Often there is no book or course to learn how to do what you want to do – so how artists and creatives overcome such challenges? How have some of the most talented artists and creatives in the community managed to learn their craft?
Ashton Steele
I had always been interested in photography but never considered pursuing it until I was in a college photography class. Getting to learn the basics of a camera, shooting in manual, and practicing different lighting situations in class definitely helped to ease the anxiousness of trying photography on my own. Through the encouragement of my friends I started taking senior photos for them as practice, and from there that’s how my business got started. The fun thing about photography is there are the basics you need to know like shooting in manual, but practice practice practice teaches you so much more. Read more>>
Lexy Romano
Learning to produce and host the local highlight show Phx Finds really came about through doing. I spent many years performing professionally as a singer, and when I wanted to transition into on-camera work I had no idea how to do it. I decided to take some classes at the local Community College, which really gave me a general background on journalism and TV history. Then, I decided to go for it! I started producing Phx Finds Show in the summer of 2019. We started very small, producing 2-3 minute videos once a week for social media. Read more>>
George Welder
I took piano and guitar lessons at six and started playing drums at eight, starting drums lessons at 10. I played percussion although school, playing in the concert and jazz bands as well as starting rock and roll bands with friends. I entered college with the intention of going into music education, however performing was the road I was meant to travel. Music led me into acting and I have been extremely fortunate to have had some wonderful mentors and coaches. The most essential skill for a musician or actor, is listening. It may be the most essential in every aspect of life. Read more>>
Yan Shen
As every classical trained pianist, I started learning playing piano when I was 5 years old. After taking 12 years private lessons, I went to the conservatory to pursue professional studying and career. I finished my undergraduate and master’s degree of piano performance, and luckily I received a job offer as a piano/chamber instructor in the Xinghai Conservatory in Guangzhou, China. After 5 years of working there, I felt that it was the time that I need to learn more and to go out to see the world. So I decided to quit my job and came to USA to pursue my Doctoral degree. Read more>>
Erin Wright
Before starting Sincerely, Addison, I worked in the wedding stationery industry for a few years. Spending the time learning from others was a huge help to me before going out on my own. I have always had an interest in design and began working at a stationery store. This store taught me so much about paper, printing, and design. This became the base of my knowledge in creating wedding invitations. In addition, the store also taught me what goes into running a small business. The joys and struggles that come along with it, the risk of expanding too soon, or not quickly enough, the stress of finding the right employees, the importance of customer service, and relationships with vendors. Read more>>
Stephie Kaiser Harvel
I was lucky enough to grow up in my mother’s studio, where I learned Lost Wax Casting, sculpting and painting. I wouldn’t say there was anything in particular that could have sped up my process in learning the craft since I was fortunate enough to learn it from such a young age and have a master artist as a mother, teacher, critic and mentor. Regardless, I believe you learn things when you are meant to learn them. I think the most essential skill in mastering Lost Wax Casting is patience, orientation to detail, and, of course, creativity. My wax carvings have broken countless times or were ruined during my casting of them into metal. Read more>>
Tony Sartain
Being around other individuals with the same passion was key because I was able to study in learn simply by being a student at least how I looked at it. Honestly wouldn’t speed the process up because at the time I was not ready so being patient is something that was applied in my path in helped me as a creative. Being able to to work with some great locals and celebrities thought me a lot just being present on sets or shows was dope but it was not always easy because not knowing what was a good job to take or not because some people would try in take advantage of the opportunity in connections I had which would push me away from the learning process. Read more>>
Kylee Harmon
It took me a long time to learn pole fitness and improve my flexibility. The key for me was to be consistent with my training and to be patient with myself. I took many classes a week as well as doing private lessons and workshops. I don’t think that speeding up the learning process is a good idea with something like this. It can be a lot on your body so it is good to rest and recover. It is also very important to learn the proper steps and technique so you do not get injured. For me, it was hard to rest and take care of my body because I always wanted to be training or taking a class, so that was an obstacle for me along with how difficult this kind of workout is. The most essential skills for this craft would come after you learn them. Read more>
Orrin Hudson
