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?

Floriona Fleischer

I’m a self-taught artist, and after 3+ years in the creative business field, I realize that I could have sped up my learning process if I would have let go of my perfectionism. Fear of failure kept me in a constant frozen state, where even attempting to take the first step was impossible. It was actually a quote by Jordan B. Peterson that changed my mindset: “If you are not willing to be a fool, you can’t become a master.” , he brilliantly stated, as he was explaining the Jungian concept of Circumambulation of the Self. Read more>>

Preston Huey

I went to the Columbus College of Art & Design and we only had one photoshop class. We went through the entire instruction book from first to last page. This helped me learn a basic foundation for my career. From there I learned through trial and error when I worked on images and another chunk was from coworkers. I am still learning new skills as technology advances in the Adobe products. I think this could have been sped up with more in-depth post production classes in college. Read more>>

Jenny Day

When my husband got me a camera for Christmas, I decided to take some photography classes to learn about photography. It started out just taking photos for friends and family for fun and all of a sudden people were paying me to take their photos. I wish I would have attended workshops and done mentoring sessions with successful photographers to speed up my learning process. I spent way too much time on YouTube and trial and error when I could have taken a short cut and learned from other photographers. Read more>>

Alyson Bazan

I first started photography my freshman year of college. I did not know anything about cameras, posing, or photography in general. It all started off as a hobby and slowly turned into friends asking if I would take their senior or maternity pictures. With each session, I would look up Pinterest posing ideas and often try to come up with fun poses during the sessions. My passion continued to grow for snapping pics so I began to invest more time in learning about equipment, how to edit, and how to shoot in manual. Read more>>

Joi Najae

Once I realized I wanted to do music, I just started applying myself and learning and teaching myself more. I started teaching myself the piano at twelve and from there I began to get lessons on the piano. I also starting researching and learning how to keep my voice trained. I grew up in a single parent household, paying for things like singing lessons and piano lessons simultaneously was not ideal, so I had to teach myself. Read more>>

Rachel Altman

I am a self-taught photographer. It has taken me many many years to get where I am and I still have so far to go. There are a lot of lessons that I have had to learn the hard way, but I almost think that they stick more that way! For example, I have learned that a photographer is so much more than their equipment. You can have the best lenses, the most expensive camera, and lighting, but artistic vision is so much more important. Read more>>

D Whit

As a DJ, I learned everything I know simply from paying attention. Watching and listening to other djs in the clubs or events. I also did a lot of studying on youtube of the traditional craft of DJing. The foundational skills were always important to me in any art so I chose to start from the beginning which included scratching, blending, and mixing. Read more>>

Sarah Mountain

When I decided that photography was all I was interested in pursuing as a career, I knew that I had a lot to learn before I could try and kick-start that as a business. I spent a lot of time self-teaching and learning all the ins and outs of my camera, experimented with different editing styles, and saw what felt like my most authentic work. I started going to photography workshops and content days; I can’t stress how fun and important those are to anyone looking to hone their photography skills and become better! Read more>>

Benjamin Harper

I think we learn to do things by doing them. Do it over and over and use whatever resources you have at the time. When I started to write in record songs as a kid, I didn’t have any kind of multi track capability. Are used two different cassette decks. I recorded one part, then played that back and played along with it while recording in a separate boom box or whatever I had at the time. With something like writing and arranging songs, the best thing is to just do it a lot, and listen to a lot of artist that inspire you. Read more>>

Melanie Bryan

I started out back in 2019 by asking my favorite band, Palisades, for a photo pass. I ended up getting it and went in with almost zero knowledge of how to shoot a show. Afterward, I discovered a website called IShootShows.com that has a large section of resources on concert photography, and I also began meeting some amazing people in the community that have helped teach me things along the way. Read more>>

Alex Vietti

Art has been a part of my life since I was very young. When I realized I wanted to make art my main profession I took art classes and then went on to study at college. I received a Bachelor’s degree in drawing and a Master’s degree in painting. But more important than taking classes or receiving any certification, was practice. Whenever I can get a free minute, I am always painting, sketching, and making work. Learning through doing has been the most beneficial to improving my artistic capabilities. Read more>>

