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.

Rcc

We learned some parts of music and the music business at a young age. Our parents were successful musicians in their own right and we took bits and pieces from them. Although we learned some things from them at a young age, we didn’t fully commit to learning and understanding until we got older. We started taking music seriously around 2018. Our learning and growing process could have been a lot quicker if we would have started when our curiosities were peaked. Especially when it comes to playing our instruments. One of the skills that we feel are most essential is learning the music business so that no one can take advantage of you or get credit for your work. Don’t make money the very first priority because that’s how you start making bad decisions. It’s also very essential to have a good team around you and be good at making meaningful connections. Thats how everyone grows and thrives. Read more>>

Kristen Poulter

During my early childhood years when my parents were still together, before my parents divorced and my family became a blended family, my earliest memories were of my father playing the guitar and singing songs to me and my two younger sisters. I gained a love for music from my father Brett Clinton McElwaney. He wrote and composed some of the songs he would sing to us and I would sit near him and write poetry. He often said I would be the lyricist, and my youngest sister the vocalist. I would laugh and say maybe or maybe I will write books. In my teen years I wrote the books, my early adult years I gave it all up and studied medicine, when I became ill I picked up my pen again except not for poetry, I started writing songs, and to my dad’s shock, I began singing what I wrote as a bonus. Read more>>

Joshua John Russell

I went to culinary school at Johnson and Wales University in RI and got my degree in baking and pastry arts. It was a great experience with great instructors. There was no YouTube then, so I had to learn outside of school through trial and error. It was actually a great way to learn and create my own style. The movie industry started to grow in Atlanta and I had done several editorial shoots so I got my start in the food styling industry by word of mouth. Because I had been making wedding cakes and working in restaurants for a few years, I was used to being flexible and solving problems. On set, it’s all about rolling with the punches because things change daily with the scripts and the set. Read more>>

John Foster

I was a terrible student, a big fan of “the Gentleman’s C,” but at the age of 11 I became an avid reader after discovering Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan and John Carter of Mars. I would sneak my own books into class and read them below my desk. I NEVER got caught. The unexpected result was that I began to ace my English classes and my writing approved of my own accord. By seventh grade, teachers were using the word “writer,” to describe me, which seemed an unreal thing. Me? A kid growing up in NH? This continued through high school and after considering a career in intelligence and a brief flirtation with the B.U. Theatre Conservatory, I dropped out of college and headed out west to Los Angeles to teach myself to write screenplays. This I did, again, by reading everything. I mean EVERYTHING. I read screenplays. I read about writing screenplays. I read biographies of writers and read the trades. I became a development assistant, where reading and assessing scripts was part of the job. I took one seminar, which was a disaster…the leader wanted to talk about Scientology. Read more>>

Jonas Cain

As a leadership and team building workshop facilitator, there are three key components that promote business success: content, delivery, and sales. 1. Content. The content must be accurate, accessible, and actionable. It can’t be theory; it can’t be dense and hard to understand; and it can’t leave clients hanging. In other words, merely having knowledge and skills isn’t enough—they must also know how to apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways. I continually gain content through research, including books, magazines, trade journals, videos, articles, interviews, and workshops, and the like. There is no shortcut here. It’s a life-long learning process. One thing that was a big help when getting started was enrolling in a speaker trainer course that included a license to use their materials. This was a huge help, as it gave me material to start with as I worked to develop my own. And, it also included courses in presentation, which leads to delivery. Read more>>

Bhavana Banala

I developed my skills through a mix of formal education, hands-on experience, and collaboration with industry professionals. Academic training provided me with a foundational knowledge of film theory and design, but real learning came on set, where I faced the practical challenges of translating creative ideas into tangible visuals. Each project, whether it was a small production or a larger commercial, taught me the importance of balancing creativity with logistical and budgetary constraints. Looking back, to speed up my learning, I would have experimented more early on and sought out mentors or more experienced professionals to gain insights from their expertise. Actively asking for feedback and embracing failure as a learning tool would have accelerated my growth. Additionally, mastering the technical tools, like design software and production management systems, earlier would have helped streamline the creative process. Read more>>

