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.

Katerina Packis

As a “self-taught” makeup artist, my real teachers were the original “beauty gurus” of YouTube. Every night, I’d consume hours of beauty content- tutorials, product reviews, etc.- so, before I could even buy makeup without the permission of my parents, I was learning. Debit card finally at my disposal, I bought my very first eyeshadow palette as a college freshman. I had been using makeup to conceal my acne since the age of 12, but only slowly venturing into makeup that wasn’t necessarily “practical”. That first eyeshadow palette turned into several palettes, and from then on, my creativity had a new outlet. Read more>>

William Bishop

In filmmaking, much like other art forms, you are always in a constant state of learning. In every film you see, book you read, or conversation you have you might learn something new. I learned the basics of how to operate a camera, write a script, and direct actors by attending Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville’s art high school. From there, I started working on film sets in New York as a production assistant and learned much more by being a part of the process at a professional level. Read more>>

Grace Emmet

My natural ink making practice is the craft I am most focused on developing at the moment, and although I have learned a lot over the years, I still have much to discover. When you forage your materials from the landscaped, it is an inherently slow process. I work with foliage, berries, mushrooms, nuts, all kinds of natural things that take time to grow and only do seasonally. Read more>>

Nathan Edwin McClements

Years back I was an art student without any ambition. The idea of creating was always apparent but the structure of school set up more insecurity within my limited skill set. I was also writing & recording music which became the focus after graduating. After some years of solo touring, I moved to Charleston, SC where the abundance of gig opportunities allowed me to make a very modest living off of the tunes I was making. The pandemic knocked out those opportunities & my creative focus shifted. Read more>>

Juliana Cuervo

Being a creative its aconstant learning. I think i’ve trough a lot of upside down moments where patience and selfcompasiont has been the most important tool to keep going every day. The only way i think i could found to speed up my learning process it’s actually practicing the craft when i can. To be honest i wish i could practice everyday, but bills and other kind stuff are also part of this journey. This last one with my self impostor has been my personal obstacles, since time and comparison always appears. Read more>>

Jill Blutt

Ok so for one thing I went to music school. But that’s a boring answer because it’s not really necessary in the grand scheme of things, especially in this day and age. I think the most invaluable aspect of this experience, for me, was the opportunity to grow and evolve within a community of other musicians. There’s a lot of online courses, many free ones even, that can fill in the techincal aspects of a formal music education–basic music theory, musicianship, performance, production etc. Read more>>

Anami Hayes

During my time in art school, (SCAD) I was taught how to draw forms, shapes, values, learning to animate to design, all of the above. However, even though all the resources and “skills” were there, the best way to learn was from the people surrounding me. My friends taught me the biggest lesson in art which is to stop focusing on the logistics of everything. Thinking about “How do I make this character look “exactly” like this?”, “How can I animate better?” or for many its “How can I make money as an artist?” Read more>>

Jake Miller

I am the son of working class folks. My father was a heavy equipment mechanic for 35 years, my mother a elementary school cook. Both are very hard working individuals who taught me a strong work ethic. I was always building something or tearing something apart. All the men in my family were blue-collar tradesmen , electricians, plumbers, mechanics, painters, carpenters . I was grew up around them and learned from all of them. Im thankful for that knowledge, it has helped me in so many ways. Read more>>

Bill Miller

I studied commercial art at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, PA. as well as Denver University and Colorado State University, concentrating on painting and printmaking. I returned to Pittsburgh to become art director for the local independent newspaper. I painted for many years and went on to be a founding member of an artist collective that sought to create a response to the devastating impact of decaying industrial infrastructure on surrounding communities near Pittsburgh by constructing immense sculptures inside abandoned industrial buildings from materials found on-site. Read more>>

Tay from Cycle Breakers

I am entirely self taught. I knew how to sketch, but I didn’t have any experience with design programs. But I’m all about collaborations, so I started by working with a graphic designer, who did a great job. When you’re kicking something like this off, there are so many different ways you could do it. Read more>>