Julia Thaiese

So when it comes to learning how to do what I do. There are really two answers as to how I learned. Like most in my industry, I started out in the “kitchen”. I was a kitchen beautician from fairly early on. My dolls turned into my friends and family. It was just in me and I got so much joy from doing my friends’ hair. The look they give in the mirror after their hair was done. I was hooked. As I got older and started to be the relaxer queen. The requests started turning into color service request. Read more>>

Bethany Mellas

Looking back, I’ve always been interested in photography but up until recently never did anything with it other than self-portraits on my iPhone. About a year ago, I started experimenting with more poses just using my selfie camera. I discovered that I was a fast learner and I noticed that I really enjoyed spending my time learning the craft. As I practiced week by week, my poses and angles quickly improved and I eventually upgraded to my first Canon camera. Read more>>

Kristin Murphy

I was always drawing, painting, and creating art as a child. If you gave me the option between a coloring book and a blank sheet of paper to color on, I always chose the blank sheet of paper. My mother is an artist and she also had a custom framing business in the town where I grew up. The local artists would often have her frame their artwork and sometimes they would give art classes in her shop. I spend a lot of time there, so I was often surrounded by artists and art. Read more>>

Kate Ritchie

My current art work is a combination of collage, acrylic painting, print making, and resining. It’s interesting to reflect back on how I learned to work with each of those mediums because I never thought I would be combining all of them into one piece. My parents were supportive of my creative abilities from day one, which I am extremely grateful for. I have so many fond memories of making collages with my Mom as a kid. Read more>>

Kara Kerr

The beauty of art is that you can create whatever you want and it’s unique to you. It’s your way, your style, your kind of weird, and some people like your same kind of weird, different, or beautiful and they’ll pay you for it. I learned what I do by DOING. You just have to start. I got my start by seeing a friend of a friend make clay earrings in 2019. I saw her style, color combos, and designs and while they were beautiful and unique- they weren’t my style, so I thought- I CAN DO THAT, I can create and design earrings in my own style. Read more>>

Danny Berke

Since I was a kid, I’ve been an enthusiastic home cook (I don’t call myself a chef, but sometimes others do, which always feels good but a little weird at the same time). My mom was always willing – enthusiastic even – to find things for me to do and learn in the kitchen when I asked, which I try to repeat now with my own kids. I am a bit of a perfectionist so, if I’m being honest, I don’t think this comes as easily to me as it did to my mom. Read more>>

Vaughn Jackson

I think most, if not all, authors can point back to a time when they were very young, picking crayons or pencils and writing little scraps and snippets of stories as they grew up. Whether it was glorified fan-fiction or something they brainstormed up all on their own, childhood is the place where imagination first blooms. I’m no different in that regard, though having a father who constantly put new, more challenging, books in my hands may have given my young imagination a heartier kickstart. Read more>>

Aurélie Garcia

I first started dancing in France, in a small town dance school “Centre Artistique de la Danse Cydrille Girard”, after I graduated from High School I was accepted at The Ailey School, a very selective professional dance program in NY – which is how I ended up coming to the United States in September 2015.  Read more>>

EV Diorr

I first started learning how to make beats when I was really young, but I never took it seriously. Later in life a good friend of mine and another artist, producer named “Ishtrumentals” really took the time out to reteach me everything and give me all the tools that I needed to succeed. Having someone who could serve as a mentor and help me when I ran into problems sped up my process significantly. Read more>>

Kendal Rhone

Being in a choir as a child and taking vocal lessons as an adult is what helped me learn how to do what I do. Knowing what I know now I would’ve dedicated more of my time to artist development to speed up my learning process singing and dancing are my most essential skills The Lack of support and the lack of confidence was the obstacles that stood in the way of me learning more. In the beginning of my journey I was was my own enemy. Read more>>

Tiffany Lady T

Learning the craft sometimes comes with your dream/goal being crushed. When I was in college at Bowie State University, I met one of my favorite radio hosts and she said “do not major in Broadcast Journalism because you need something (another job) to fall back.” I had just started learning broadcast skills and my goal was to be on TV/Radio/Acting so her words crushed my dream for a second. Who am I kidding? Read more>>

Zachary Smith

The journey to cinematic visuals has been a winding one. I moved to Switzerland in 2012 and while I was there, I started acting in independent films with people who enjoyed showing me the process. When I moved back to the states (Atlanta), I started learning editing on premiere pro and began making my own short films with friends as well as doing contract work as a photographer and videographer. Read more>>

