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.

Jasmine Azor

I learned all my crafts myself, by just trying it, from Youtube University (lol) or books. Also, I’ve invested in the tools needed in order to create these crafts. I don’t believe I would try to speed it up. If I could I would just be more consistent in practicing the craft and trying things out of the box in order to be more innovative. Read more>>

Ise’ah Bentley

I had a job at Best Buy. I learned a lot from those guys that worked there, i also went on YouTube every night for months just learning how to take photos, and learning the tricks of the trade. It took about a year before i started feeling comfortable Read more>>

Barbara Dahlstedt

Learning how to draw and paint has come from years of practice. I enjoyed any kind of art that I could get my hands on ever since I was a child. I remember my enthusiasm for a craft class at the local park caused me to jump off a swing at the apex because I was so happy to see that the art teacher had arrived. Unfortunately, I got the wind knocked out of me and I fractured my arm, but that did not deter me from participating in the class. Read more>>

sydney walsh

My journey in the hair industry began in 2009, the summer after high school graduation. I’ve always been so fascinated with beauty… how a eyeliner can change the shape of an eye, and how a haircut can make someone feel like a completely new person. Read more>>

Diana Ferguson

I’m a self-taught jewelry artist. I believe learning is a life-long process so I don’t think I could have (or would have wanted to) speed up the process. For me, the skills that have brought the most value to learning have been persistence, fearlessness, a willingness to experiment, and an open mind. Probably the biggest obstacle to learning more has been the sheer lack of time. Read more>>

Julie Schumer

I am a self-taught abstract expressionist painter. I learned to paint by doing a variety of things. I committed myself without reservation to the learning process and spent untold numbers of hours experimenting with materials, techniques and styles. I went to many galleries and art museums and studied the work I liked to see if I could discern how it had been created. I also purchased many art books about artists I admired and did the same thing. Read more>>

Lucy Rose

When Greenlove Denver was started in 2017 there was a lot of stigma around cannabis consumers, as well as a lack of education about plant medicine. In order to learn more about the cannabis industry I started emerging myself in the culture, attending networking events, and connecting with other like-minded individuals online. Read more>>

Cheryl Moore

Being a self-taught photographer was difficult in the beginning because I wanted to learn every genre and aspect of photography. YouTube offered a lot of training, but I found it inconsistent and lacking. I joined KelbyOne in 2010 and started to grow, and I am still a member today. They offered so much training! I learned and photographed everything from HDR to Nature. Finally, several years later, I found wildlife photography to be my passion, but portraits paid the bills. Read more>>

Cortney Farmer

My biggest, not-so-secret professional secret? On paper, most people would argue I have absolutely no business running or working at a creative business. Theoretically, they aren’t wrong. When I first launched my own freelance copywriting company in 2010, I had a Speech Pathology degree and 10+ years of experience as an Executive Assistant. What I did not have was a shred of business owning, freelance, or copywriting experience. Read more>>

Chris Aing

It was challenging in the beginning. I did not know where to start. There was no YouTube and very few internet resources at the time. All I knew was I wanted to learn how to scratch. I got most of my inspiration from watching DJ battle videos like the DMC World Championship. Read more>>

Gotti Flores

I actually started tattooing in prison, I also learned how to draw/create better. Like draw out of my head and put my ideas on paper and skin. Tattooing how you draw is a big pinnacle in tattooing, puting ink in the skin is a different application than ink on paper. Definitely one of the hardest parts of tattooing to master. Tattooing in prison, your only allowed to practice your craft when it’s possible. So the learning curve can be drastically slowed if your not applying yourself correctly. Read more>>

Ku Egenti

I learned how to do stand up comedy by watching the great comedians like Eddie Murphy & Richard Pryor. They had a huge influenced on my life & career. I would not change anything about my learning process, it help me become the comedian that I am today. I really enjoyed all the learning process. My most essential skill is following my heart when it comes to writing a joke. Read more>>

