Filling Graphic Design Gaps

I come from a graphic design background and I can tell you that good basic graphic design skills can be learned. A few courses on color theory, positive and negative space, UI design, can go a long way. Photoshop and Illustrator are great to learn, but these are just tools that help you put your graphic design ideas into place. Just learning photoshop and illustrator (or any graphic design software) won't make you a graphic designer much like me buying a stethoscope will make me a medical expert. Don't worry about the tools too much, but focus on the fundamentals.