Yes, I traveled to meet some of the most successful communicators in person. People like Les Brown, Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Patricia Fripp, John Maxwell, Joel Osteen, Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy, Mel Robbins, George C. Fraser. If I had invested sooner in this way, I could have sped up my own the developmental process. I like to say, “Communication skills pay the bills.” Early in my career my biggest obstacle was not knowing what I didn’t know. I hate to say it but there was a certain degree of ignorance that slowed my rapid progress. Read more>
Isabella Breedlove
My life has always revolved around creative expression. When I was three years old, my mother, Kelly Lancarte, enrolled me in my first art class, and I never looked back. I’ve studied drawing, painting and sculpture. I took dance classes and acted in plays. I wrote songs and short stories, I journaled and blogged, and I learned how to play guitar, piano and ukulele.mGrowing up, my mother never measured or judged my efforts – she always encouraged me to explore and develop my passions, whatever that looked like at the time. Ultimately, I established a career as a multimedia artist. Read more>>
Karyn & Tanya Mielke
We definitely learn by doing. We were open hand slapped across the face with the opportunity of our dreams and we swan dived, awkwardly, into a big ‘ol rainbow colored pool of uncertainty. Three years later, we are so, so, so much more knowledgeable about ourselves, running a business and creating thriving relationships within our vendor family and with our surrounding community. Although there has been a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in that time, neither of us would wish to skip through the process. Read more>>
Brianna Ortiz
I taught myself how to paint in 2015 as an outlet of expression and healing as a domestic violence survivor. Knowing what I know now, I could have attended art educational courses in the community or at an institution to speed up my learning process but, I was determined to learn on my own and didn’t have the finances at the time. Knowing your colors and how to mix properly, finding comfort in holding a paint brush with a steady hand, controlling the pressure when applying the brush or tool to a canvas and scaling images by eye are all great essential skills. I have a busy schedule outside of my art career so finding the time to learn new things can be an obstacle. Read more>>
Pete Taboada
The best way for me to learn any craft is to just start playing with it. I do research online such as whatching videos, and or images or how-to articles on the specific style or technique I want to use in my art, but nothing comes close to just play with it. I have learned to get out of my own way and stop thinking. Let playtime evolve your creativity and skills. Having learned proper drawing, sketching and painting techniques and skill are for me very essential. Read more>>
Emily Morris
I’ve always been a creative person, but that hasn’t always translated to beautiful paintings. An early self portrait comes to mind (let’s just say there was neon yellow involved). It wasn’t until I began a MFA program at age 22 that I started making work I was happy with. My instructors were artists trained in the atelier method of learning, which involved long hours staring at the model and receiving a harsh, if helpful, critique at days’ end. However, after a couple years, the work of my and my fellow classmates had improved to the point where our earlier work was unrecognizable. Read more>>
Noah Ruiz
Went through months of research to understand the capability of our equipment. We are in an evolving industry that is brand new, technology is always changed so keeping up to date with the latest has been a task in its own. We stay relevant by using the latest, cutting-edge technology. Read more>>
Andie Olson
I was not born a naturally gifted artist, but I was born with an insatiable urge to create art. I spent my younger years taking semi-private art lessons, and drawing and painting during my spare time. I even genuinely enjoyed my art classes at school. As dedicated as I was, I was never labeled as the artistic one in my yearbook or anything like that. Quite the opposite. I was actually seen as problematic to one of my elementary art teachers, as I did not follow her assignments. A drawing of a house would become a sculpture of a house or a black and white project would contain a rainbow of colors when I was finished. Read more>>
Gina R. Farrar
One of the most fulfilling things about learning a creative craft is in the experimenting and growing. It’s the process of creating that brings the challenge and the joy. The greatest obstacle to my own growth and learning came from judgement: judging myself, the process, the time frames, the outcomes. Once I was able to shift away from judgement and release my expectations of a specific outcome then I could allow the process to unfold. I had to believe in my ability to figure things out as I took my next best step instead of knowing how from the start. For me the learning has literally been in the doing, taking what I knew and building on that, asking the right questions of those I admired and having a learners mindset. Read more>>
Rick Law
When I decided that I wanted to open a photography business, I did the bulk of my research on understanding the most common mistakes made by people starting their own photography business. I wanted to focus on the business and many of the behind-the-scenes aspects — the stuff that isn’t as sexy as taking actual pictures. By this time, I had a fair bit of training on photography itself so that was already a known quantity. Being a skilled photographer doesn’t guarantee a success business in the field so I knew that generating leads and marketing were going to be, and still are, the areas that I needed to focus on. Read more>>