Kyle Phillips

Out of high school I went to a technical school for audio recording, but it wasn’t until I landed an internship with a studio downtown that I really started honing my craft. I started at Funimation a couple years later, and that opened up a lot of opportunities for me. Voice acting and directing I learned on the job while I was audio engineering over the course of 7 years. Read more>>

Luis Jairala

Since I was a kid I always dreamed of doing what I currently do. Interviewing my toys and manifesting my current career with vision boards always kept me focused with accomplishing my goals. I went to college for this career but I really learned on the field. I still remember how nervous I was before my very first celebrity interview. Read more>>

Yohanna Law

Although I have a bachelor’s degree in art, I can honestly say that I learned everything relevant to running my business by teaching myself. I was fortunate enough to come up in a time where blogging was becoming very popular and those in the design business who were already experiencing success shared a lot online. Read more>>

Greicy Santos Charles

With 15 years old I started be a makeup and hair model, I always love it this world and this information about fashion and beauty the exact moment I fell the magic and the passion but of course for me a Brazilian girl how study on a public school I knew I had to be twice is good to be half on way to be on the same position as a normal person. Read more>>

Cash Branson

I’m self taught in the sense that, outside of a couple semesters as a theater major 20 years ago, I’ve not received any formal training in costume making, photography, modeling, workshopping, painting, or any of the myriad skills a person develops learning to cosplay. The good news is there is a wealth of knowledge out there in the form of books, online tutorials, and how-to videos. Read more>>

Lourans Mikhail

As cliche as it may sound, I learned by doing. The more I realized each failure is a step toward success, the more I experimented. I took up sculpting, continued woodworking, painted murals, and even sculpted in stone. I found the best way to learn was also by looking at other artworks and breaking down each brushstroke or layer. Read more>>

Dean Nelson

learned about writing well by writing a lot (and doing it badly), and by reading a lot. Eventually, the good writing started replacing the bad. There’s no leapfrogging in creative work. You do the work, do the work, do the work, and you hope that something turns out better each time. Read more>>

Deonte Epps

In college, I decided to change my degree from Statistics to Film & Digital Media with a minor in Corporate Communication. This brought on a range of classes that I did not know then would be the building blocks of my skills as a podcaster and content creator. It was there, I first learned the intricacies of audio and video editing, and how to have a camera presence. Read more>>

Sabine Fletcher

At the end of 2017 I began to pursue learning how to work with clay. I got started by taking a throwing class at a local studio in my hometown where I learned the basics of technique. After that I self taught myself by practicing long hours and watching youtube videos of the new forms I wanted to be able to create. Read more>>

Garrett Dumas

I realize I didn’t learn my craft like everyone else, I learned differently. I don’t come from a theater background, nor did I have any aspirations to be an actor. But I’ve always wanted to be a superhero. Throughout my career I’ve relied heavily on living in the moment and emotional memory. I was blessed with the opportunity to be a stand in and I learned from there. Read more>>

Brandon Humphrey

I learned the history and fundamentals of photography in 2008 during my senior year of high school. That one semester was an appetizer to what I was going to embark on post-graduation. Off-and-on I watered the seed of photography through many years. Looking back, I’m sure I could have sped up my learning process by staying focused on my gift to the world. Read more>>

Luke Truan

That’s a great question, and it’s not the first time I have been asked this question. First, I should share that I’m a music composer. You’ve probably heard this from someone in person or online before, and maybe you wondered what does that really mean? Read more>>

Lorra Kurtz

When I began painting, it was trial and error – basically a lot of guess work which lead to aggravation and unresolved paintings. I would say to anyone wanting to take painting seriously, learn the basic principles early. Value and design being the strongest. Having these principles in your tool belt will allow you to paint more confidently and save time. Read more>>

Lindsey Boehmke

I’ve been a hands on person ever since I was young and always had an interest in fine art — which definitely helped me develop an eye for color and design — but I am almost completely self-taught when it comes to DIY and home design. I started developing my skills through online tutorials and videos but only through hands on experience and pushing myself to take on bigger and more complicated projects have I been able to expand and refine my skill set. Read more>>

