Wanting to be an artist or creative is step one. Following through means investing in learning your craft, but we’ve heard from so many aspiring artists and creatives who feel unsure about where to start and so we’re incredibly grateful to the artists and creatives who’ve agreed to share their stories of how they learned their craft.

Kirsty Watkins

Learning the craft has been a long mix of curiosity, stubbornness and a lot of paint on my hands. I studied art in college, but most of what I lean on today came from years of painting outside of the classroom. I picked things up through practice, watching other artists work and slowly figuring out what felt right on the canvas. Read more>>

Emma Sims

I learned the art of Art from so many great people I’ve encountered in my life. First and foremost, my most influential teacher is my grandmother, Ann Manry Kenyon. She is a highly skilled portrait painter, and an inspiration for my life. “Dawdie” showed me that a woman CAN make a good, independent living with her art. Read more>>

Pallavi Bora

As AI continues to evolve, continuous learning has become more essential than ever. Using AI tools is one part of the journey but designing and creating AI products is a much bigger challenge. There’s no single roadmap or perfect answer to it because we’re all building and discovering in real time. This revolution is unfolding as we grow, and every day brings new learnings. Read more>>

Anita Oksanen Morford

I started drawing at very young age. Being involved with horses at young age really helped me learn the anatomy and they different characters. Once I started school I was not encouraged to pursue my artistic career. I was often told to stop doodling and concentrate on finding a real job in the future. Read more>>

Clare Margaret Donovan

The ongoing process of learning my craft has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career and life. Read more>>

Jeremy Voigt

I l earned to write poems first by reading then by writing. I wrote and wrote and wrote, and then compared what I was writing with what I read. Along the way I found terrific mentors that offered encouragement and critique. I’ve read every craft book on writing poetry I can find as well as books on writing sentences and word origins. Read more>>

Ewa Sobiczewska

I was very fortunate to study at American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, where I’ve met some of my absolute favourite people and closest friends, who are now my family here. Before that I had an acting coach and went to an acting program in Warsaw. Read more>>

Yesenia Rosado

I’ve loved photography since high school back when I was developing film in the darkroom and praying I didn’t mess up the roll. My subjects were just my two dogs. That’s really where everything started for me. I fell in love with the process, with storytelling, and with the feeling of freezing a moment that would never happen again. Read more>>

Caroline Guntur

People think I was born organized, but that’s not true at all. I learned what I do through a mix of schooling, experimentation, and curiosity. For myself, the change came when I saw that I needed it, but in hindsight, that was too late. That’s why I try to spare my clients the same mistakes now – even though it’s not always possible. Read more>>

Danielle DeVor

The biggest thing is finding peiple in the industry you want to branch out into and learn from them. I sought out Tina Moss before she started City Owl Press back in 2014. She was kind enough to help me find resources so that I could educate myself. Read more>>

Anike Rabiu

I learned what I do through a combination of hands-on experience, deep observation, and being immersed in environments where creativity and care were expected in equal measure. I started through formal training, followed by studying from mentors, watching how they solved problems in real time. Read more>>

Jinhui He

I learned architecture through integrating design thinking, computational tools, and material fabrication, skills that converged during my University of Michigan thesis. The Precarious Stand project required mastering Grasshopper for digital modeling, understanding GFRC concrete properties in depth, and coordinating robotic hotwire cutting processes with assembly sequences.​ The essential skill was systems thinking, seeing how geometry, structure, fabrication, and construction sequence form one integrated problem. Read more>>

Nick Marrs

So if I’m completely honest my education was super chaotic. I’m a bit of a trash panda in how I got to where I am. At first I really had no idea what I wanted to do so I was just playing and learning. Read more>>

Alonso Castaneda

I bought my first camera Sony a6000 back in 2018. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a simple point and shoot, and I quickly realized it wasn’t. I even tried returning it to Best Buy, but I had missed the return window. That’s when I decided, “Okay, I need to learn this for real.” From that moment, I dove in. Read more>>

Quincy Gainous

As I’ve grown in my work, most of my learning has come from watching others, studying the craft, and practicing nonstop. Every project teaches me something new, whether it’s from my own mistakes or from seeing how other creatives move. Read more>>

