One of the most daunting aspects of pursing a creative or artistic career for many aspiring artists is not knowing how to learn the craft. So, we asked some very talented artists and creatives to talk to us about how they learned their crafts and we hope their stories will help you in your journey.

Shane Boyce

Rap has been around me for as long as I could remember, and I’ve been a student of it for the same amount of time. I like to joke that my mom planted the seeds without knowing what she was doing. For Valentines Day in 2005, she got me The Documentary and let me play it on repeat using her CD Player. Read more>>

Dez Miller

I always knew I had a passion and talent for art, specifically illustration, but as I started to make this my career it took years of practice, time, and effort to get to where I am now. I honestly am constantly learning and improving my skills, but I would say what has been most helpful for me is studying other artists’ processes and using that knowledge to improve my own work. Read more>>

Madison Pitts

My interest in interior design really began in 2020, during the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. I had just graduated from MTSU with my BFA in visual art and photography, and my goals of moving to Nashville to be apart of its fine art scene and applying to grad school were put on hold when quarantine began. Read more>>

Megan McNulty

As an educator at heart, I am deeply grateful to all of the educators who have given me the continued gift of craft. No matter what I am teaching (academics, character study, on camera auditioning), I reflect back on the wisdom and words from my own mentors. Read more>>

SunYoung Park

I have been working with clay since 2009. Clay is my primary medium for creating my work. It was not the easiest thing to learn, but the most exciting thing to go through for sure. I am a slow learner, but I am patient. Read more>>

Amanda Hunt

I started taking metalsmithing classes about 15 years ago. I wanted a new hobby that was both artistic and allowed me to work with my hands. When I started taking jewelry classes, I knew it right away it was for me. I loved every aspect of the process, and the knowledge and attention to the skills required to make these little pieces of art. Read more>>

Jill Berglin

I have what some people might call an obsessive-ish personality. Combine that with my perpetual yearning to learn, sprinkle in some perfectionism, and here I am. My self-driven (ok, stubborn) personality has gotten me through more DIY projects than I can count. Read more>>

Michelle Perkett

I’ve always drawn and painted but when I finally decided to go back to school and finish my art degree in 2000, I learned what I wanted to do as an artist and found my style. I had such a clear direction of where I wanted my art business to go. Read more>>

Jim Plath

I’ve always loved storytelling, and so in one form or another, I’ve always done it. When I was a teenager, I wrote a novel. In my mid-twenties I wrote another. I also worked on short stories and poems, and the effort I put into these things might have impressed some people, but the finished products would not. Read more>>

Hannah Ashbaugh

I had been “loosely” taught crochet by a cousin and a family friend growing up but I never really stuck to it. I never learned any complicated stitches or how to make anything other than a simple scarf. After graduating college in 2019 and moving away from my home town for the first time, I needed a hobby. Read more>>

Tommy Wright

Learning the craft is still an ongoing process. I took creative writing in college and discovered that it gave me so much joy. My first full script I wrote at 24. It was an original musical theater play. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing and enjoyed every moment of it. Read more>>

Zharia Shinn

I first learned by consistently doing. I was always drawing, making, creating as a child. If you left me to my own devices, I was immediately looking for something to draw on and draw with. I couldn’t sit still, constantly projecting my inner creativity outward. Fast forward to my adolescent years, my passion for art was shaped during multiple art programs until I eventually attended Rhode Island School of Design for my undergrad in 2014. Read more>>

Amisha Groce

How did you learn to do what you do? My theatre education over the past 11 years and counting is predominately autodidactic. I read books like Directing Actors by Judith Weston, listen to podcasts like Let’s Shoot with Pete Chatmon, and watch anything and everything I can get my eyes and hands on to fill my directing toolbox. Read more>>

Annalise Neil

My skill-building process has not followed a linear path, but has instead been like a the journey of a stream that runs through various ecosystems. I have picked up a craft here, then became interested in something over there, and so on. I began art school as a photography major, and ended as a printmaker. After graduating I began to paint mostly watercolor but also oil and acrylic on canvas. Read more>>

Karen Peck

I began my pastel journey by exploring the work of other artists. Their different styles and use of subject matter inspired me to search for my own. I joined patreon and followed lessons by other artists I watched you tube videos and took workshops. Read more>>

Dalton Tracee

I began my journey in drawing and painting at a young age, thanks to my grandmother who introduced me to art while she worked on wallpapering. My early experiences involved coloring books and observing her craft, which sparked my interest. In high school, I took a few formal art classes which further refined my skills and understanding. Read more>>

Kerry-Ann Reid-Brown

Before launching my podcast in 2015, I spent most of 2014 researching and learning to edit from various tutorials I found online. At first, I was caught up with trying to learn with a tool that was then and still isn’t a beginner software, all because popular podcasters recommended that. Read more>>

Rachel Smith

I attended art school where I learned the fundamentals of visual art and design, but most of my skills and knowledge I use on a daily basis simply came from practicing my skills almost every day for the past four years. Read more>>