Andrea Moon

How did you learn what you do? In high school, I enrolled in a work-study program where I was able to leave two periods early every school day to work for an artist/potter that ran a small production pottery 12 miles from my hometown. I became an assistant at her workshop, quickly falling in love with all processes of ceramics and understanding customer relationships through a local business. Through the repetition of making, quality-controlled production, I was learning how to practice, make mistakes, and understand my craft of making. Read more>>

Ashley Thomas

How did you learn to do what you do? I begin to teach myself photography by studying various books and watching tutorial videos on YouTube. I started out very basic with an understanding of the exposure triangle and later progressed to various complex concepts. Read more>>

Tracy Montes

I have been a baker for as long as I can remember. I remember being 11 or 12 and making my first batch of chocolate chip cookies. I was so excited and proud when I saw the beautiful golden brown, fluffy cookies come out of the oven. They looked perfect! I remember everyone trying them and all the yummy noises that came along. Then I bit into one, and it was gross. It was super salty and disgusting. I had added 1 tablespoon of salt instead of 1 teaspoon, which perfectly preserved the cookies, but they tasted like the ocean. Read more>>

Abraham Khan

The majority of my musical knowledge was self taught. I learned a lot of the fundamentals playing in my school’s orchestra as a kid, but I feel like I had to relearn a lot of it as an adult because I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have. Looking back, I really wish I had taken some guitar or piano lessons, or anything that taught music through more of a rock or jazz lense, because I know that would have been much more engaging for a kid than your standard, western, European classical music. I think I also got in my own way a bit, trying to learn and do everything myself, because once I started going out and performing live with other bands, I instantly became a better player. Read more>>

Raelynn Janicke

The idea of audio engineering being a career did not even occur to me until I was in college. I was in an a cappella group at the time that was tracking our first EP and I somehow ended up assisting the tracking and mixing engineer, Rick Thomas. I fell in love with the entire process and soon thereafter switched my major from Computer Science to Audio Engineering. Read more>>

Liang Ge

Back in 2008, the photoblogging community was the essential way to showcase a person’s work. This was before Instagram came into existence and a web site was the way to go. I started seeing lots of photoblogs (a picture post, a day on template) and that was what intrigued me about photography. That’s when i started to pick up a camera and just shoot whatever I can document that particular day. Read more>>

Cielo Roth

I have always been an artist. I didn’t know that I was in love with photography until my first class my second year in college. I attended UC Santa Barbara in the 90s. The lead professor was an exceptional artist, creator and teacher. We learned how to develop our own black and white film. We learned how to print in a darkroom with chemicals. The process itself is pure magic. Read more>>

Jackie Penrice

I wanted to start doing the things that matched my personality. I followed what came natural, what fueled me, but that came at a course of having to move forward in spite of fear or beliefs. Read more>>

An Phan

My acting professor taught me that if you want to be the BEST actor, go out there and live. I never really understood the concept until I graduated with MFA in Acting for Film and was out on my own. Read more>>

Leslie Van Stelten

I learned the technical basics about photography in art school and taught myself video/video editing with YouTube. For painting, I took a few introductory classes, read quite a few books and then taught myself the rest. Anyone can learn the technical aspect and “rules” of a craft. Finding your own distinctive voice, developing your creativity and breaking those rules you learned comes from putting in the time and listening to your inner voice. I guess ultimately I learned to do what I do by just doing it every day. By trial and error, by success and failure and ultimately listening to myself. Read more>>

Maggie Latham

Early on I learned primarily from other artists and teachers. After being inspired by my natural dyes instructor at The School of Art Institute of Chicago, I set out to find people I could learn from and ended up in Finland, spending time at an eco-village community. I worked with textile artist Anna Vasko, and the experience took my commitment to exploring natural dyes to the next level. When I returned home to Cleveland, I dove into teaching myself more and began to dye my own fabric with the intent of making usable products. Read more>>

