One of the most daunting aspects of pursing a creative or artistic career for many aspiring artists is not knowing how to learn the craft. So, we asked some very talented artists and creatives to talk to us about how they learned their crafts and we hope their stories will help you in your journey.

Cruz Freely/Josh Owens

I learned to do what I do by studying my craft. I look at who’s been successful doing what I do and I take notes. Everyone’s story is different, but at the core of them all, there’s hard work and dedication. I don’t think there’s any way I could have sped up the process to be honest. If 10,000 hours is what it takes to master a skill, I gotta have at least 50,000 under my belt. You can’t fake that, it speaks through your work. Read more>>

Giovanna Garcia Cortes

To do what I do now, being a Scenic Artist, was something I was able to achieve by carrying and developing skills from one unforeseen opportunity to the next. In a way it felt like carrying a bag of goods, presenting, sharing, and refining them as I went along my artistic journey. I have an artistic background of traditional painting drawing, introduced with my upbringing with an artist as a father, and my childhood resilience of making sure I had an art class with every academic year that passed by. With my completion of high school, I knew I couldn’t let art slip out of my hands. Read more>>

ViMaDeAn Duo

Anastasia: My music path wasn’t a smooth one but I am grateful for it because it made me go through certain things myself, learn from it and now to be able to share my experience with the next generation of musicians. I wish that I would have learned more about sport psychology back then since this is an essential knowledge for musicians in my opinion. Musicians are very complex creatures: we combine creative spirits of artists but we also have a lot in common with sportsmen since we convey our musical ideas with the help our body. Read more>>

Alina Cirstea

I really learned a lot through practice and YouTube tutorials. Cliche, but patience is the biggest part of the process for sure. Also making sure to never ever stop learning is so important; there is always room for improvement in some way. Read more>>

Patricia Yockey

From the time I was in Kindergarten I knew Art would be my path both professionally and personally. I drew a lot of pictures that were both recognizable and relatable. I remember drawing people walking into Church.- praying hands and all. My teacher told my Mom and Dad to encourage art training. And that’s how it began. In 9th grade, I turned a corner, A new art teacher came into my life and with it – the whole world of art opened up to me. Mrs. Rowe changed my life. Read more>>

Phybr

A lot of what I’ve learned has been through a combination of life experiences and education. I studied graphic design, web design, and IT. Took me years to figure out what I wanted to do for a career the rest of my life so I explored a lot of avenues. Eventually, getting my Associates in IT and dropping out of art school right before graduating with my Bachelors degree. Biggest thing I learned was being able to educate myself on whatever it is that I had interest in or was trying to do. Read more>>

Paris Johnson

My biggest resource, was a cross between allot of trial and error and various tutorial videos found on utube. Considering what I know now, I can’t say for certain that I could’ve done something differently to speed up the learning process, I say this because times and resources were some what more limited say fifteen years ago. Or the the specific source of information may not have been available to me x amount of years prior. You cannot control when or where you’re going to receive your lessons in life. All you can do is make sure that you never stop looking for the lessons. Read more>>

Phillip Russo

I am the product of a handful of amazing teachers & mentors throughout my early years as a dance student to my music studies as a young adult. Learning to comprehend rhythms through 18 years of professional dance training really lended itself to my decision to study music in college & ultimately become a musician. Oddly enough, my mother, Tracy Price, was my dance teacher as well, since my family owned a dance studio in St. Charles. Read more>>

RICHARD DUBUS

I learn mostly by doing , trial and error is the only way I know how to learn basically. creating the recipes for cocktails, i.e. putting ingredients together and shaking it up, seeing if they work well together is something I do daily. Another way I learn is by observation, watching other people try to perfect their craft and build on what they accomplish is very insightful. Creativity is an important skill in being a mixologist, looking at an ingredient and getting inspired is a way to stand out in a crowd. Read more>>

Sharon Teal Coray

I always wanted to be an artist, my father was a commercial artist but in 1943 he was drafted into the army and went to war. Somehow he managed to take his watercolors and paper with him and recorded things he saw in Europe. I loved looking at his artwork and told him I was going to be an artist when I was in high school he told me to forget it because it would be a waste of my time. This did little to discourage if anything it pushed me to succeed! Read more>>

Gabrielle Jenkins

Since the age of nine when my mother first allowed me to cook on my own, have I been pursuing art and cooking, “culinary arts”. We (my sister and I) we’re asked what we want to be when we grow up, provoking our thoughts about who we want to be at a young age. Some know early on in their years of education what they want to do and stick by it (like me), while others take longer or constantly change their ideas on what they’d like for a career (like my sister), and both journeys to are okay, as long as you develop the skills and knowledge of said subject. Read more>>

Brian Haynes

I learned how to create a higher quality of content by diving deep into the content creation community. I met TONS of amazing people and was able to learn a little about production quality and creative content from each one. I was never afraid to reach out and chat with others on how they got their stream quality so good, their microphone silky, or their visuals so smooth. It took a lot of time and fine tuning, but I was able to learn a little bit every day. Read more>>

