In this section I will talk about basic things you need in order to produce web gfx as well as links to resource sites I like to use.
For graphic creation I use Adobe Photoshop CS2 9.0. You can purchase this software from any decent software store although I do warn it is quite expensive. If you have good internet you can download the trial version which lasts 30 days and then just download it every 30 days. PS 7.0 and 8.0 are also decent. All the things I will be talking about on this site will be related to PS! So if you are using GIMP, Paint Shop Pro or Corel I am probably not very helpful to you!
For general coding I like to use notepad which is available with Windows. Just go to Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad
The brushes I use are from the sites listed below. You simply download them, and then go to C: > Program Files > Adobe > Photoshop > Presets > Brushes and drag them into that file.

Belows are some sites I recommend if you are trying to learn HTML and other web languages.
PageResource.com
A web development site which includes tutorials on HTML, JavaScript, CSS, DHTML, Perl and more.
Tizag.com
A collection of webmaster tutorials from HTML to PHP.