Andrew Hibbard

Learning guitar is not a hard endeavor. Learning to play guitar good is a different story. I first picked up a guitar at the age of 6. They were laying round my house and some were my grandfather’s, and some were my dad’s. They always seemed to be looking at me and I finally was inspired to pick one up because I always heard my dad play, and I heard Chuck Berry’s “Nadine”. I was already writing little poems and stuff because Bob Dylan opened my 6 year old mind. Read more>>

Joshua Lewis

I learned by doing constant research and surrounding myself with likeminded people. Not only do I have my family and close folks in my corner rooting for me. I believe creating action, disciplining yourself, and focusing on your goals you’re capable of achieving anything. I do not think my progress and what I’ve learnt could be sped up. I am right where I am supposed to be. I am not in a rush for my presence to be felt in the entertainment industry. I know God has that all mapped for me, and I am willing to walk this journey until that door is opened for me. Read more>>

Elaina Aelvoet

I’ve always baked, mostly cupcakes and drop cookies, just your basic cakes, nothing fancy. I saw some cookie decorators on Instagram and thought that looks like it would be fun to do! It’s NOT as easy as it looks! I tried tons of cookie and royal icing recipes until I found my perfect combination. It took lots of time, patience and countless hours on YouTube to get where I am today. I would come home from my full time job and then practice, sometimes late into the night. Read more>>

Erica, Kristin, Maria

The three of us had worked together at a prominent sports entertainment company in the television industry and always spitball about personal fun projects, but nothing had ever come to fruition. Books N Betches podcast is a hobby we continue to do because it brings us joy. When we first began we had no idea how to run a podcast, and with the help of friends, we’ve been able to get better and better as the years have gone by. And we’ll continue to learn as we evolve and grow. Read more>>

Caydrik

Honestly, I just locked in and made stuff on a real nike type of deal. Literally, “just do it.” Period. A while back, I ran across this book called “The War of Art.” It talks a lot about approaching creative endeavors like a professional. Do it everyday like a job. I used to second guess myself in everything creatively. I would always think “is this the best it can be?” Sometimes that sort of thinking really gets in the way. Read more>>

Chelsi Grier

I continued my film journey from high school and enrolled at Clayton State University. I am currently on the road to graduate and be certified by Georgia Film Academy. With my current knowledge, I could have eliminated all distractions and focused on the steps I needed to take to get to where I am, but without my lessons I wouldn’t be where I am now. I am able to take those lessons and still gain knowledge from them. I believe the most essential skills are editing, directing, and camera operating because they all are main components to creating quality content. Read more>>

Morgan Mueller

My maternal grandmother, Novelle, taught me how to bake fresh bread from scratch (I specifically remember delicious apricot loaves) when I was so young that I needed a large stepping stool to reach the mixing bowl. When I got married at the age of 22, she visited me at our new home and gifted me a mason jar of her own sourdough starter, which she had maintained for at least 20 years at the time. She taught me how to “feed” the starter with fresh flour and water, and from there I just fell in love with sourdough. Read more>>

Tomas Vallecillo

I’ve always been interested in learning and understanding animation from a young age. I remember borrowing books from the library promising to teach animation. A lot of it became very mundane information very quickly, I had understood concepts like eases and squash and stretch but didn’t have a lot of tools to actually animate myself. Read more>>

Brandon’ Smith

Producing music is such a rabbit hole. I’ve spent hours on YouTube watching all kinds of tutorials and tricks and tips to help get a grasp on it. Overthinking is one of the hardest things to overcome with music production. Do what you want and if it sounds good it sounds good. There are endless ways to produce music so you have to decide what works best for you. I think that mixing and mastering has definitely been the hardest learning curve for me. I would recommend taking lessons from someone that is knowledgeable in that field. It’s easy to get stuck on one thing and then you get writers block which is hard to get out of. Don’t be so critical on your music it’s the hardest thing I still haven’t got past. Read more>>