Kelli Johnson

Every Sunday of my childhood would find us at a little Baptist church in White Plains, Alabama. And for about 30 minutes every week, I would be immersed in these beautiful old hymns and southern gospel music with piano and 3 part harmony. Everyone was expected to sing, and I believe that my first understanding of how to sing began there. Read more>>

VOYAGR

Starting out as musicians, we all learned music and artistry different ways. But collectively, our biggest education came from playing with other musicians, both in the local scene and in the church. Playing with others and learning from them is so important, and that’s where we all met and have grown the most as musicians. Naturally, we all bring different styles and influences, but we do have similar listening habits, so collaboration comes naturally and we’re all kind of on the same page in that way. Read more>>

Lorenzo Delia

I was always interested in Writing and English; it was one of the courses in school that I excelled at. Day after day, I would jot down many of my personal thoughts – to the plethora of hardships in my life to what I wanted to become in the future. It wasn’t until, 2014 that I wrote my very first song “Deadly Premonition”, it was terrible of course. But something sparked that day, a feeling of being limitless, like there was no boundary to what I could write. Read more>>

Adam Odsess-Rubin

Growing up as a queer kid, my school’s theater program was a refuge where I could express myself and make friends with other outcasts like myself. I loved performing on stage and understanding how a passionate team put a show together to entertain and provoke audiences. In high school I was cast in a LGBT-themed show called ‘The Laramie Project’ where I not only saw myself reflected on stage for the first time, but saw the impact the show had on the rest of the school and how it built tolerance through storytelling. Read more>>

Anai Johnson

Believe it or not, pursing content creation looks different for every creator. There is no concise blueprint on how to get started and how to create a successful brand. When I decided to start my personal brand this year, I simply crafted content when I had time or when i felt led to do so. Knowing what I know now, I would start by creating a posting schedule. Scheduling your content will help you be consistent and give your audience a reason to come back to your platform. Some other skills that I still struggle with is time management. Read more>>

Teiji Mack

Honestly, I dont even really know how I started. I guess its from playing around on the organ in my grandma’s house as kid. Just seeing what sounds go together and how they make me feel. Eventually I started taking music classes in middle band and played an instrument. I taught myself another instrument in highschool, lol. Nowadays i just sit and listen to music. Thats an art form I feel, just paying attention. Sometimes I’ll listen to a song just for the drums and imitate that pattern in my head, or that melody. Almost like shadow boxing in a sense.  Read more>>

Emmy Kalaji

I have learned the art of resin from the internet. I’ve started watching videos of fellow artists doing beautiful pieces, how they would start and what tips they do. This taught me the basics to start but definitely I’ve learned through trial and error, every time I create a piece I keep re-creating until I see the one I had in mind. The engineer inside of me wouldn’t give up until I perfect the piece. There’s a lot of things to learn more and discover but one major obstacle for me is time, being a mom to two little kids takes most of my time and resin art is time sensitive art. Most of the pieces I create need to be created in different stages due to resin curing time. Read more>>

Chelsea Gilson

I didn’t come to Los Angeles to become an actress. I came for a vacation one summer, and kind of just never left. I fell in love with the energy of the city, but I never even allowed myself to dream that becoming a moviestar could ever be my reality. I was just a small town girl from Halifax, MA who was easy to blush after all. Read more>>

Kevin Guyden

I think it will be best if I break this up into 3 parts: Piano, Singing, and Songwriting. I first learned the piano by just trying to play whatever I heard in the songs I was listening to. I remember asking my mom to by me a keyboard in October of 2000, and she did! So once she got it, I would sit there and try to play songs. Once I got into college, I joined a church and became friends with the keyboard player. His family took me in like I was one of their own. But while I was there at their house, Read more>>

Admiral Radio

Coty and I have pretty different stories when it comes to our journey in music, playing instruments, and songwriting. For me, music has always come naturally. I felt encouraged to sing, be on stage, and perform in my kitchen. I was introduced to the piano as a child, but would leave lessons in tears. Nevertheless, I wrote my first song around 8 years old and, laughably, the title was “Country Girl”. Read more>>

