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.

TaDarius Cosby

I started learning from doing my own research. I would watch a lot of YouTube video’s of my favorite designers showing themselves working on their collections, showing the design process of the fabric, materials and concepts that it would take to fully designed a garment. The skills that I think were the most essential to me was in creating concepts for my designs. I never wanted to create a garment “just because”. I wanted to create my own feel and designs that customer’s could relate to in their own way. Read more>>

Bradley Lohman

I have loved painting and drawing since I was a little kid. I studied at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI. I was focused mainly on painting watercolor the entire time. I continued to paint for about a decade. Just for myself, I didn’t sell any work during this time. It was therapeutic for me. In 2017 I started messing around with a cheap dslr camera. I wanted to learn more about the colors of light to improve my painting techniques. Read more>>

Kari Sikorski

I have had a camera in my hands since I was 7 years old. I took a photography class in 4-H and entered pictures at our local fair. I loved taking photos of fun things I did with family and friends. My Dad taught me how to shoot manually on the 35mm that he carried with him in the Navy. He has a great eye for photography, and his images from that time in his life were an inspiration to me. As my interest grew in photography as a career, I started taking photography classes. I sought out classes and workshops in person and online. Read more>>

Kannabis Club

Kannabis Club was created by Disco Don in a music business class for a final project. While earning a degree in Audio Engineering, he learned the skills that would be needed for success in the industry. But having the right people in the right places was key, and timing is everything. Anyone can start making music, but to bring together different elements under a unified name is a challenge. Everyone has a different schedule and agenda, so we have to be patient and accommodating in every situation. Being more of a collective is what makes us work better as a group, because we can operate with or without members, but always representing our brand. Read more>>

Vee Henny

How I learned most of what I know now is through experience and educating myself. I had to understand and learn to not repeat my mistakes in order allow the growth within my process to get to where I am today. To be honest, there’s nothing you can do to speed up your process.. You have to respect the process, embrace it and trust that everything has its own divine timing. Read more>>

Cheyenne Merced

I learned to refurbish antique furniture from my mother. When I was younger, she would strip pieces down and fix them to how she wanted them. Looking back, I would not change my learning process because you learn from experience and experience comes with time. When working with furniture, one skill that will always be essential is patience. Patience with yourself and patience with the overall process of transforming a piece. Read more>>

Annalise Johnson

My very first art teacher was my mom! In that sense, I have been taking art classes since I was maybe 4 or 5 years old. She had this book called “Drawing Textbook” by Bruce McIntyre, and we would go through the lessons together. I remember distinctly the chapters on how to draw things dimensionally – draw an oval, then two lines down from its outer points. Then another curved line to connect the bottom – voila, you have drawn a birthday cake! Read more>>

Rosa Leff

One of the things that I love about papercutting is that it’s a slow process. There’s just no way to rush it. You have to slow down and focus to do good work. Of course, that all goes out the window when I have a tight deadline! Then I wish I could power up like Mario and bang these things out! Read more>>

Megan Day

As a Graphic Designer and business owner, I learned how to design through theory, research, and practice practice practice. My business partner and I graduated from the same design school, The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, commonly referred to as DAAP. Read more>>

Tori Rose

YouTube is your best friend. Back in December 2020 I acquired the infamous COVID-19. I’d had my Canon T7i hanging around for a few years at this point but never got around to figuring out how to manually shoot a camera or how to properly edit. I took my 2 weeks of downtime to focus on educating myself to professionally shoot as well as how to edit in Adobe software. Read more>>

Sharrie McCain

I remember as a kid walking to the library on weekends growing up looking in the entertainment part learning the business side of the tv/film industry. The library use to be an hour from my house . So the walk definitely helped me prep for the mental game in the Industry. The skill I think that was most essential was being disciplined. Knowledge is power and I always love to learn . So reading for me had always come in handy when surviving the industry. Read more>>

Jon Keen

Learning to master the craft of tarot as well as astrology goes beyond my career or a hobby it’s my life’s passion. I believe the stars and the zodiac provides us with insight into the inner workings of our world and the entire reality, allowing us to glimpse our past, present or even possible futures based on the energies present in our lives currently or from the time of our birth. Read more>>

Hannah Givens

One of the ways being autistic affects my creative life is that I don’t forget things I’ve learned. I was fortunate enough to take art classes in middle school, and when I picked art back up again in my twenties, I still knew things like how to proportion a figure, how to blend skin tones, and to break a potential subject down into shapes and lines. Read more>>

Ashlyn Marie

I learned by watching the people I looked up to. Growing up in a family of musicians I had a lot of exposure to all kinds of instruments, musical genres, and different sounds that made me who I am as an artist and a musician today. Read more>>

Hannah Clotz

I learned most of my design skills from my professors at Kent State University, like hierarchy and composition and type setting. Learning graphic was a very slow process for me at first. I figured that since I have been drawing and painting my whole life that it would all just come naturally to me, which was really foolish when I think about it now. Read more>>

Zack Lemons

The first instrument I learned was the guitar. I did this the old fashioned way by sitting on the end of my bed for hours on end listening and trying to recreate the essence of my favorite guitar players. Moving the tracker of my ipod nano back seconds at a time until I got the right notes to match. Read more>>

Kelly Germond

Learning photography has been a lifelong process. It started for me in high school, and grew, and progressed as I started my family. I have taken classes, mentored with industry leaders, and mostly learned through self taught methods of trial and error. Photography in itself is a never ending process of learning. That is something that doesn’t really get “sped up”. Read more>>

