What tool do I use for line drawings in photoshop?

ive never wanted to even touch photoshop for this reason. i want to learn how to digitally paint, and ive used many programs like SAI or Gimp or Manga Studios, but i c other ppl's photoshop pictures and they always look the best. so i got photoshop, and its WAY TOO COMPLICATED. so i want to get started on the out line.... and i use the pencil tool. It pixelly like microsoft paint. so i switched to the pen tool, which is not sensitive to the tablet pressure... i checked up some guides online, i thought by selecting pen pressure it would solve the problem, but to do that, i also need to select magnetic which gives me those little vector points that i dont want. WHAT TOOL DO I USE TO DRAW ON PHOTOSHOP?!!! and also, when i create a new layer, theres always a grey grid on it. i got rid of it by selecting greate background from layer, and then create layer from background. i dunno if itll cause me trouble later... what am i doing wrong?!!! i have cs5 extended,