Tharun Saravanakumar

The foundation of my passion and learning new skills came naturally through engaging with cinema and art, without it ever feeling like a chore. Since I was seeking to watch and rewatch films, I was able to pick up on the cinematic language. I feel like I’m still learning, since there are so many films and media I haven’t yet consumed. Read more>>

Sibyl Shaw

My current style of music uses a technique called ‘looping.’ Basically, I record a short segment on my gear and then layer more recordings on top of it. It’s not a new technique by any means, and I learned a lot from watching looping artists I admire online like Marc Rebillet, Kawehi, and Rachel K. Collier. Read more>>

Maurice T. Johnson

My journey to becoming a full time Stunt Actor and Talent began from a lifestyle change. I wasn’t happy in my current situation working in Corporate America. I have always been a creative person interested in the entertainment industry. My first professional credits of any kind were in Game Design. Read more>>

Shelly Cannon

Learning how to make art is and has been a lifelong pursuit. I am somewhat obsessed with the creative process and love to share what works for me. Continually learning and evolving drives my creativity and contributions. And, always, my skill level. My learning has been both intuitive and structured. From the time I was small, I was amusing myself making things. Read more>>

Shiri Wolman

I started playing the clarinet when I was 10 years old. It wasn’t some dramatic moment- my school offered instruments, and something about the clarinet’s sound immediately pulled me in. At first I was just learning the basics through school lessons, but I connected with it so deeply that I started taking private lessons soon after. Read more>>

Courtney Paz Gale

I began learning the art of woodturning in 2019 and I fell in love instantly. So many people with different skills were amazingly generous with their time and resources to help me get started. One family helped me get familiar with the equipment, and other friends gifted me with tools to get me started at home! I am anything but self-taught in this craft. Read more>>

Jason Thornberry

I learned to write by writing—and by living. There’s much to say for infusing your experiences into your writing. There’s also the adage about writing what you know, and that’s partly true. But if you don’t experience life, you won’t know anything. You won’t have any material upon which to draw. You also write to learn about yourself and the world you navigate. Read more>>

Luke Ratcliffe

I was first exposed to music as a child and had a number of CDs that quickly became favorites to listen to around the house and in the car. My early piano studies were simple and mostly a fun and exciting exposure to different styles of music and the great composers. My earliest lessons taught me the basics of reading music and playing the piano. Read more>>

Kushawn Blaze

I learned from teaching myself 100% no college no mentor, I could have learned faster by going to school for sound engineering but I’m happy it turned out the way it did. Also every single thing I learned helped tremendously Read more>>

Allison Nguyen

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly when I started learning how to draw, but a lot of my childhood memories revolved around working on something creative. I remember making holiday cards with my mom, and I’d ask her to write the messages for me while I drew the pictures. I would often draw characters or scenes from my favorite cartoons, films, and shows and decorate my school binders. I continued to practice drawing during most of my free time, and I’d draw alongside tutorials or sketchbook videos from other artists I admired.  Read more>>

Faron Rashelle

I grew up around music, so it’ has always come naturally to me. Everyone in my immediate family can sing and play at least one instrument, so music was just part of our everyday life. Blessed! I was also surrounded by it through church and gospel radio since my dad has worked in radio my whole life. Read more>>

Danny Silvertone

My learning process was very self-driven and really boiled down to this approach:

Digital Deep Dives: I lived on the internet. If I had a specific technical question (like “how to sidechain a kick and bass”), music production blogs and forums were my first stop. They were perfect for getting specific, detailed answers from people who had faced the same problem. Read more>>

Taryn Vaughn

I first learned how to sew and create my own patterns through YouTube in 2019. Shortly after, I took a class at Colorado Fabrics to learn the proper techniques. That experience opened the door to a deeper understanding of construction, and I continued to expand my skills by enrolling in virtual classes focused on pattern making and garment design. While I became confident in sewing, I realized I wasn’t retaining pattern-making concepts in the way I wanted. In 2024, I decided to enroll in school to truly refine my craft as a fashion designer. I am now a sophomore at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. Read more>>

Timothy DiVito

I started writing poetry on July 18, 1976 in my bedroom. I was looking out the window bored, so I decided to listen to music. As soon as I put Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, lead singer Ronnie James Dio singing “Man On the Silver Mountain”, it hit me. The desire, or whatever you want to call it, to write poetry. I also realized that music was my muse. I listen to music every time I write. The music from the 60’s through the 80’s is what I listen to 90 % of the time.  Read more>>