Lesa Dowdy

So, I attended film school with a concentration in editing. I took all the post production classes there were to take, and I learned other tricks and things through my own practice. Editing will always be my first love when it comes to film and video because I just enjoy being able to see everything come together. As far as being behind the camera, well, that was just fate, I guess. Read more>>

livija milinaviciute

With ceramics, you have to practice – lots of practice. There is no substitute for spending time with the craft. My first experience with clay was in a beginners’ wheel class at Penguin Foot Studio in Chicago, IL. It was a really fun experience. The instructor warned me, “to get good at it, you need to come as often as you can to practice between the classes”. But I was enjoying a new blossoming relationship with my now husband, exploring the city, and feeling too lazy to take the bus during a windy, cold Winter. Read more>>

TIM THURMAN

Learning the craft of becoming a Nashville performer and songwriter isn’t the easiest of things to accomplish. I’ve heard many horror stories of artist arriving in town and leaving. Some of the greats themselves left upon arrival. It is intimidating at first. I would say, the answer is time over learning how. When you move to town you already have the understanding you know how to write and perform. However, the moment you venture out into the music scene in Nashville, you question everything you know about the craft and your abilities once hearing and seeing who is out performing live. There is a lot of amazing talent in this town. Read more>>

KJ Davis

learning & honing in on your specific craft is more challenging then most think. Talent can only take you so far if you don’t do the work to back that up. I feel like learning is always a process in itself and if you’re willing to put the work in, everything else will fall into place accordingly. An essential skill I found for myself when learning is just repetition. Picking up choreo in a dance class for me at first used to be very difficult & stressful. I found the more I did it the easier it became & it was all just a mental thing I had to get over as I matured. I felt like I was my own obstacle for a long time. I was standing in the way of my own progress, by not honing in as deeply as I should’ve when I was younger. Read more>>

Marian Anderson

I got my first taste of design when I was nine years old. Growing up, I was mesmerized by watching my mom sew my Sunday dresses. I loved going with her to fabric stores to pick out a cute pattern and the perfect fabric. There was always something so special about dreaming up what my next dress would be. One year, after being inspired by her ability to whip up a dress quickly, I decided that I wanted to sew my own. This is where my journey in fashion started. Read more>>

Akshata Gaonkar

I have often thought before, and I continually think of giving back to mother nature in some or the other way. At times when I find myself being anxious and confused, going out in nature or being with pets has always helped me. And I want everyone to find peace in nature. That encouraged me greatly in creating an instagram page specifically for nature. These days we spend most of our time on social media and end up making our life miserable by comparing, being stressed. I thought of making it a little relaxing, by uploading nature videos. Though I encourage that people should go out, instead of just watching on social media! :) Read more>>

Everardo Alcala

I started playing guitar in February of 2016 and started making beats in the summer of 2020. When it came to guitar I taught myself through YouTube lessons. I learned countless songs from the 70’s and 80’s in my early days of playing until I shifted my attention to the 80’s metal scenes. I had a similar process when it came to making beats. I would listen to my favorite rappers and find videos on the producers behind the songs. I would research the best plug-ins to use and how to fully understand my DAW. Read more>>

Bethany Hissong

This past summer I named my “summer of learning” because at the end of May I signed up for online painting classes with five artists who I admire through Penn Studio Art School and with professional artist Claudia Rilling. This was so beneficial as it was an intense focus on things like color with Nicolas Uribe where we used specific limited palettes or really interesting still life arrangements with Ed Praybe. Read more>>

Lee Barbour

Well, I started learning to improvise on the guitar by just letting my fingers go and using my ear to correct them. This wasn’t the best strategy for accuracy of ideas, but it did develop a certain amount of fearlessness and trust that I could land on my feet, no matter the musical risk I took. When I decided to become a jazz major in college a few year later, that strategy became even more limiting, due to the constraints of musical form, advanced harmony and group cohesion. I saw that once I was required to do something specific, my free form, “do what I want” excursions no longer worked. My musical sense up to that point was informed more by the Grateful Dead and Phish than Miles and Coltrane. Read more>>

Sheryl Sherwood

About 12 years ago I took a clay hand building class from a local potter. He taught hand coiling, hand building, and the Raku firing process. As a long-time artist I had typically used painting and drawing as my artistic outlet, but was always trying other forms of visual arts. Once I got my hands in clay, I became more and more interested in developing my clay building skills. Read more>>