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.

Jenny Shawhan

I started by taking piano lessons, then singing came after playing a handful of instruments. I majored in voice at Belmont University, then got out there and started gigging. It was a slow process and songwriting came much later. I remember my first attempts at songwriting, I felt like I had no clue what I was doing. However, the more I opened up to it, the more I started catching little melodies and phrases coming to me to build my songs. To speed up the process – fail faster. Just do the thing on your heart and that will lead to the next step. I think what is most important is showing up every day for what you’re interested in, and not being afraid to experiment. Read more>>

Johnny Canizales

Well. when I first started out, I actually taught myself. Which is crazy to think about, because I used to stay up until 5 am just learning new editing tricks, how to control a camera, photography, and basically everything in between. Knowing, what I know now, is that you can’t force the creative process, you just have to let it flow naturally. I learned that from a great director, Gino Berrios. I worked with him and instantly fell in love with filmmaking. It was a whole different process than just creating content for social media. I sort of transitioned from social media content to filmmaking and directing. Read more>>

Summer Heideman

Most people would think that being a photographer is a fun, easy job – that a photographer just goes out shoots, slaps on a filter, delivers images, and calls it a day! I hate to say it but shooting and editing is just a small part of being a photographer and operating a photography business. Every photographer starts somewhere. Just because you have the full frame DSLR, mirrorless, or top-notch lens/camera and other gear – that does not make you a professional photographer or develop a career overnight. There is much more you need to know and learn, which takes time and investment. Read more>>

Mayra Malik

With a true passion for beauty, I always knew I wanted to work in the industry of making women look and feel beautiful. Although some things just came to me naturally, I became a licensed cosmetologist while in high school in 2002. I was so determined to learn any and everything I possibly could; with my license I knew that the doors would be open to being a nail tech, color specialist, makeup artist, and so much more. I wanted to do it all! After being licensed I remember I my first job was at Super Cuts where I had to do haircuts back-to-back and although I had great training, I just knew there had to be a way to perfect my craft, so I went to barber school. Read more>>

Angie Chiuzzi

Learning how to design with florals can be quite objective, like any art! Learning proper mechanics is one of the most valuable skillsets to have in your floral design toolbox. Everyone thinks about design differently.. so the mechanics will be different each time too. A few of the basics include knowing how to set up an armature in a vase, compote or bowl – to wiring flowers into a boutonnière – to spiraling your stems and taping as you go when designing a bouquet – to properly setting up an archway in the way the intended design requires. Read more>>

Samuel Pierre

When I first got into photography i wasn’t aware of the new world i was entering. I didn’t know anything, didn’t know about composition, lighting, any equipment’s and applications that could enhance a photo i just thought that just having an expensive camera got the job done. The steps I took to learn was just watching YouTube videos, reading forums and different websites, I never paid for any classes or tutorials except for when it came to editing and color correction. I think that it if I did though it would’ve definitely sped up the process but nonetheless its due to the amount of work and time you put in anyway, I researched a lot so i don’t think there were real obstacles for me. Read more>>

David Moskos

Well, I mostly just spent a really, really long time doing very mundane drawings. And paintings. And sculptures haha. I know that’s kind of a lame answer but really that’s all there is to it. And it never stops! I suspect you can never learn everything about anything. I also find that the more things you try and the more skills you acquire, the better you get at doing it. If I could go back and tell my younger self anything I would tell him two things. One – “Explore new things earlier. You really never know what you may find that resonates with your brain and body. Read more>>

Alyssa Hoberer

I started my passion for brewing after buying a used 5 gallon homebrew set up off of Craigslist and started brewing in my 3rd floor apartment 8 years ago. Since then, I have gotten my certificate in Brewing from Regis University and have worked and learned from many experienced brewers in the industry to get me to where I am now as the Head Brewer at Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery. I think overall, my speed of learning in the field of brewing has been relatively fast after training under some really talented brewers at my previous brewing job at Lone Tree Brewing Company.

Neil Shigley

My current work consists of large abstract paintings, some illustration work and designing and creating large-scale installation pieces. Along with actively making art I teach drawing and illustration at San Diego State University. But the work that drives me most deeply is a series of large block-printed portraits of the unsheltered. As a child I drew a lot. My father used his art training to draw and paint places we visited, documenting experiences that we had. He got a degree in architecture but never practiced. I always tried to copy what he was working on. I didn’t take any art classes until college but I was drawing all the time, and I loved it. I decided to major in art at San Diego State University where my emphasis was in painting and printmaking. I was exposed to all the foundations of art. Read more>>

Francesca Blue

I started photographing when I was 12. A neighbor overheard my mom talking about my interest in photography and left an old Minolta film camera on the living room table for me to try. I picked up the camera and, many years later, still have it in my kit and shoot with it often. Those first few years of learning happened in a kind of weird intersection of photography and internet culture. Myspace was huge, Ashton Kutcher was the mascot for Nikon point and shoot cameras and no one could buy film for their old Polaroids – so they were decor on your shelf or $1 at the garage sale. Read more>>

Suzann Kaltbaum

Travel photography started as a passion project, so just like when you do anything you love you continue getting better and better at it (hopefully!). My natural curiosity coupled with taking photography classes jumpstarted my career before I realized I actually wanted to pursue it professionally. As a mother and avid traveler (and thanks to evolving technology) I always had a camera with me. Capturing life’s precious moments became a part of who I was. A digital storyteller. As time went on and my kids grew up, I had more time to delve into digital art. Read more>>