Chariti Dawson
I learned how to do makeup through YouTube, I watched my first makeup tutorial in 2016 and became obsessed ever since. I would learn all types of tips and I just felt so inspired watching beauty gurus create different makeup looks. I love knowing how to transform from keeping it natural to creating a full on “beat”. I definitely wouldn’t have been so focused on keeping my makeup looks trendy but rather keeping it about my natural creativity. I was really trying to grow my audience when I first started doing makeup so to a certain extent I can definitely understand why hopping on the latest trend was necessary. However, I wish I would’ve invested more time into really showing my own creativity like I’m doing now. Read more>>
Levitate
I was born and raised in Mexico City and my musical journey started when I was five years old when I started doing my mix tapes and improvised radio show recordings of myself talking about anything I could think of at the time. Around that same time, I learned how to play the piano, and a couple of years later, I learned how to play the drums. After that, I was also classically trained at the Mexican National Conservatory of Music, located in the Polanco district of Mexico City. When I was 12 years old, I joined one of my friend’s garage band as a drummer and I also filled out as a drummer for my cousin’s rock band every once in a while. Read more>>
Florentino
Every painting is always practice, I always continue to learn. Artist get better with every painting, it’s all about consistency. All practice. My work gets more distorted every year and it has helped me become a better artist. Working through all the distortion and texture can be challenging. My latest work has a lot of texture and I feel it has become a very important detail to my style. I would say that’s the most essential skill I’m developing right now, learning to control the texture to flow perfectly with my piece. Like where to add the texture, how thick and what not. All depending on the piece I’m working on. With texture I sure have made a lot of mistakes, but with mistakes I learn.. As in artist you have to be thankful for mistakes sometimes. It’s what makes you better. Read more>>
Jaymes Earl
Everything that I’ve learned as far as the craft has been self taught. My original string art was and still is a work in progress. In the early days, there was constant trial and error. Learning shading techniques and threading patterns were always tough. Recently I began working in the digital space. The learning curve was very different as I could rely on things like Google and YouTube. With this, it’s just a matter of learning the tools and how I can use them to tell my story. Knowing what I know now, some art classes definitely would have helped the learning curve. It’s important to experiment with a number of mediums to find your niche. It opens you up to more possibilities when it comes to telling your story! Read more>>
Lia Bai
Public speaking skills can make and break a professional speaker. In the beginning, my focus was learning the crafts of speaking. My goal was to look fabulous on stage with vocal variety, facial expression, hand gestures, stage movement and etc. It was about me in action and acting. My attitude about speaking has changed a lot in the past years. I’m no longer thinking too hard about how I look on stage but focusing on my responsibilities as a speaker. What can I say and how do I say it to make a positive impact on my audience. Though I’m still working diligently to fine-tune my crafts, I’m unlearning some of the speakings skills that I used to be proud of. My goal now is to talk like a normal human being and have conversations with my audience. Read more>>
Rose Rambo
I always wanted to be an artist, so I learned and taught myself all throughout my childhood, but becoming a Gem Artist specifically? I taught myself, through learning everything I could about my subject matter and the relevant things that I thought would help me show what I wanted through my chosen medium. Which was more than I started out thinking. I studied gemstones and light, and the interaction between light, and prisms, reflection and refraction and all the ‘WHY’ behind everything. For me figuring out the ‘how’ of something starts with the ‘why’, ive always been that way. Read more>>
Shea Neill
Managing an Instagram account for a job sounds easy right? Taking pictures, posting videos and stories, liking content and engaging with followers sounds like a blast! Now, imagine managing an Instagram account, Facebook page, LinkedIn account, Youtube channel and website for a restaurant. Still sounds fun right? Now, add three locations to that restaurant, a catering program and a concierge program. Here’s where it gets a little tricky. Read more>>
Jo Skillman
I have a communications design degree, which is perfectly aligned with my role as creative director, so that’s how it started. I was fortunate to be in a four-year program that prioritized HOW to think over WHAT to think, and I had professors that emphasized ethics and your personal impact on the world. It turned out to be pretty ideal for the purpose-led/cause-based agencies I would later work for. I’m sure they helped point me that direction, too! I’m not sure how much I could’ve sped up the learning process since practice is absolutely a huge part of creative work, but I certainly believe that books and articles by the people who come before us can expedite your learning in ANY field. I’ve especially dug into leadership, coaching and change management reading, since I’d prefer to NOT learn those things the hard way. Read more>>
iies.
