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?

Jorge Gallo

Glassblowing was the first medium that broke me artistically. My experience with drawing, painting, photography, and printmaking all came naturally but glassblowing forced me to be humble- learning from mistakes and engrain discipline to push forward. Various shopmates and mentors guided me on a language filled with flame control, viscosity, and form. It’s a medium that demands full focus which in itself is meditation. Read more>>

Stephania Gambaroff

Let’s dive deep into the profound world of artistic creation! When I first began my creative journey, I was super dedicated, spending countless hours sketching Roman plaster heads and people in the subway. I had a knack for it, but there was this one classmate who was even better than me at drawing. Read more>>

Tony Cobain

I’m a multi-faceted artist. I’m sort of a chameleon. I’m an Actor first, I’d say, but I’m also a comedian and music artist. I started my journey really early. Around the age of 14. I learned the techinical side and theory of each form. I believe in learning the craft and taking it serious. Read more>>

Espie Randolph III

I think it’s important to be learning every day. Whether I’m reading new books or watching films or reading new books about films, my thirst for knowledge is infinite. Every new thing we learn serves as inspiration for our art. We should always be expanding that base of knowledge and growing. Read more>>

Bassador (Baass) Williams

I think the first time I wanted to become good at my craft of rhyming is when I was young and I saw my friends doing it from their own creative minds. The first thing I did to learn was basically learning other lyrics from mainstream artists and getting use to saying and performing the lyrics as if they were my own. Read more>>

KRISTEN MANN

In the past couple of years I have been reintroducing myself to what creativity means to me in this season in my life. My son is getting older and I have had some growth myself so creating is way different than what it was when I first started this career path. Read more>>

Lucius Zunith

When it comes down to learning the art of being a director, it honestly takes a lot of time. Months of just watching and studying footage is required, along with having to understand what makes a film look like a film. Read more>>

Saber Tayebioui

 

I learned standup comedy by watching comedians that I’m a fan of. I used to retell my favorite routines when I was younger. I was in Gifter and Talented Education (G.A.T.E.) in elementary school, and we would have a share time when we met every week. Read more>>

Luke Deuce

As a musician, the learning process never really ends. From mastering various instruments to writing original music and working with other talented writers, there’s always something new to learn. But it’s not just about the music; there’s also the business side to consider. Read more>>

Informal. (Sam Richie)

Like any skill, I think you have to have a real passion for something to be able to spend countless hours learning something. The more you enjoy it, the less its going to feel like “work” to really discover the ins and outs of a particular subject. The most valuable thing for me has been the willingness to just try anything, even if you’re doubtful of how its going to work out. Read more>>

David Meadows

Well, it wasn’t a straight line process that’s for sure! When I first decided I wanted to be an Actor, which is a whole separate story, I knew, just as I do with everything, that I wanted to be the best I could possibly be. As such, I started to research my favorite Actors and Actresses, the folks I simply loved to watch and I felt truly exemplified the craft, and I looked into how they got to where they were. Read more>>

Chris Sloan

Learning how to write songs has been an ongoing, tedious task for me. It’s taken me so many years to really navigate the songwriting craft, expand on my lyrics in order to tell a story, and write catchy melodies. Not to literally finding my voice. It’s taken me years and years to find the soul and grit in my voice, and to be able to let go and sing with emotion and not worry so much on pitch and perfectionism. Read more>>

Ryan Jennings

I think woodworking is one of those crafts where you never stop learning. Even if you “master” your way of doing something, there are lots of other ways it could and sometimes needs to be done. Like with most things in life, I typically learn the hard way so learning the craft for me was just starting, messing up, and getting better each time I made something. Read more>>

Max Gibbs

My art journey was mostly self-taught. My middle and high school offered art classes, but at the time, I wanted to be an actor. Though I never got any big parts. What I was in charge of was the set design. I would spend countless hours painting every backdrop, prop, or set piece. Read more>>

Nichelle Stokes

Honestly it was just a natural gift that I had from being a young girl. I was always into fashion I loved getting dress and I also observe the way people dressed and found it very interesting. What I could’ve done to speed up the process was just going for it not being intimidated by a college degree and just making a move to do what I love and make it a career. Read more>>