Nina Savill

It all started out with a crash course in welding. I was enamored with the aesthetic and the physicality of steel, and I went on to spend some years making metal sculpture. I was actually the only girl working in the welding studio at that time, and it was difficult at first because nobody took me seriously. And while I wished there had been more females in that space, it was a point of pride and motivation for me- to be the only one, and to be good at it. I mostly made furniture pieces and kinetic sculptures with precision and detailed finishing. I found a real love for the tools and the process, and I eventually took a metalsmithing class to expand on that and also to scale down. But when I zoomed in and started using precious metals, I was still making kinetic sculptures, only they were wearable! I made a lot of big spinning rings and necklaces that looked like assemblage pieces. Over the years, jewelry and metalsmithing installed itself in my life. Read more>>

Kevin Bendtsen

Danico is a shared design studio between my wife (Ana Gonzalez) and I (Kevin Bendtsen). Personally I didn’t really know what I wanted to do growing up. I was fascinated by how things work and how they were designed but there wasn’t a specific occupation I knew of growing up that encompassed that. I went to college for architecture and it wasn’t until then that I took a furniture design course that really opened me up to the world of industrial and product design.  Everything we do is self taught. There have been times where we take a loss but we tend to learn more from that and try not to commit those errors again. At the same time we like the thrill of learning new things. In every project we try to include a medium we haven’t done or experienced yet, whether it be 3d printing, CNC, metal work, sewing, etc. I personally learn best from failure and even though this takes more time I don’t think I would have changed it to speed up the process because each moment really identifies a specific situation with specific solutions.  Read more>>

Jose Vela

Well to begin, I’m a hands on learner. That’s probably why I struggled so much in school, especially high school. I have to do something over and over again to learn. Reading and learning was never it for me. So I would just look for old shoes to paint, plus I had plenty of family members who were willing to help me practice on their children’s shoes. After each pair of shoes, you learn something new. You learn a new shortcut or what works and what doesn’t. Which helps you become faster and efficient. Trial and error plays a big factor especially when it comes to customizing shoes, because every shoe is different. I think for the most part, the most essential skill I’ve learned is how to cover up your mistakes, cause they will happen. You have to figure out what you need to do to either fix it, or adapt and change the design where it still goes with the theme but you would never know it was a mistake. I’ve ran into plenty myself. Read more>>

Khayshea Pope

I learned how to model by practicing, joining modeling groups and studying other models. Knowing what I know now I could’ve sped up my learning process by finding out what modeling niche worked best for my height and appearance and studied that more closely. The most essential skill in modeling I believe is being able to move your body and being able to adapt. The main obstacle that stood in my way as I was coming up in the modeling industry I felt was not personally knowing a model that was successful in the way I wanted to be. I always wished I had a mentor in the industry that could tell me exactly what I should be doing. Read more>>

Mercedes Kane

I don’t believe I will ever be done learning. I received an MFA in 2009 in Independent Filmmaking and just earned my second MFA from the University of Georgia this past August in Narrative Nonfiction. Both of these experiences gave me an incredible foundation in the disciplines of both filmmaking and writing, both pushed me out of my areas of comfort and helped me be a better, more thoughtful and vigilant storyteller. But it’s the work I’ve done outside of the classroom setting that has truly shaped me as a creative person. I am very aware that I need to earn the right to tell a person’s story and that can only be done by being with the person and building trust. You can’t learn that, you have to do it. The skills of interviewing, and especially listening, are the most essential skills I have developed over my career – to really lean in and hear what someone is saying and to be genuinely interested. In today’s busy, digital world, so many of us are distracted or too involved in our own lives to listen carefully. But it’s in the listening and learning where stories are told. Read more>>

Maritess Zurbano

I learned magic after I was conned out of $300 on the streets of Chicago where these two women pulled a classic bait and switch scam on me called, “The Pigeon Drop” I felt so foolish, that I eventually found a magic shop in Chicago where I took magic lessons so I wouldn’t get swindled again. After seeing a show in Vegas, I thought, “This does not look hard, and I can become famous and someday people will listen to my opinions and I will never be ignored again.” I found a mentor in Las Vegas who owned a multi-million dollar magic collection and I read all his books. He taught me sleight-of-hand. I met lots of magicians in Vegas who became my friends and we all showed each other card tricks in various casino coffeeshops at all hours of the night and day. It was glorious learning magic in Vegas, where every famous magician came through, or lived there. I learned illusions, mentalism, hypnosis, psychic entertainment from the top practitioners of the craft. Read more>>