Well, my hunger to learn started exactly how every other passionate child consumes information, from curiosity. Whether it be art or music related, I had to know about it all: the history, who made the greatest impact, how to get to the next level, the worst of the culture, the drama, etc. I grew an unquenchable thirst to know! New ways to create or learn became kindle for my constantly burning interest of passionate topics. It is safe to say that my journey has been nothing but a map for my creative explorations. In 2015 I began attending the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design to soon graduate with a bachelor’s degree in 2D-Animation; College grew my artistic skills immensely, and taught me a-lot about the industry. Read more>>
Lisa Calzavara
I’d love to say pure intuition, but it was so much harder than that. I’ve always been curious and that leads to many “what if “questions. By researching not only what has been done before but also questioning how new materials could be utilized has brought me insights into creating innovative pieces. Then of course there is trial and error and after days, weeks, years of practice I’ve begun to understand how to create delightful works of art. Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? Read more>>
Carlos Castrejon
The love for the arts started in early days of my life, unfortunately training for art was not available for me. The idea of making art developed the necessity to use any material or tool to create drawings just by observation and dedication. It was in my early 20’s when I had a chance to take some figure drawing and painting classes at a college level. There it was when I developed my skills and my style. I think the opportunity to take classes earlier in my life would have been very helpful to advanced faster. My drawing techniques have been very helpful for the continuation of my career, and the love for color and social themes are a very strong mixed for my success. Read more>>
Kate Nazif
I picked up photography in 2006 when our small family began to live and travel globally, including in the Netherlands, Japan, London and Dubai. I can’t trace back to the moment when my passion for photography began; rather it was more of an evolution that rapidly turned into a love of the art and quickly became a business. Most of my craft is self-taught and has been influenced by personal connections with talented photographers and, over time, by attending local and national photography workshops. In my opinion one of the best things we can do as artists is to connect with others who share our creative proclivity and then witness each other’s processes; not for comparison nor imitation, but because it can solidify our own voice and flow. Read more>>
Lydia Riegle
Learning the craft – do artists intrinsically “get it” or do they develop over time and effort? For this artist, it all came together after a rich life of family, children, expected and unexpected life events and time moving forward – often a similar back-story for so many others. Because one of the prompts to this interview is “If I had it to do over again”, I would have focused earlier on the creative process, and the technical skill set needed to become more fully knowledgeable in my late-start journey as an artist. As an adult, I studied at the Art Students League of Denver, University of Colorado, Denver for an introductory class that was a teaser of what might become. Printmaking workshops with Mark Lunning, Michael McCabe, Dan Welden were important. Read more>>
Sha Davis
I began as most singers do, in our church choir. I went through high school training professionally and competing well into my 20’s. I have always loved art and design and decided to focus my B.A. of Fashion Design. While in school our Visual Merchandising class formed a club that focused on designing local small businesses window displays. That is where my interest in set design became prominent. I believe, in all of my creative roles, the most essential skill I’ve developed is finding ways to translate my vision into an easily understood plan. Collaboration is the key to success and not being able to clearly communicate your goals is a massive drawback and has been an obstacle for me in the past. Read more>>
Waladi Ali
As a self-taught visual artist, art and learning have been a part of the very foundation of my life. So as a juxtaposition from my profession as an artist, I’d like to talk about my ventures into music for a change! Back in high school in 2017, a group of friends invited me to make music with them. We paid for studio times, licensed beats, the whole 9 yards. Though I even knew then similar to now, I needed to educate myself in order to take the craft seriously. My research stemmed from YouTube “rap tutorials”, trial and error, and the actual cheat code of my father being a professional musician. Even when I ventured into self-producing in the summer of 2020, I did a crash course on Music Theory beforehand in order to ensure that I’d be doing everything correctly. Read more>>
Jason Santiago
Theres two things that need to happen to make photographs successfully. The first is to make work, and the second is to examine the work of others. Essentially, I first learned how to photograph by continuously making bad photographs. I still make bad work; the difference, hopefully, is that my failures now, are more interesting than my failures were ten years ago. So you have to put in the hours, and be relentless in creating, and not being afraid of it being, in ways, unsuccessful. But that in itself is only half the battle, on the other side, you have to study. Knowing the history of art and photography, and really examining images from contemporary artists, and the masters is the fastest way to become better in your own practice. Read more>
Dennis Sohocki