Rafael Llamas

I honestly learned everything I know by being a student of the game. I was taught very early to look for mentors in your profession, people who inspire you, people who have a path you can follow to be where they’re at. I would say it is fair to say that most artists are very visual people, so literally watching a master is a great way to learn the moves. Read more>>

Tam Morales

I loooove being able to speak to how I learned what I do now because my college degree is so irrelevant to what I do professionally. I went to a small seminary-esque college that afforded to ways to learn about creative arts, technical abilities, or professional mannerisms. I didn’t know how to network or edit photos. But I was always driven to create and document moments while utilizing creative storytelling along the way, so finding my passion meant turning to alternative methods of learning. Read more>>

Blaine Bunting

I grew up around music and musicians. My father, grandfather, and uncles would always perform for people, and I always thought it was an awesome skill. To be able to captivate people, and put smiles on their faces always intrigued me. So that’s how I came into this. Read more>>

Los Chacon

Directing came to us organically. We had both been working in different creative fields for quite some time before we started to direct small personal projects and commercials. Aldo is a still photographer so he naturally has a visual perspective of life through a lens and what entails to compose a beautiful image. Read more>>

Jacqueline Parsons

I would like to say that I have a natural talent for what I do as a model/entertainer. My background in the performing arts and dance has prepared me with my vibrant stage presence and outgoing personality. In my hometown, pageantry was one of the main events growing up so I found myself taking an interest to mainly the modeling and talent segments. Prior to my current life as a model; I’ve never had any model training. Read more>>

Nim K.

I don’t know if “learn” is the right word. I truly believe I was born with this gift. My environment encourgaed me to explore it. My father is a musician, vocalist, producer, etc. so there was never a day without music or the will to be creative. Read more>>

Julia Hendrickson

Tearing paper is something that most of us are taught to avoid. As a student printmaker, it is a major part of your world, and I vividly remember the day I learned to tear paper. It was the spring semester of my freshman year of college. My professor gave a demonstration. Read more>>

Emma Vurdien

I learned photography through a combination of self-study and experimentation. Countless hours were invested in watching informational videos to grasp various shooting techniques and the intricacies of camera buttons and dials. This technical knowledge was then integrated with my pre-existing understanding of composing images. Read more>>

Rosebay

For all of us in the band, making music is instinctive. Its second nature really. Expressing ourselves through our music is not only a passion, but also a spiritual release and a pleasure to top it all off. It’s fun, therapeutic, and most importantly authentically us. Read more>>

Daniel Abramovici

When it comes to painting, I have always drawn pictures and painted for as long as I can remember. I took private art classes growing up. Every Saturday morning I would get up and head over to a private teacher’s home. She was a terrific nurturing person, she had a strong traditional sense while also pulling out what was naturally there within the young artists. Read more>>

Burak Yerebakan

I think learning is a result of curiosity. I was curious since I’ve heard a distorted electric guitar sound for the first time when I was a kid. I was hooked. What is this sound? And how can I learn to create it? Then I started asking questions and followed the tracks. Still now, my learning process is the same. If you can ask questions, answers are easy to find. Read more>>

Michael Jason Allen

Well, I am a self-taught musician and filmmaker by learning from the real world experience of observing others in these fields, and trial and error of my own experimentation. That is to say, I may not be the most technical in my approach, but I am effective and practical in the production of my projects. I don’t think that there is anything in particular I could have done to speed up my learning process, however, I would like to have had the exposure earlier in my life. Read more>>

Lynn Adrianna Freedman

As an artist, the learning process never ends. Even at my age, and with my level of experience, I’m still constantly digging to go deeper in my work, find more honesty and spontaneity in my performances, and push myself to stay out of my comfort zone. I’m currently in a play which has been a wonderful vehicle for the learning process. The story is lean and mean. Read more>>

Jaimee Brown

I learned from taking classes of how to walk the runway and pose not only for runway but for photos also with the slightest motion to give that photo it’s “it” photo Read more>>

Athena Brensberger

As a science communicator, there are many skills that have to be developed and fine-tuned over time, it was not something that came naturally but instead had to persistently be worked on. This can go for anyone working as a host or explainer on TV, YouTube, in the science community, or not – it’s not unique to science communicators but to all communicators in general. Read more>>