Kenna Swanson

I first started with buying the cheapest and most entry level camera I could find, Canon Rebel T6. I went to the library and checked out as many books as I could about learning to use a camera. After reading about all I could, I took my camera out as much as I could to learn the ropes of using it and starting to develop photos that I really loved. Read more>>

Roby Johnson

Immersive theater has been really interesting to pick up because it really is grounded and practice, meaning that theory can only get you so far–it is the act of experiencing the creative and operational processes that you actually learn what works and what doesn’t. Read more>>

Jean Christian Barry

Everyone’s learning process is quite unique, but I do believe passion has been a significant factor in my ability to learn anything. When I see an activity that I can tell I would enjoy, I find the focus to take in as much information as possible about that activity. Read more>>

Julian Nawf Ramos

Making the decision to start a podcast while working a full-time job without thinking about the hard work that actually goes into podcasting wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done. As a fan of podcasts who listens to multiple of them daily, I thought to myself how cool it would be for me and a few buddies to start our own podcast, because in my head it all seemed so simple. Read more>>

David Mills

I officially entered the 3D world of art late in my career. After decades of primarily working as a painter and mixed-media artist, I found an opportunity to pursue a longtime passion for being a sculptor. Having dabbled in various sculptural media, including clay, plaster, ceramics, and wood, I crossed paths with an established metal sculptor who agreed to take me on as an apprentice. Read more>>

Tali Rodriguez

As it relates to engineering and recording music, I think it was combination of learning from a few immensely talented individuals who were willing to share their knowledge and experience mixed with an immense amount of self-taught trial and error. Read more>>

Cory Barnfield

Learning the craft has been a very exciting part of my life. I’ve studied with several different teachers/artists from different backgrounds and those experiences have allowed me to develop into a teacher and artist in my own right. Read more>>

Nathaniel Fyffe

My journey as an artist has been a continuous process of learning and growth. It began at community college, where I took some basic courses before seeking out guidance from friends I began to make in within the jewelry industry. Read more>>

Jasmine Umrani

I gained an interest in Makeup while in high school. Growing up, I was a dancer. I went to a performing arts school in Washington DC, doing continuous performances. I guess you can say I was forced to learn how to do makeup. My father is a huge Star Trek fan who loves to watch the ending credits. Usually, I never paid any attention to them, but one day I did. Read more>>

Nik Bruzzese

I’ve been playing and recording since 1999. I started taking recording serious in 04 and went into business for myself. I learned by working long hours on my craft and working with different bands while simultaneously starting and recording my own project. Read more>>

Lucas Hicks

I quickly learned I had a passion for story at a young age. In fact, where learning story first began with me was in the closet of my bedroom. I had action figures of all sorts where I would set up a main character and develop a journey where I would guide them through ending with a conclusion. Read more>>

Matt Leake

From a young age (high school) I was always kind of interested in entertainment whether it be video audio etc. I started a Youtube Channel & Twitch stream around then and my biggest problem was always getting quality audio . So I just taught myself what I could and slowly got better that higher level of audio. Read more>>

Laura Holland

My roots in the creative world began with a BFA in theatre from NYU. However, life has its twists, and my interest pivoted towards photography. The initial phase of my career was eclectic—I did random gigs and captured Instagram shots for influencer friends. It was a time of exploration and learning opportunities. Read more>>

Takeia Marie

I started out drawing when I was around five years old. I used to have these Disney and Looney Tunes coloring books and I just started trying to draw the characters. I just loved doing it, and after that I was fortunate enough to be influenced by a long line of people along the way. Read more>>

Charles Martone

The pandemic hit, and suddenly like most I found myself at home with time…. Time that I could fully devote to art and woodworking. For as long as I could remember I have poured my life into my chiropractic carreer to be available to serve and now suddenly I am creating in the garage. Read more>>

ANI HAN

When I began my songwriting journey, I felt ill-equipped. I had a lot of questions like—how do you write a song? Do you start with lyrics first or melody first? How do you know if you have a good song? These questions prompted me to do what we all did before ChatGPT—a Google search. Read more>>

Paul Hanon

I originally became interested in photography when I found my dad’s 35mm film camera; a Konica. I eventually found a dslr camera and started teaching myself how to use it by asking friends and searching on YouTube. It wasn’t long before I found a video by Peter Hurley and learned of his success with headshots. Read more>>

Stephanie Torres

I have always held an interest in art, but I believe I learned to fully pursue my potential and learn much faster due to the education I received from my talented professors at the University of Houston at Clear Lake, who each have experience in multiple aspects of being an artist. Read more>>

Ma’at Zachary

My journey is far from traditional. I acquired my skills through a series of bumps, scraps, and observations because there was no guide or obvious blueprint. Read more>>

Chris Olivas

I am and astrophotographer and I learned simply by doing. I earned a minor in photography from University but honestly didn’t really learn that much about the craft or making a living out of it. Photography is one of those things that you have to experiment a lot with, and fail a lot with. Read more>>

Becca Twiggs

I think the biggest things to be learned regarding any creative field are teamwork, collaboration, and professionalism. You have to be willing to put in the work not only with your castmates, but your director, your producers, and the design team. Read more>>