Stéphanie McGuirt

I learned copywriting when I worked at a bookkeeping firm. My role there shifted from handling the day-to-day bookkeeping to marketing and writing all of the messaging. Since I was always creative, it was a better fit for me to change roles. The firm gave me a playground to experiment with what type of messaging worked and what didn’t, and I was able to take courses on copywriting from great instructors. Read more>>

Chris Martin

Podcasting has been a natural extension of my filmmaking work. It built upon my interviewing and editing skills, though it took some time to learn new software, listen in new ways, and find confidence in my voice. Read more>>

Cloud

My dad collected records and I grew up around a lot of music so I feel like I’ve always loved and known how to sing and dance .When I was in first grade my mom had to go to work early so she got me into a before school choir class. Once I got older I started listening to more rap and so I started writing raps because it was fun. Read more>>

Raylen Thomas

Growing up, I was fortunate to be a part of the internet’s guinea pig generation. With having accessibly to internet, I learned early on how to design just from being able to see various designs and concepts. I also was to witness facebook change the social landscape forever for the day to day American. Even then, I didn’t underestimate the power of the internet when it came to marketing yourself. I would spend relentless hours locked in my room designing, creating, and on social media. Read more>> 

Edwin Williams

I learned through watching hours of YouTube online videos that involves cinematography, latest cinema cameras, or editing. The acting classes I took taught me the importance of surrounding myself with people who truly want the best for me. At KD Conservatory, I encountered some of the most gifted individuals who shaped me into who I am now: Phyllis Cicero, Linda K. Leonard, and Alfonso Davis III. Read more>> 

Forrest Gallagher

I’ve found it initially helpful to approach learning with an open mind and an understanding that it may be challenging and foreign at first, though with time, it will come to make sense and feel more integrated. Most of what I learned, I learned through experience, through trial and error. Read more>> 

Casey Ottmann

Making music is such a dense undertaking. There are infinite paths you can take in the beginning and all of them seem to be based on what excites you the most. My childhood was spent moving around a lot and I would be in a different school band playing a different instrument almost every year. It wasn’t until High School that I finally found the instrument that spoke to me the most, which was the bass guitar. Read more>> 

Andrew Norris

I learned to paint mostly by trial and error. I had a decent idea of how to draw things but for many years I was just making art without a solid foundation of the fundamentals. Sort of throwing stuff against the canvas and seeing what stuck. To speed up the process of learning I could have sought out more informational material on sites like YouTube or paid sites like Schoolism. Read more>> 

Cara North

I continue to learn about writing. It is a process, not a product even when we create products from the process. It is a life-long learning adventure. Knowing what I know now, I would have spent more time taking creative writing classes and workshops. I would have joined author associations and other groups to get the network of knowledge going sooner. Read more>>

Vincent Rutley

As a filmmaker, it takes alot of knowledge and confidence. When I first started as a playwright back in 2010, I gained the knowledge and confidence by being the actor first.(which is my first love) As an actor I’ve experienced the most professional projects as well as beginner projects and everything in between. Read more>>

Margie Temme

There are so many facets of a photography business that it can be overwhelming. I’m talkin about camera equipment, camera settings, location scouting, lighting, off camera flash, posing, editing, printing, website, software and customer service. PHEW! It’s a big elephant. I joined a few different Meet Up groups and gleaned a bit of knowledge from the coordinators. I muddled my way through hundreds of You Tube videos for years and learned a lot. Read more>>

Shawn Artis

I’ve had formal training in certain areas of my art, however, I’ve experimented and taught myself a great deal. In regards to speeding up my learning process, I believe we all should be patient and learn at your own pace when it comes to creative endeavors. The most essential skill in my opinion is learning yourself and learning how to effectively work and select those you choose to work with. The only obstacle in learning more is yourself. Every day is an opportunity to learn more about your craft and your passions. Read more>>