Hi there!
Sorry I didn’t see your post until today.
As for satisfying “both sides of the brain” – Yes, I think RapidWeaver is a great tool for that. My previous job was as a graphic designer, page layout person and desk editor for the Sports section of a daily metro newspaper. I was in the print world for many, many years and this is now what I do full time. I think you’ve chosen the right path. 
As for advice on how to use a theme – not sure what to say here honestly. It would depend on specific questions you might have. Using a theme is as simple as applying it to your project file. If you’re talking more about help building out a site’s content in RW, then the forums here are a good place to get tips and tricks and advice from users on doing that!
As for tutorials – RapidWeaver Classroom and the RapidWeaver Community site both have good tutorials on using the app itself. I have tutorial videos on my product pages for using my specific products. Both will be useful to you I suspect.
Adam