Hayden Holden

Sometimes when God blesses you with a natural talent, you have no choice but to hone it and nurture it into something great. It’s all in his glory and fills me with joy knowing that I’m honoring him in my work. I have had only one mentor, a man named Mr. Person. This great mentor showed me the basics of mixing and mastering, taught me how to improve my vocal quality, and tracked the first song that I ever uploaded to major platforms. I’ve spent many days and nights writing and reciting rhymes in my room almost to the point of obsession. Read more>>

Joshua Black

Learning the craft of acting is an ongoing pursuit! I started this journey taking classes at Acting Up LLC learning critical skills such as confidence building, improvisation, scene study and character development. I studied the work of other actors and learned from their techniques as well as taking an intro to the Chubbuck Technique with Jonna Johnson. Read more>>

Rose Garcia

Like most writers, I’ve always had a passion for reading and writing. But instead of becoming a writer, I chose a different career path and became a lawyer. Yet over time, the call to write stories eventually won me over. When I finally started writing, I thought writing a book wouldn’t be that hard. HA! That joke was on me for sure because I blazed through my first draft thinking it was the best thing ever. Later, I discovered it was awful and that I knew nothing about writing a novel. Read more>>

Lyndsey Sayles

Taking a beautiful image takes much more skill than just having a nice camera. Learning the proper lighting, posing, and angles are just a few pieces of the puzzle. I was probably 4 years old when I first held a camera. My dad is a photographer, so I was often the subject of a photo he was taking or coming along with him while he was working on a project. From time to time he would hand me the camera, tell me to look through the little square and push the big button. Read more>>

Bhavna Naik

I learned my art by trial and error and many hours of practice. I am a self taught artist and it took me quite a long time to reach a level of being able to create professional artwork. And I say this because when I teach my students now I see that they can achieve that level of perfection sooner than I did is because they have the guidance that I didn’t have. Read more>>

Kelly DiGeronimo

As a creator I feel like my mind never stops. Everything I do for my business is either self-taught or with the help of YouTube. I love creating unique items that people can relate to. I also love creating things with humor. If I can get a good laugh out of someone from one of my little desktop signs, or silly quirky ball cap, then I have done my job! I think the skills I have used most in my small business are a computer, glue gun, ruler and having an open artistic mind. Read more>>

Kristin Boyer

I studied fine art with a concentration in printmaking at Baylor University and graduated in the spring of 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. With the guidance of my printmaking professor and mentor, Kyle Chaput, I practiced printmaking processes such as woodblock relief, screenprinting, intaglio, and lithography. Alongside printmaking, I also took various painting, fabric surface design, and sculpture classes. I am currently studying printmaking at the University of North Texas as a Master of Fine Arts candidate I do not think there was any way to speed up my learning process. Read more>>

Jake Navarra

I obsess over my favorite recordings and kinda just pretend I’m my hero’s most of the time until something cool happens. I’ve been using the strategy for 20 years and theres been a ton of cool things that have happened. I think just putting yourself out there and giving it your all is the only true and honest way to pursue anything you’re passionate about. To go about it any other way is pointless. Read more>>

Nate McDuffie

As a musician and music producer, I was able to educate myself on both crafts. I have been playing drums since I was four years old. Producing came into play when I was 21 years old. Practicing a lot more as a kid would have definitely sped up the learning process. I did not understand the importance of practicing when I was younger and also the impact it would have on my career. Read more>>

Bakari Vashon

I learned to do what I do by growing up in a church environment playing Drums as a kid and playing gospel music. I think I could have learned to read music at an earlier age than when I did in high school. Skills I think were most essential are my ability to play drums and my ability to be diverse. Obstacles that stood in the way were having two weekly jobs. Read more>>

Katya Bogoslovskaya

I am 100% self-taught in my craft. The beautiful reality of life today is that so much information lives at the tips of our fingers, all we need is enough curiosity to search, click and listen. When people ask me how I learned my craft, I tell them “trial, error, and YouTube”. With that said, while learning in solitude, I immediately found myself having to make a lot of decisions on things I really knew nothing about: which tools, techniques, and materials were the right ones to spend my limited resources on? Read more>>

Donesha Brown

I am a self-taught polymer clay artist, and a lot of what I learned is from trial and error. I had no idea that polymer clay was a thing until I stumbled across it while scrolling on Pinterest. I started researching and learning about polymer clay and how to work with it. After doing a little research I purchased the basic tools I would need to get started working with polymer clay I watched hours of tutorials on YouTube to learn how to make slabs, simple designs, and how to cut my earring pieces. After getting the basics down I started experimenting with more difficult techniques that I saw in tutorials and a lot of trial and error. Read more>>

