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.

Katie Dwyer

I have been a personal brand photographer for about 5 years and am completely self-taught. While maintaining a 9-5 job as an Admin Assistant at Target, I taught myself from the ground up – from how to use my camera to how to book my first client and market myself on social media. Read more>>

AJ Blanch

I can think of only three good reasons to share your bed: of course there’s the obvious, “When you love someone so much…” scenario. Read more>>

Casey Bauers

I’ve been constantly learning new art skills for as long as I can remember. As a kid I loved reading about this history of animation and studying the works of older artists. Then I took the big step going to art school. Read more>>

Vedika Savalani

My high school art teacher, Ms. Mora, taught me everything I know about the basics of visual art from color theory to understanding compositions. Read more>>

Nancy Turner

My father suggested that I take Printing in high school when I couldn’t get into the graphic arts class. Printing was taught in Shop and they had just begun allowing girls to register. Read more>>

Alexandra DiMattia

i’m 100% self-taught as a graphic designer – no schooling, no degrees, no certificates, and no formal education in that area. i learned everything i know about graphic design through a combination of watching youtube tutorials, googling EVERYTHING, and watching design reels, then trying to recreate them in illustrator, self-editing as i went along. Read more>>

Eli Ommen

My journey to learning the craft of filmmaking began when I was twelve years old and stubbled upon a group of guys on YouTube named Dude Perfect. Read more>>

Kevin Davis Jr

I came in fairly late to the “game” so to speak. As a lifelong athlete I couldn’t be farther from the “arts”. But after college I was looking for something more than the two year stint playing soccer in Europe could offer. Read more>>

Jaime Pattison

I have learned most through my participation in my community as well as developing strong relationships with the mentors that I found through my education in the arts. Read more>>

Donovan Perry

The older I get the more I fall in love with the art of learning my craft, it’s a journey of self discovery and self expression. Read more>>

Jayson Tucker

Since always having an interest in photography I always took pictures for fun. Getting my first DSLR and doing some basic research about the fundamentals of photography for example, exposure, rule of thirds, Read more>>

Jhyroy Quyroy

We play bass and lead guitar and both rap. We grew up around music and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when we started learning the craft. Our biggest goal is to keep learning and to get better every day. Read more>>

Anna Rose Castellanos

A lot of people can probably think back to when you experienced the first great piece of art that really made am impression on you. For some it might have been a song, for others, a piece of writing. Read more>>

Alexandra Thomas

I’m entirely self taught in photography and videography. I learned to do what I do by going outside every single day from 2 years old-now at nearly 23 years old and just taking photos and videos of every pretty flower, sunset, wild animal, etc. Read more>>

Jesse Kovack

A few years ago I decided I was going to really learn the craft, study the forefathers that came before me. So I started listening to Hip Hop from 1985, I’d listen and read along all the lyrics to each album. Read more>>

Shaun Haugen

Learning the craft. Just like in any creative endeavor (poetry, fiction, film, painting, etc.) there are fundamental aspects of the craft that each artist must learn. Read more>>

Kory Alexander

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved to document every meaningful & entertaining moment in my life. There’s nothing more special than being able to capture a moment in real time, and being able it to keep as a gift to yourself forever. Read more>>

Brandon Henry

I started playing guitar when I was 12, my dad started me on a guitar with only the four top strings. It made playing a lot easier to get the chords down. I learned piano around the same time, and connecting the dots with music theory helped me understand how music fits together. Read more>>

Daniel Tucker

The most important way to learn this craft is to engage with it. Be a sponge. Watch movies. That means watching “old movies,” whatever the hell that means. Read more>>

Sarah Ikerd

Learning the craft has been an ongoing process. While they begin studying music when I was a kid I had a natural attitude, but I wasn’t a prodigy. Read more>>

April Vertucci

As a photographer, I learned by immersing myself in practice, experimenting with different techniques, and seeking feedback from peers and mentors. Read more>>

Uakari Cuts

Before I started making art, I was a producer. In fact, the reason I got into collage art was to create artwork for my beats! Collage art is very similar to sampling – as a producer I loved taking the old and creating the new. Read more>>

Josh Seven

As a Filmmaker, I see my evolution in three stages. Novice, Intermediate and Proficient. Let me take you all through the journey from knowing little to nothing to having intuition and instinct. Read more>>

Hector Castillo

Learning different tricks and ways to understand how to manifest the things within your imagination or even what is in front of you is always exciting. Read more>>

Kyglam Beauty

The beauty of this industry is you can learn from the comfort of your own home. There’s a lot of help out there from different style. We love learning from online and also hands on. Read more>>

Thanh Lan Truong

After a decade-long hiatus from the art world, my hand was stiff and quite rusty, making it quite challenging to draw again. Read more>>

Casey Alfstad

I stumbled into learning projection mapping and video art design. I had worked at galleries and one had given me a projector they had replaced. Read more>>

Naomi Clark-Turner

Originally from England, I have lived in the US since 2002. It was only when I moved to the US that I decided to seriously start painting and found a class at a local arts center. Read more>>

Trenton Schultz

Such a loaded question! I love it. I’m always learning, that’s the mindset I go into the studio everyday with, but looking back over the 10 years I’ve been tattooing & I’ve accumulated so much knowledge in multiple ways, Read more>>

Kenneth Frost

I don’t think you can really speed through refining a craft. You may start with natural talent, but it always takes time, practice, and experience to polish it up. Read more>>