If modifying Twenty Eleven seems a bit daunting, you should try CSS-less themes like BLANK by Chris Coyier. Otherwise, there are a handful of great starter themes that have all sorts of built-in functionality. The only down side is that these are sometimes just as much, if not more, difficult to learn since they have such a complex starter base. I would suggest reading through this post, as it lists several VERY good theme frameworks (especially Hybrid and Thematic)
Best of luck! And keep coming back if you have more questions. The community here is typically VERY good about getting questions answered.