to applying them to my own pictures then things get a little tricky. Things come up that the tutorial failed to cover in enough detail, or not at all, and I end up just leaving it.
Playing with random stuff is fun, but if I had to do it until I came up with something nice, I'd be celebrating my 80th birthday in front of the computer screen. xP
And, and, and, the funny thing, I've actually cut out a few anime figures to try and put them in other backgrounds and stuff, and the cutting out part is the easiest. XD I just use that magic wand to select the background and then inverse the selection if the background colour is plain. But even without it, there's this other tool; I think they call it the 'Marquee' or something, that lets you trace over the character! Real fun and easy too. ^^
So, is Miss Kon usually this popular in her FC? xP