Sonia Keshwani

Music is a field where there’s no substitute for learning. While you might be born with some natural talent, without practice and guidance, it’s difficult to fully develop that potential. I began my formal music training later in life, in my mid-20s, after I got married and moved to the United States. This experience taught me that there’s no set age for learning—you can start at any time, no matter where you are in life. I am deeply indebted to my gurus for helping me cultivate and enhance my vocal prowess. I strongly recommend classical training to build a solid foundation, followed by focusing on vocal dynamics and expression. Equally important is seizing every opportunity to perform in the early days, whether it’s on a small or large stage. Each performance helps you get more comfortable and confident, creating a valuable feedback loop for your growth as an artist. Read more>>

Amanda Aguilar

I learned my drawing, painting and other mixed media skills from my grandmother or my own. My grandmother worked well with watercolor and acrylic paints so she taught me what she knew on that topic and she also taught me other forms of media like collages and scrapbooking and other physical crafts. From there I tended to teach myself especially with drawing, and I went about that process by looking at various animations I grew up with, whether it was western cartoons or anime if I liked it I wanted to draw it, I even took inspiration from comic books in high school and manga. One of my favorite artists has to be Kenneth Rocafort when I saw his rendition of red hood for DC comics. Knowing what I know now though I feel like I should’ve practiced more to “speed my process” however rather than speed I think it makes the result better, I’m not in favor of “speeding the process” I believe people have their own time to take what doing their craft no matter how slow or fast they go, in the end if your effort shows I think that’s what matters. The skills I think are most essential in terms for drawing I’d say is practice the basics and anatomy depending what you do. Read more>>

John Moran

Aside from music school, some of the most valuable educational experiences in my field came from playing live music, in bar bands, indie rock projects, joining bands, and learning new songs. After studying production and guitar at Berklee, I played in small town bar bands on rowdy nights, the kinds of places where there’s no stage and you’d get hit in the teeth with a microphone any time a drunk college kid fell onto the stage from dancing too hard. Back then I’d have to tape my setlist to the back of my guitar because it was getting stolen so much. Those were fun shows, and they taught me a lot about performing, but more than that I learned how to play a ton of songs in all kinds of genres. When you listen that much, that intentionally, and internalize every song, you learn how music is supposed to sound. Read more>>

Jesus Flores

Taking risks is the best way to learn. In everything I do I have had to take a risk to learn more. Truly the best way to learn is to fail at doing something you have never done. In that way you see what you did wrong and the next time you try again you improve. Like in painting you learn what painting techniques you can and can’t use or in photography what lenses are the best for certain shots or subjects. So make sure to go out there and make some mistakes! Read more>>

Judy Byer

I purchased my first resin kit at the beginning of 2021, following my husband’s suggestion to give it a try. I began with several pours into different molds and watched numerous online tutorials on item creation. It involved much trial and error, mastering various techniques, and establishing a system that suited me. Eventually, after extensive use of molds, I ventured into pouring over wood, which I found delightfully diverse. I crafted my own wooden shapes—turtles, dolphins, and seahorses—and delved into experimenting with a broader range of colors and patterns. This led me to explore ocean techniques, which seemed simple in videos but were quite the opposite in reality. I dedicated countless hours to perfecting the art of creating lacing and achieving that elusive, frothy wave appearance. I’ve come to believe that there’s no shortcut to learning resin pouring; it’s all about experimenting and understanding the resin’s behavior. Patience, organization, and consistency in your actions are key elements to achieving a successful pour. Read more>>

Avitus B. Carle

I wish I could say I learned how to write creatively early in my career. That I always had this passion for writing, especially flash. They say good readers make good writers and, unfortunately, I had no love for reading. I grew up reading books where none of the main characters looked like me. During the time of customizable books where a character could have my name but, as my grandmother pointed out, couldn’t possibly be me with her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin doing pirouettes on the page. Something my brown skin, box-braided hair with beads and tinfoil ends yearned to do. I found my way out of the required reading list slump while earning my BA from Old Dominion University, long after my love of writing took root in the 6th grade. I wish someone had pointed me to Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler sooner. That, when asked where I found inspiration, I could say from the works of Langston Hughes, Ann Petry, Sonia Sanchez, and Lorraine Hansberry instead of video games. Read more>>

Robin Rutledge

As a child I always knew nails is what I loved to do and that one day, that’s what I wanted to be. I started to teach myself the craft as a kid and continued into my teen years until I went to school to finally get licensed in cosmetology. The one thing I could’ve done to speed up the process for me was to do it right out of high school, which I waited a few years until I got invested into my craft. The most Essential skills I’ve learned is patience and product control. My obstacles now are mostly in the social media area. But I’m advancing more there everyday! Read more>>