Larry Morris

Being the market I reside (Saint Louis), you have to grind and network to break down specific barriers. I know this applies anywhere, but in a city like mine, where we don’t have the music infrastructure like Nashville, New York, or Los Angeles, knowing the right people and skills goes a long way. As I reflect on how I entered the creative scene, the biggest thing I know I did correctly was allowed myself to be mentored. Read more>>

Zach Hodj

I taught myself and watched other people dj. Shadowing someone else would definitely speed up the learning process. Skills such as networking and organization are key. Competition gradually became a greater obstacle. Read more>>

Mvrco Tha Goat

Growing up at my aunts house I’ve watched my cousins work with many artists, who later on became the biggest stars from Atlanta; such as Future, Alley Boy, Trouble and many more. And my cousins use to rap and produce ,so when I was around the age of 5 I laid my first verse down didn’t really make sense like what 5yr old you know was rapping about what’s going on in the streets. Read more>>

Benjamin Sorrell

I’d like to talk about my most recent ventures, quilting and clothes-making. This is part of my general experience with contemporary craft, and something I didn’t go into completely without expectation, but I fell into it quickly. This journey is pretty recent- I only started trying this in 2021. I have been sewing for a while, mostly mending clothing and hand embroidering, but I became enamored with the modern art quilts and historical textile reuse techniques I would see in quilting bees, documentaries and social media. Read more>>

Abib Jahleel

A lot of trial and error. I honestly wouldn’t change any of my experiences because every L was a lesson and it taught me invaluable skills that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. The most essential skill I learned was patience. That may seem cliche but when you’re working on set a million things are happening and there’s always a lot of moving parts so it’s easy to get overwhelmed, but i realized early on that having the patience to not rush the process makes it a smoother and less stressful experience in the long run. The only obstacle that ever stood in my way was my own ego but i’m glad to have evolved past that now. Read more>>

Nancy So Miller

I developed my skills as a children’s book author and illustrator while studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) for my MFA. After my first year, I knew I wanted to focus on children’s book illustration. I took a course taught by Professor Brian Bowes on Book Illustration. I learned a lot in the course and developed a book dummy and five finished illustrations based on the story by my friend Heather Tietz. Professor Bowes encouraged me to write my own stories and illustrate them. That was a big revelation for me I could be a writer. Read more>>

Katherina Vang

I fell in love with photoshop in middle school. photography in high school and never looked back. Most of my learning was through trial and error as back when I was learning, there were not many resources online and my family didn’t have the funds to purchase books for me to learn from. I was a pretty dedicated kid to the software and spent a lot of time in photoshop so I don’t think anything could have speeded up my learning process. Read more>>

Alex Barr

Going into comics has been one of the most fulfilling, as well as complex, aspects of my career as a freelance artist. I learned to do what I do, by observing others. A lot. I’ve been reading comics, manga, and graphic novels for all of my life. If I see something that I like in a comic, I’ll make a mental note of it to use it for my own art in the future. This could be an angle, a page composition, a coloring style, anything. Read more>>

Marlene Uribe

In a very honest matter, That’s Just My Opinion Podcast kind of started off as a joke. My boyfriend at the time had his own podcast and he always made it seem so fun. So one of my friends and I decided we’d start our own. It was back during lockdown so all we’d do is be online and watch the news and I guess it was our way of distracting ourselves and having more control over what we’d listen to. Read more>>

Hilary Cole

I was very fortunate to begin working for Paul Dorrell, the president and owner of the Leopold Gallery, in 2013 as an assistant. From there, I worked my way up to the gallery director. Having Paul as a mentor has been a huge advantage in gaining a practical knowledge of the art world. I have my B.F.A. in Sculpture, and am currently finishing my M.A. in Art History, but nothing prepares you best than real world experience. Read more>>

Davonne Dupart

At school I learned the technical skill of drawing, painting, and animating, I went to an art high school and continued both my BFA and MFA at art universities. The school structure helped me develop and hone my skills. As a professional in the industry, I saw each studio I joined as an opportunity to deepen my knowledge of my craft and learn the process of running a successful production. I would sit down with my directors and leads and ask questions about their story, their position, and any advice they could give me in my journey. Read more>>

Wallace Wallace

I learned my craft by watching other stylists and reflecting on what I could have done differently to achieve a certain outlook, taking each moment as a learning opportunity. I enjoy taking continuing hair education each month and taking notes on what “Ah ha!” moments I have while taking a class. While I’ve taken a ton of continuing education, majority has been Look and Learn classes. I think working on more mannequin heads would have sped up my learning process having that hands on training. Read more>>

August Wolfe

Countless hours were spent on Youtube, Tik Tok, and Instagram learning how to work with resin. However, I must say that most knowledge I have gained has come from trial and error. Endless mistakes and different techniques have gotten me to where I am today. Resin is such a tricky product in the first place and so many different factors go into the final “look” of the pieces. Not only does working with resin take patience, but it also takes high-quality materials and products to achieve the end product. Read more>>