Ibadiah Nelson-Baker

I learned to how to be a Creative Director by studying and learning every aspect of everyone else’s job hands on. I knew what I wanted to do and that would require me to be able to do everyone else’s job first. I started from the very bottom and worked my way up the good old fashion way Read more>>

Josh Goldman

A love for the craft will begin your journey, but continuing to follow the path requires repetition, accepting failure, and rekindling joy. I think everyone starts a creative pursuit because its a fun hobby and, if you experience success with your creative endeavors, you feel empowered to keep going. Read more>>

Marla McCall

I learned how to do nails originally from watching You Tube videos (YTU). I decided to pursue nails as a career and enrolled in cosmetology school. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have waited so long to enroll. In my defense, I was working full time and earning a masters degree. Im still working a 9-5 job, earned my MBA, and I’m a licensed nail technician. Read more>>

Meezy 53

Honestly, I think Hip-Hop is an unappreciated art form. I learned most of what I know from talking with more experienced artists and A&R. Watching a smash being created hits different when you get to see the process and how the artist created such art from nearly nothing. Read more>>

Laura Baker

When I began my business journey, my art skills were limited but creativity was still something I wanted to pursue in my efforts of serving others. While there’s always room for improvement, I saw that the more time and practice I had, the better I got at drawing and painting and the more confident I became. Read more>>

Adam Gripp

In terms of art, I have always felt a natural inclination as far back as I can remember. It was as simple as picking up something to draw with. From then on, the learning process was just a matter of practice and imagination. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve also had a few incredible teachers along the way. Read more>>

dysheen davis

When i first start i read a variety of books on the subject on photography. One of the books i read was PHOTOGRAPHY, NINTH EDITION. It was published be London, Stone and Upton. It was a book that broke down all different types of photography. It covered topics from photojournalism, sports, wedding and editorial photography. Read more>>

Mason Hurlbut

That is a very good question! My art has evolved through a lot of research and copious amounts of trial and error. I worked as a welding and metal fabrication apprentice right after graduating high school, which is where I learned most of my metal working knowledge. Read more>>

Rene Carter

I learned how to draw simply by drawing as much as I could. For the first year I challenged myself to draw something everyday. This was a way to hold myself accountable for the time and energy I was putting into my growth as an artist. Once I felt comfortable with drawing, I moved on to painting in the same manner. Read more>>

Brandon Nguyen

I learned Photography and Videography through watching other creatives via Instagram and YouTube! Whenever I had a question, I’d always go to YouTube or self research. Read more>>

Matthew Odom

I learned what to do by sitting up for hours on end watching youtube and learning tutorials. If I would’ve done things differently, I would have shadowed a photographer as it provides skills that you normally don’t see until you are in the field on a live shoot the experience really prepares you for the real world. Read more>>

Bob Trupp

I’m going to try and answer any questions like if we were person-to-person, I hope that’s okay with you. I’ve been artistic since I was a small child, due to extensive coloring books while waiting for appointments for doctor’s visits. Read more>>

Joy Henderson

When I first took up photography as a hobby, I had no idea what I was doing. I spent a lot of time in online forums, watching YouTube videos, and playing around with camera settings on as many occasions as I could just to learn the ins and outs. In the beginning, I’d even reach out to other photographers for help with questions that I had. Read more>>

Super Flamee

I learned fashion design from just observing. Observing the way people dressed, the way things were built, and what was culture in general. So I just tried to figure out how things were made and what was “cool.” So I just start looking for information to teach myself how to design and sew. Read more>>

Holly Thompson

Learning how to be an interior designer was a pretty fun process. I thoroughly enjoyed my interior design education and practiced for years on houses that I owned and renovated before venturing out on others’ homes. Read more>>

Nikki Loraine

I started out really young. Music ran in the family. My mom was in the church choir and her voice came from my grandmother. At the age of 10 my aunts and uncles recognized our musical talents and started a non profit organization that would enable me to learn the behind the scenes of live performances, plus song writing and stage presents, which are ALL essential skills. Read more>>

Nikki Lickstein

In a way, I have always done what I do. I’ve always hard that feeling in the middle of the night, that rush inside. Having to step out of class to record a voice memo into my phone so that I don’t forget the newest melody from my constant “mumbling” of as I like to say, “verbal doodles”. Read more>>

Miku Sekimoto

I’m a multimedia artist working in sculpture, painting, and digital drawing. In college I majored in Fine Arts with a focus on sculpture and painting. It was there that I fell in love with the process of casting; body casting is my primary sculpture medium today. Read more>>

Chelsea Montero

My artistic abilities are a family trait shared by my mother. As a result, art was always my favorite subject in school. It is a subject that turned into a passion, and the older I get, it becomes an escape from everyday chaos. Read more>>

Shandon Gould

I was adopted and raised by my maternal grandparents. My grandfather is Japanese and was born and raised in Hawaii and my grandmother is South Korean. The first time I experimented in origami was actually in elementary school. Someone showed me how to make a swan and my mind was blown. Read more>>

Amy Williams

I have been drawing and painting since I could remember, I went to school for graphic design, because I felt it was a safe option as an artist. However after working as a Marketing Coordinator, Graphic Designer, etc professional for ten years, I was ready for something more creative, and different environment. Read more>>

CJ Prince

Writing music came natural to me at a young age. Over time I learned how to properly structure a song from working & studying other artist. I learned everything in its proper time. Along the way I built great relationships with some wonderful people and I really wouldn’t want to have sped up that learning process at all. Read more>>

Cassandra “PinkLash” Baker

I have been in the industry for quite some years as an actress doing extra work and features, nonetheless discovering the art of rapping was always intriguing to me! The flow, sound and beat makes a big difference in music and I felt that I wanted to learn more about the craft! Read more>>