My last art class was in junior high, and I probably got a C in it. Yet, I ended up with a 45+-year successful career in sculpture. My “learning the craft” was not a straight-line journey, but a long, winding, convoluted road to where I am today. The journey was often confusing and at times didn’t make sense but, in hindsight, it turned out it taught me to be comfortable in the moment, living with the unexpected. And, since what lies ahead on my journey is still unknown and unexpected, I am still learning. My loving, fun Grandpa was an artist and my first inspiration. When younger, he carved monumental stone for cemeteries. He drew beautiful pastel drawings of people and animals, just for family, never for sale. Read more>>
Gabriel Duran
My admiration for visual storytelling/filmmaking started as a kid growing up in the 80s and the rise of MTV. Micheal Jackon’s short film/music video “Thriller” was what planted the seed into filmmaking. With no experience, I picked up a camcorder and started shooting videos for my buddies as we went on our car club meets and gatherings. I began to enjoy seeing people’s reactions to the videos that I had put together. Living in a smaller town, making a living, or getting into the film industry was only a pipe dream. I didn’t think it would be possible to learn the craft or even set foot into the field. Time passed, and through the unmarked path of life, I ended up in the Dallas area. Read more>>
Amanda Jacobs
I learned how to sew at a very early age. I have an aunt that is an extremely creative individual and she taught me how to use the sewing machine and guided me in understanding the craft. As I grew up I began to re-design and alter my clothing to fit my personal style. I was very passionate about cultivating my own style and always felt that finding really great items and making them unique and different was something I was meant to do. Knowing now that my passion for this just became larger and more intense I would have looked for more opportunities to learn from other creative people around me. Read more>>
Jose Gutierrez
I learned what I I do know by experimenting with camera settings. To speed up the process I would still do the same thing learning my camera settings at different light settings wether it’s night or day. The skills that were most essential where knowing my camera, it’s repetitive I know but I’m glad I was able to sit down and play with every function there is and either turn off one on a setting and see what it does and what’s different. Obstacles that stood in my way was shooting events at first. I didn’t know where to start or who to ask. It’s hard nowadays to have someone trust you to shoot an event without a background. Read more>>
Ruth Soller
I began learning in summer art camp with an artist who introduced us to drawing in charcoal, pen and ink, and pastel pencils. She led us to nearby parks to sketch from nature and set up still lifes in her studio for us to draw or paint in watercolor, tempera, or oil. As an adult, I returned to painting after my first son was born and joined sketching and painting groups. I am a lifetime learner and have studied Old Masters, Impressionists, Post Impressionists, Modernists, and Regionalists. My training includes workshops and classes with artists Daniel E. Greene, Johanna Harmon, and Jill Soukup and landscape painters Jane Hunt, Marc Hanson, John Taft, and Michael Untiedt. Read more>>
Kimberly Joseph
Sewing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My grandmothers sewed professionally from the 1940’s through the 80’s. Both of my parents know how to sew and my mother continues to make Christmas tree skirts, stockings, and other small projects for fun. I took a home economics class in the 8th grade and learned the basics of sewing. Even though the skills seemed to come naturally, I did not have much interest during high school. I loved watching my grandmother make beautiful prom gowns but that was about it. Read more>>
Larry Gilstrap
I first picked up the guitar at the age of 15. I only took two lessons. I mostly learned to play by ear, playing along with other aspiring guitarists, and by learning to read tablature (a number system for transcribing music). I played mostly sporadically for the first handful of years as an unstable home life prevented me from focusing on the instrument with any sort of consistency. So any sort of accumulated talent has simply been the result of years of staying dedicated to continuing to develop any sort of skill I slowly acquired over the years. Read more>>
Karim Aboud
I truly believe that with my medium of choice which is epoxy resin, you will never stop learning. I have been working with this medium now for over 7 years and I still learn something new every day! I initially used resin as a varnish to complete my paintings until I discovered that you could add color to it, mold it, pour it into molds etc. I started experimenting right away and at the time resin was not as popular as it is today so there were no tutorials or YouTube videos that I could watch to learn. I learned it all by trial and error. I’m sure there were things I could have done to speed up my learning initially but I’m glad I went through the lengthy experiment process ( which is still ongoing). Read more>>
Misty Hayes
I am 100% self-taught. I have not always been in tune with my creative side. I had been more on the analytical side, actually, working in Law Enforcement. Everyone’s journey is different. When I majored in Criminal Justice in college, I gravitated toward English and writing essays, but my career path went the opposite direction. I’d always toyed with the idea of writing a book, but I never knew how. I thought the authors just got it right on their first draft. One and done. Boy, was I wrong! When I gave myself the leeway to take my time and actually LEARN to enjoy writing, it was only then that I realized I might be able to do this in stages, which is how it happened. Read more>>