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.

Tony and Nick

One of the biggest lesson we learned from podcasting was finding our voice. When we first started podcasting about 3 years ago we would just ramble the topic at hand with little context. Now we select certain topics that bring some type of value to our audience such as humor, informative news or just a different perspective on a debate with nerd culture. Read more>>

Joshua Manning

I have always loved photography. I had a friend who did photography professionally and I was fascinated with his work. He taught me how he did what he did. He had been self taught and he taught me the way he did things which was different from other people who had gone to school for this kind of thing. I learned what I could from him and then dived into Youtube and other videos to help me learn what I wanted to know. Read more>>

Christian Backa

My skillset is learned through Youtube and practicing afterwards. I started learning photography by watching other youtubers who would show how they create their work. After watching their tricks and tips, I’d go outside and capture my own work and put my creative thought into it. By doing this, I developed my own style of editing and creating my own eye for angles and composition. Skillset can be honed fast by just doing it and practiced on consistent base. Of course it isn’t always adviced. Read more>>

Davy Crockett.

So, way back in the before times (the 90s lol), I played the trumpet in school. From elementary through highschool. Consistently studying music and unknowingly learning what music does to the spirit. Fast forward after school to touring in a cover band in south america (Ecudaor & Chile along the west coast) I discovered how powerful the language of music really is. Had I known what my career path was going to be I probably would’ve moved to New York sooner. Read more>>

Josh Fernandez

Photography has been a constant companion and I’ve always thought we initially disliked each other. Then just like any companionship worth keeping, things open up in time. It took more than a decade to know what I know now and I still thirst after what it has in store for me. I believe learning the craft begins when you’re more interested in the process rather than the outcome. The funny thing about photography is that it’s rarely about the pictures you create – it’s about your relationship with what you photograph. Read more>>

Sheldon Kearse

When I first got into photography I would just go out and about with my friend James and I would take pictures of him and he would do the same for me. We didn’t know what we were doing as far as controlling the settings for the camera or anything so some pics would be horrible and others would be decent. However, doing that made me want to get into it more even if the photos were bad I was having fun and it really struck me to want to learn more about photography and to get as good as I could at it. Read more>>

Emma, Franco, and Pukpik AKA – the @3Skiblings

Emma: I learned by trial and error. My mom helped me as best as she could by finding photographers willing to do trade-for-proofs (TFP). I did catch a huge break when a media company proposed a photo shoot with me in Detroit modeling as a look-alike of Audrey Hepburn. Those photos brought influential modeling people to my Instagram following. I’m young. They are watching to see what I do next. Read more>>

Jacqueline Ayala.

Photography was always a craft I wanted to pursue and when I had the opportunity to go to college I majored and got my degree in it. Knowing what I know now, I would have taken up more opportunities to intern, find a mentor, use the campus’ resources more, and really immerse myself in my program. The skills that I think were most essential were mainly technical skills in lighting, retouching, and cameras in general. The main obstacles that stood in my way of learning was having to financially support myself through art school and not really having a proper mentor/ guidance to help me prepare for life after college. Read more>>

Logan Raposo.

I learned how to perform through studying on my own, then studying professionally at Bristol Community College private coaching from retired UCLA professor Tim Hillman. I believe I could’ve sped up the learning process if I was more open to being authentic. That was the best lesson I was taught early on. I may have been proficient at the craft but I didn’t know myself as well as I should’ve. Looking back I wish I had embraced what made me, me much sooner. Read more>>

David Choe

I learned almost everything I know about photography through trial and error, but YouTube was a huge resource when I was starting out. I have to give big props to those content creators who spend their time and energy creating useful tips for beginners and professionals alike. Without YouTube, I wouldn’t have been able to learn as quickly as I did when I started doing photography. Read more>>

Brandon Lewis

I learned how to write songs from studying some the greatest creative minds in the world. Some relationships have been direct while others have been purely influential. Music artist like Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, T-Pain, Kanye West, Aretha Franklin, and many more have inspired my melodramatic yet soulful approach to songwriting. In addition, visual artist like Basquiat and Poets like Langston Hughes have also inspired my creative directions. Read more>>

TtheCartel

Taking time out the day to actually sit down & see how everything work far as beats & engineering. Knowing what i know now I wish I would have broke down each program more to know all the techniques and the tricks you can use to making beats or engineering. The most essential tool i use is to do it every day to learn something new. Really the only obstacles that would stand in the way is when people wanting to get you out your focus so i had to sacrifice goin out and hanging just so i can get better each and everyday Read more>>

Kelah Mckee.

