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.

Jose Lawrence

For me to learn photography it took a lot of self learning and study. I spent hours and days practicing with my first camera. I always wondered why my photos didn’t look like the professionals on the internet and social media. Knowing what I know now I could have learned post processing my images earlier in my career. Read more>>

Tierika Moore-Williams

I learned to do what I do on my own with playing around on my phone. My friend Diego was the first to put a camera in my hand to take what I was doing to the next level. Knowing what I know now I definitely would have locked in more and buckled down with learning the ins and outs of creating. Read more>> 

Forsyth

If I am being fully honest, I learned entirely via trial and error. I started hanging out with a few kids in my grade after school who made music just to see where to start…but beyond that my journey began with a plastic USB microphone and garage band. I didn’t have any family or close friends who made music so I really just went off feel and what sounded good to my ear. Read more>>

Qui Talks

As a media personality, it’s either you got it or you don’t. Yes, you can learn the techniques of being on camera as I did with Marki Castello’s Become a Host program and Patricia Stark’s On-Air Anchor courses, however personality is a talent that comes naturally. Read more>>

THE ROSIES

By starting and taking the first step! It’s funny but when the band was founded we all barely knew how to play our instruments. When Sal joined the band 2 years ago he never picked up a bass before. Read more>>

Aman Dembe

When growing up I was always interested in technology. I used to take things apart, put them back together, and see if they would still work the same way. I’m talking about door locks, phones, VCRs, cassette players etc. Read more>>

Wendell Live

I have been singing since I was 7 years old when my mom said “it’s time you join the church choir”. I was hooked. Over the years I have been in choirs, musicals, jazz bands, blues bands, classic rock bands, always as a vocalist. I never had an interest in learning an instrument. Read more>>

Janaydia Gaines

Learning how to film & videography came easy to me , I start doing photography but with photography, I would always do behind the scenes. I felt like my Behind the scenes weren’t being credited enough and I love shooting films and creating videos so I just started doing those separately. Read more>>

Mark Sarmel

At first I learned mostly through mimicry. I would try to copy drawings from comic books. I was always in art classes in school so I learned from there as well. I also went to art college. I’m still learning new things to this day, which I think, is a good thing. Read more>>

Meg Hafdahl

Learning how to be a writer is a life-long pursuit. Fortunately, I started young, as I was an instant bookworm, finding comfort and excitement in reading. It was a natural fit for me to start writing, as I loved to play with words and create stories. The actual art of writing as a career is something that took time. Read more>>

Lawren Simmons

deeper understanding of the craft. I would peruse the Magnum archive website daily. From that point, I began to fall into photo books. In the beginning, The Suffering of Light by Alex Webb, Exiles by Josef Koudelka, Read more>>

Tara Bach

My creative journey and artistic expression has been an experiment with relearning how to play. As far as artistic abilities, I had the technical skills when it came to rendering images and objects into life, but I have always had this internal drive to excavate what’s beneath the surface of the things you see. Asking myself, how do I go deeper into my process in a way that can provoke a sense of feeling, through my creative work. Read more>>

Miranda Lopez

When I started college, I had a little bit of trouble figuring out what I was going to do for the rest of my life, as any 18 year old does, I feel. It took a few years to decide, but ultimately I realized that photography was it for me and ended up graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Photography. Read more>>

Saul Hernandez

Study and practicing almost every day. Painting is a specific discipline, the process is very slow, so the best way to speed the learning is just that, painting miles of canvas! Drawing is, in my opinion, the most essential skill for the realistic painter. The big obstacle I had was the English language, I had to learn to speak English first! It took me like 4 years study every day! And then I have to work to support my family. Read more>>

Tim Eletto

I’ve always had an interest in music. I’ve been a band kid since elementary school and I would occasionally fantasize about arranging a piece myself. Eventually, I realized that I could use my phone to emulate the music I’ve been playing, which then evolved into creating more modern melodies. Read more>>

Dre Cruz

Writing and performing are both practices that I’ve naturally been drawn to from an early age. I’ve participated in poetry open mics and recitation contest throughout middle and high school, been an editor of my high school yearbook, done photography and marketing for an entertainment group during my college years, was on the movement arts worship team at church, and so many other minor endeavors in the course of my life. Read more>>

Hannah Goering

I started painting about 10 years ago! Nothing serious. Nothing too crazy. Just drawing and painting in my sketchbook for fun and taking some art classes in middle and high school. I also fell in love with photography in high school. I wanted to be a photographer as a career. Read more>>

Diego Aguirre

I started taking singing lessons at 13 years old. I essentially sing since I’m a little kid, but I didn’t pick up the guitar until my twenties, that’s when I decided to start writing my own stuff. It’s a process of consistency and discipline, at least that’s what works for me. Read more>>

