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.

Sean Anthony

Becoming a DJ took years of trial and error. I can remember playing at a nightclub in Atlanta for the first time and the club literally emptying out as I played. This put a huge dent on my self esteem and this eventually led up to me not playing for the next 2 years. Read more>>

Tiffany Bolk

I have always been interested in photography ever since I was a kid when I began taking photos with my little red 110 film camera. I photographed friends, family trips, my cat dressed up in cabbage patch doll clothes, my barbie dolls and my brother dressed up as a girl. Read more>>

Katie Fabrick

I started drawing before I could write. It was a safe outlet to express myself, which was something I’ve always struggled with. As I grew up, consuming a variety of media — TV, movies, comics, music– my own art started to shift, and I began to tell stories either about myself or characters I had created but still as a hobby and way to coup with these emotions I was struggling with. Read more>>

Chelsea Kuhn

Art has been a huge part of my life as long as I can remember. My father and grandmother were both very artistic. I am quite sure that I was drawing before I was writing and my grandmother has saved many of my early drawings. Read more>>

Jordan Knight

I truthfully stumbled into the motion design field by just following a vibe. I never had particularly strong feelings about the type of creative work I was going to make but when I was young, art was just something I understood better than any other class at school and I felt very capable of dedicating enough energy to it to make it into a living. Read more>>

Janee Parker

Modeling I learned as a child, I was in pageants, then our parents sent us to Barbizon model/charm school. As far as a plus-size model I learned from the greatest Tess Holliday. Read more>>

Megan Hoogland

I started tattooing in the 90’s with an apprenticeship in Owatonna, MN. When I started artists were not sharing information outside of their shops, so what I learned was minimal. Read more>>

Clifton Crockatt

I am largely a self-taught artist. I enjoyed drawing all my life, on and off, as a hobby and stress reliever during my younger years and throughout a long and busy business career; although not with the scope and commitment I do now in my retirement years. Read more>>

Rosa Sarmento

I first learned about podcast management through a 90-day course. I learned the very basics there and then fell in love with the work. The bulk of what I know now comes from working with clients, each one has different needs and unique feedback, which helped me grow and evolve to meet those expectations. Read more>>

JJ Johnson

Tattooing has captivated me from a young age. Having the ability to put your art on skin where it will reside forever is not only an amazing concept, but a privilege to do so. Read more>>

KAADENZE

I’ve been a music lover since i was young, growing up with ADHD i always had tons of energy and emotion within. Music was the healthiest way i felt i could truly release that energy and express myself. Read more>>

Charles Constant

Essentially, it was on the job training. I started acting in High School and we just did whatever we could, guided, of course, by an adult director who actually knew something about the process. Read more>>

Luke Simmons

I lived in a musical family who were a constant influence on me. I had a safe space at home and with friends to be terrible, and naturally, I got better over time. Read more>>

Mario Jackson

Embarking on the voyage of mastering cinematography has been a reflective and ongoing pilgrimage for me. I find myself continually immersed in the quest for knowledge and deeper understanding of this art form. Read more>>

Justin Winley

My formal theater education began at LaGuardia High School. The time I spent there taught me the skills necessary to bring a narrative to life; not the least of which being research. Read more>>

Angela Larsen

As a child, I was very crafty. I would build forts in my grandmothers living room and flip the couches (with the help of my brother) to pretend we were in a dark cave. I always knew i wanted to do something in a “change the world kinda of sense” but I didn’t know how. Read more>>

Sofia Silveira

Writing tends to be lonely, isolating. And the culture around it certainly doesn’t help. I always imagined a good writer would spend hours alone, on their studio – like Hemingway in Key West – but that narrative erases the fact that Hemingway, and many other notable writers, had friends and they read each other’s stuff, they grew their crafts together. Read more>>

Jenna Quentin

The patience required to be consistent in the work while waiting. I once had a moth cocoon on my counter for 9 months – it was worth the wait, and so will your metamorphosis. Read more>>

Mike Seely

Most of my musical skills and capabilities have been self taught. Although there were brief times of hesitancy, my drive and curiosity has lead me to expand my creative knowledge base and try new things. Read more>>

Prysm

We feel that as a band, these past few years have been mostly about self discovery. We’ve spent the past few years truly getting to know what sound is ours and what direction we want to go in and it’s led us to where we are now. Read more>>

Evee Erb

Learning any new craft is a huge time investment. Formal artistic training takes a lot of determination to create good work, and tenacity when you inevitably make bad work–and yes, every single artist out that has at some point made bad work! Read more>>

Laura Hollingsworth

The advice I give newer artists is to practice as much as you can and do studies. Drawing at all will help you grow, though using reference and working in realism will help you improve the most efficiently. Read more>>

Carola Bravo

I believe the learning process for an “arts profession” is the same as in any other profession. You have to study, research, and practice. Since I was 12 years old, I studied art. I used to take painting classes once a week, and those classes were my space to develop creativity and a genuine love for the arts in general. Read more>>

Luisa M. Florez Herran

I have always been an arts-driven person. My first time making jewelry was probably when I was 7 years old, adorning someone or something has always been my mission. Read more>>

Adde Russell

Like most creative people I’ve met, I was a curious child and had an interest in knowing how to make things. I can remember repeatedly looking through my parents encyclopedias. Read more>>

Myles Redden

Learning photography opened my eyes to the vast number of limitless possibilities the art can offer. Before I attended college, I was self-taught in the field, only taking pictures of nature and landscapes. Read more>>

Danyang Song

Craftsmanship is always crucial in the field of ceramics, and I feel fortunate to have been introduced to the technique of clay 3D printing during my time as a graduate student at RISD. I am delighted that technological advancements are not only applicable to emerging art forms like new media but also rejuvenate traditional materials such as ceramics. Read more>>

William Davis

Learning to do what I do was a rollercoaster of inspiration, curiosity, seeking mentorship and guidance, countless hours of time teaching myself outside of classroom/mentorship environments, and committing to the idea to try and do better with each project, even if you don’t–leave yourself room to fail is key. Self-compassion is essential. Read more>>

Daniella Parisot

When first applying to college, I only looked at conservatory-style dance programs that would help further my goal of dancing professionally. At the time, the goal was to dance in a professional contemporary or contemporary ballet company. Read more>>

Lisa Ross

When I was little, I learned to crochet from my mom. I loved the craft and I knew that knitting was a related fiber art. It baffled me, though, how you could possibly create stitches using straight needles without a hook. Read more>>

Annie Howe

After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in Fiber, I worked in community arts for many years, creating and contributing to the Baltimore art community with large-scale puppetry and shadow puppets. Read more>>