I learned how to do what I do by not waiting and practicing my craft every time I got an opportunity to showcase my hosting/ media personality skills. At first I thought you started with experience and then you would be successful. No, start where you are. The tools that help pushed me forward was self confidence, researching and taking time to go to online seminars that would help me grow better and better. Read more>>

Hannah Blythe

– I feel like the blogger/influencer world is huge, and it continues to grow everyday. Everyone seems to have their own style, so it was difficult at first to find my own way of doing things. I read books and articles, listened to podcasts, and even bought a few courses so that I could learn how to do things the right way, for example, setting up my own website. Once I felt like I had the process down, I was able to tweak things into my own style and make a brand for myself. Read more>>

Christopher Dunn

I learned my skills via trial and error, in-fact I’m still learning to this day. What games to stream, what niche I fill, how to run an online community. These and many more are all important things that I have learned. Knowing what I know now, I’m not sure I could have sped my process along a little bit. Granted there were times where I let my depression get the better of me and slow down my process. But that’s a thing that’s hard to control especially depending on your circumstances. Read more>>

Omari Floyd

I discovered the power and beauty of make up when I was around 16 years old. Like most children in there teens I was acne prone and I was trying so many different things to remedy my skin such as proactive and nothing seemed to work. One day I stopped by the MAC counter inside of a Belk and inquired with the artist at the time on how I could cover up my scars and acne spots. She recommended a concealer for spot coverage and skin care to manage the health of my skin. I walked away from that interaction with a brush and Prolong wear concealer in NW45. Little did I know that would be the spark that set y career and interest for doing make up into motion. Read more>>

Lauren Doriahna

I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from a very prestigious institution of higher learning, Emory University. During my time at Emory, I despised poetry. I would occasionally write poems for fun in my dorm room and share them with my peers. However, when I enrolled in Poetry 205, “Introduction to Poetry,” my sophomore year, I was in for a challenging semester. The class, in my opinion, was difficult. I received my first D on an essay, and I was mortified. Read more>>

Alyson Fields

Learning to create custom party favors took a lot of time and research; From YouTube to social media like instagram, Facebook and TikTok, I paid attention to all of the things other people in this field were doing. Most creators do offer classes but they were so expensive and I trusted myself to learn on my own. I used my creativity and research to first learn to create a custom chip bag and then from there, I used those skills to create more items. Read more>>

Melanie Farris.

I’m a self taught painter, so all of my knowledge has come through thousands of hours of practice and research. I believe the best way to learn how to paint is to just do it! All you need is the tools to paint and patience with yourself. Before I discovered hard edge, optical illusions, I had to go through the process of discovering my niche. I played with many fluid painting techniques, heavy textured paintings, and various styles of abstract art. Good quality acrylics are expensive, and it didn’t make sense for me to buy a tube of paint in every single color available. Read more>>

Heather Albers

I have enjoyed every aspect of learning the art of pressing flowers. I am self taught and have experimented with many techniques until I have been happy with the results. I often feel like half scientist, half artist as each new flower I encounter requires a little research and often many trials. Although the process has been slow and frustrating at times, I’m glad I’ve spent the time to refine my craft into a set of procedures I am comfortable and confident with. Read more>>

Andi Valdes Valdes

I studied Graphic Design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I took typography, motion graphics, web design, and general graphic design classes and I think that the most important skill I learned while in school was to be able to also teach myself things (although typography is pretty key, too). Something I wish I’d done was try to learn motion graphics by myself before taking the class, that way I would get the most out of it. Read more>>

Alexandra Baker

Having never taken a formal painting class, I learned to do what I do through a raw need to paint I couldn’t explain and a focus on healing trauma rather than trying to paint a pretty picture. I needed to get what I was feeling out of me and onto the canvas and that became the most important part of the process. Healing Through Color is the tagline on my business cards and that’s exactly what I do. It was an innate part of me and I learned that the visual didn’t matter to me as much as the healing process of painting. Read more>>

Latoya Yates

I love photography. I have always been the best photographer in my immediate family. So I grew up taking pictures for the family trips. I also worked at a studio called Kiddie Kandids. It was inside Babies R Us. There I learned the technical part of photography. I also learned to pose for different age groups, and families, edit, sell photography packages, and ad marketing. I learned on a canon which is what I shoot with today. I have also shadowed other photographers and taken many workshops to develop the skills I have today. Read more>>

Inaara Jiwani

I came up with the idea of making resin art pieces after a trip to Trader Joe’s one day. I remember walking into the store and immediately seeing these beautiful pastel yellow and pink gerbera daisies. I bought them, took them home, and immediately placed them in an old mason jar. A few days had passed, then a week, then two weeks and I remember telling my family how I wish I could preserve these flowers some way. I did not want them to die at all. Then it hit me- what about resin? The term, “resin” was one I had heard multiple times; but never really knew what it was. Read more>>

Elaine Hill.