Elena Palmi

I’ve loved capturing moments with photos and videos for about 30 years (when my kids were little and I just wanted to keep every moment with them). I’ve never had any ‘formal’ training, but I’ve learned a ton through trial and error and ask lots of questions to those whose work I admire. Read more>>

Anthony Edwards

I am where I am today because my 7th-grade teacher introduced me to the work of photography. Immediately after I began studying and researching what a photographer is, how to be a great photographer, and what I needed to start. Many nights on youtube learning from other creators and what they instilled in me then I still use today! Read more>>

Alicia Underwood

Acting is a craft, and I realized this the longer I was in the Entertainment industry. A lot more goes into a scene than you think. There are vocal and body warmups, breaking down a scene (and my coaches have me analyze scenes line-by-line, and rehearsal several times. It has taken me years of hard work to get to the emotional places I do as quickly as I am able now. Read more>>

Randie Silverstein

I learned to do art in general by taking classes as a young girl at Dewitt Clinton High School on Saturday mornings while i was growing up in the Bronx, in NYC. I took oil painting lessons. When we moved out of the city in my teen years, I studied pottery and jewlery at Rockland Center for the Arts and in fact my first job was assisting a printmaker there, helping her prepare her metal plates. I wanted to go to art school, but i could only afford a state college. Read more>>

Cody Smith

Learning music is a never ending journey with endless paths you can take. And you are constantly absorbing new knowledge from other musicians. Or, you should be, at least. Read more>>

Lola Loops

I had no movement skills from my youth. My fitness came from sports— I played rugby throughout high school and college. I had no mind body connection in a dance or circus aspect. I learnt hula hoop in my backyard in Vancouver in my mid-twenties a decade ago, hanging out with other hula hoopers and flow artists socially in my local community, attending jams and workshops. Read more>>

Ian Bristow

From my earliest memories, I have always been an observer: The kid who stared out the window, mouth agape, taking in the wonders of the natural world. I was lucky to grow up in the country, where I took a great deal of my early inspiration, Like many children, I had markers and crayons around, but like few, I had a great artist raising me. Read more>>

Kxng Sir

I learned The Art of Creating Music from keeping my ears open and my imagination active. I Basically mimicked my favorite artists and eventually followed the formula of my favorite tracks by them. After a while I learned how to manipulate the sounds into different melodies and rhythms all while keeping the same energy. Read more>>

Ferchi Valentin

As a beauty professional, I recognize the importance of continuous learning in staying current with the latest trends and techniques. I am grateful for the guidance and support of the mentors who have helped me get to where I am today in my career. Read more>>

Talia Rochon

I am mostly a hands on learner , I don’t do well with instruction booklet styles of learning, and while find video instructions easier to learn with mostly how I learn is by simply tinkering with something. Read more>>

Crystal Maldonado

Ever since I was a young kid, I’ve been drawn to writing and books. I read voraciously and I think exploring all of those stories and voices helped me learn how to better my own skills and craft. Young adult books seemed to call to me; I loved how voice-driven they were and how I could easily get into each character’s head. Read more>>

Nicole Merizalde

My first mural attempt was on large wood panels. I projected my design and painted in with brushes, taking my time making the cleanest work possible. Now almost two years later, I know that incorporating spray cans is the most effective and time-efficient way to tackle mural painting. Read more>>

Jean Schapowal

I started out as an illustrator and cartoonist, graduating with a BFA from School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. Pounded the pavement with my portfolio and struggled for awhile to get freelance jobs. I was able to land some but needed a more steady income. Read more>>

DEUCEFROZE

I have learned and continually learn by listening. My real name is Simeon. And I don’t feel that it is ironic that derives from the Hebrew word “to listen”. So absorbing what I see in everything that I’m placed around and translating that into the language of my art. Read more>>

Darius Hatcher

So I started out early at the age of 8. My parents made my brother and I take lessons, I was learning guitar and he was learning drums. We had a lot of fun playing but neither of us really took it too seriously which was met with disapproval from our dad. He made us stick with it and my brother and I eventually went in different directions with it. Read more>>

Andrés Palacios Constanza

I think we might have to take this a few years back. As a kid I remember being intrigued about drawing and art in general. I would draw on my tests, I would draw on my math homework (my mom got a letter about that haha), and I would always be one of the few students who really enjoyed our art’s class in elementary school. That is not to say I was the best at it. Read more>>

Tommy Lucero

The long road of learning to put together comedy shows can seem never ending, but when you don’t know what you’re doing to begin with there’s always something to be gained from what you learn. I myself had to go on a few cursed trips with folks that I thought had at least a tenuous grasp on how it should all go. Read more>>

Shedrick Pelt

Photography is a craft that has a whole vibe to it. A history of those that come before you paving the way by elevating the craft through select techniques and teachings. I’ve always wanted to honor that idea and especially as a Black photographer I strive to not make the struggles of my ancestors in vain. Read more>>