My learning has come through so many avenues, each serving a role in craftwork, and there’s never an end to learning. In my role as a creative, there is the writing, editing, speaking, and performing/engaging the audience aspects, plus the marketing and business sides. The mechanics of the craft received early and often training, since I have, like so many writers, been writing my whole life. I journaled often and sometimes excessively since 1st grade, so the pages run deep. Read more>>

Katie Osborne

The online cookie community is one of the kindest and most supportive I’ve come across. We are constantly learning from each other whether it’s new techniques, marketing tips, and troubleshooting. I’ve taken online courses to improve my lettering design as well as different techniques to manipulate icing as a sculptor would. The pandemic gave rise to a lot of virtual classes that are usually prerecorded so I’m able to fit them in my schedule – often late at night when everyone has gone to bed! Read more>>

Courtney Trowman

I am a self-taught artist. However, I don’t like using the past tense of that phrase because I am still teaching myself and learning every single day. I was inspired to dabble in my visually artistic side after seeing a Robert Rauschenberg exhibit while living as a professional dancer in Los Angeles. Although I really only gave focused attention to it either while recovering from injuries or when my dance company was on hiatus. Read more>>

Alexandre Abdoulaev

As strange as this sounds, I’ve mostly learned how to do what I do by failing repeatedly. My initial degree (BMUS) was in piano performance, and while this was a useful degree in the confines of academia, it did not confer on me the knowledge of how to apply my skills in the real world. As a result, I was repeatedly put in situations that were either poorly suited to my skill set, or required me to know something I did not. Overtime, after repeated flubs, I have gathered enough incentive to learn additional skills to supplement my degree (conducting, band management, transcription and orchestration, and many others. Read more>>

Cyle Jones

A lot of practicing and studying what some of my favorite producers were doing to get the sounds they were getting. The only way to speed up the process is by making as many beats as you can, regardless of how they sound, it’s more about the repetition and consistency. Consistency is the most essential skill. Obstacles wise , there really aren’t any, as long as you have a laptop or some type of machine to make beats then you have everything. Read more>>

Shaana Worlds

I learned what I have in the business of podcasting and entrepreneurial through trial and error, researching and asking trusted sources for information and guidance, and really just trusting myself to know that of the many things I’ve done in this life, I’ve gotten quite a few right. So, why not continue trusting myself in this endeavor as well. In knowing what I now, what I could’ve done to speed up the process would’ve been related to trusting that my idea was a good one before society “confirmed” it for me, Read more>>

Madeline Anderson

Trial and Error was 100% my method of learning before I got to University and even now so many facets of my performance are things that I had to learn on my own. Auditioning, music and video recording, song writing, social media, so many parts of the Entertainment industry are things that we sometimes just have to jump into and learn as we go. Overcoming fear would have definitely sped up the process. Read more>>

Brandi “BeeOriginal” Roberts

Humor for me was always an innate gift I clung to as a youth. I knew that laughter gave me power and allowed me to be seen. Humor became a coping mechanism for me early on to deal with the perils of life. I did not formally try to adapt into the actual craft until well into my young adult years. Read more>>

Joi Jamison

I have danced since the tender age of 3 years old. From the moment I realized what a stage and performing is all about, I was in love. I continue to study and train with various studios, companies and choreographers through my adulthood. Actually, I do not think I would have done anything differently. The way things have lined up for me over the years worked out in my favor. Skills that have acquired over the years would be patience, discipline, structure and balance. All of these have aided tremendously in my growth and as a businesswoman. Read more>>

Kevin Tong

The best way to learn anything is to just do it and keeping doing it and eventually there will be improvement and development. Another thing that greatly helps with learning is being part of a community of like minded people, sharing tips, critiquing, and ideas. Part of that is being receptive and open to criticism. It’s not easy, but a thick skin is crucial. Read more>>