Kristin Beck

When I began to quilt, I came to the craft with a background in abstract painting, graphic design, and bookbinding. All these disciplines informed the quilt making process—specifically making modern quilts. Abstract painting embraces saturated colors and non-specific forms, graphic design loves its use of white space, and bookbinding is sewing together pieces that were once large that have been cut smaller and reimagined. Learning to use a sewing machine was one of the first steps on the quilting path. My aunt, a traditional quilter, taught me how to sew together a nine-patch block on a Singer that my mom gave me. Read more>>

Andrea Pate

I am an artist proficient in several mediums. I enjoy learning new art forms and was always curious about pyrography (wood burning). One afternoon, I went to a craft store to replenish some art supplies and decided to buy a pyrography pen. I took it home and got a piece of wood from my husband’s workshop and sketched a simple bird design on the wood. I didn’t know anything about pyrography. I set the heat on my pen to the highest setting and pressed down hard into the wood. When my burning was done, it was far from perfect. Read more>>

Laura Funk

I fell into blogging as a hobby. I have always enjoyed writing and storytelling, but it wasn’t until I became a mom and the world went digital that I found my passion. The past decade has been a constant learning curve. I started by learning basic coding to design my blog, from there I spent countless hours learning how to best market our blog page and pitch companies, while also building our social following. Then it was SEO, camera equipment and photo editing courses. I feel like I am constantly learning and growing and I like that as social media and the digital space continues to change. Read more>>

Saura Kline

The best way to learn a new craft: trial and error. There are usually no shortcuts. Sure, you want to have basic knowledge of your craft so you’re not going in blindly, but you really can’t learn a new craft or skill without getting your feet wet. I would buy cookbooks, research cooking techniques, and apply them to what I was doing. It was a process that took years before I felt I really understood the science behind baking and pastry. I really don’t think you can speed up the process, you have to live your skill to really master it. The only obstacle that stood in my way was myself. Getting down on myself when something would go wrong, and not take it as a learning experience. Read more>>

Israel Marquez

I have always been an artist since I was a kid. But really wanted to be a film maker. But unfortunately, the means to do that was not available to me at the time. As technology advanced, I was able to purchase video cameras and start practicing my art. I would start by taking shots from my favorite films and recreating them using my cat Simon as my actor. You know it’s more than just turning the camera on and shooting. I taught myself angles, lenses and how to use different sizes and lighting. Once a had a grasp of the camera I went on to editing video. Read more>>

Patrick Durbin

As one who has multiple skills for the ever-changing world of interactive entertainment, I feel like I have been learning various arts for my various crafts further back than I can remember. Even at a young age, I was very curious about a multitude of creative endeavors. I enjoyed the general arts such as music and drawing but I also recall even in elementary school questioning what made my favorite experiences so memorable while others I found myself not caring for as much. Read more>>

Shari Mooney

How did you learn to do what you do? I took the slow and steady route to establish roots for strong growth, which I truly believe is important in building a foundation for your brand and the overall structure of your business, as this is the foundation of how you serve your Clients. I took the time to learn my craft by immersing myself in education and techniques and learning how to best serve my Clients with a heart of service by being on wedding days and sessions as an assistant with the willingness to learn and build connections overtime. Read more>>

Stephen Brown

Becoming a movie critic has been a lifelong journey. Prior to founding and managing www.SilverScreenCapture.com, it was a process of writing hundreds of articles for dozens of publications in several decades of media – from faxing articles to magazines to entering text on green screens on old newsrooms to emailing stories to media outlets to writing capsule critiques on my iPhone straight to WordPress, it’s been a journey of knowing what formats my editors wish and keeping up with the tastes of readers. Finding my voice as a film reviewer meant learning from the masters. Read more>>

Darius Fentress

There are many ways one can learn how to create and produce music. Some people go to school, some learn from how to videos. I was fortunate enough to have on the job training from the beginning of my career. When I was 19 or 20 years old, I interned in studio with a very successful recording artist and record producer. I was challenged to learn every aspect of the creative process from inception to finished product. That experience shaped my life and career to what it is today. Looking back, I could have benefitted from some formal schooling, just from the standpoint of gaining knowledge and insight from other people, but I value everything I experienced, the way I experienced it. Read more>>

Alex AETPhotos

I’ve been taking photos every single day since I was 18 months old and I became certified by University of Texas at Arlington in photography and photoshop when I was 15. At 16 I got into videography, website design and social media management and learned by just looking things up and working on it all every single day. More recently I’ve also gotten into merch design/graphic design, tour management, publicity, and more and I learn more about all of it every day just by getting experience wherever I can and doing research about it in my free time. Read more>>

Crystal Carr

I learned everything I know from working for just about every type of portrait studio there is! And then practicing. When I was fresh out of high school, I worked for a photographer who specialized in high school senior portraits. In college, I worked for a wedding photographer. I also studied Fine Art Photography at Long Beach State and logged plenty of practice hours shooting and developing for projects. As a young adult, I assisted a school portrait company and worked for several years at a boudoir studio. I highly recommend interning, assisting, or working for a couple different companies. Read more>>

Alexis Rodriguez

My Uncle Joe, or Jose, has always had a passion and talent for writing poetry. When he was younger, he even use to perform Christian raps at his church. So, ever since I was little we’ve just always bonded through writing, and he introduced me to Eminem, who made me fall into a deeper love with words. Just his play on words, his love for words, the way he describes his writing process. I could’ve criticized myself less. I believe that I can be hard on myself, especially on my writing. When it comes to something such as this, it takes practice, just like anything else, if I’m not reading or writing daily, then I’m not “watering the plant”, it won’t grow, blossom, etc. It’s just as they say practice makes perfect. Read more>>

Sam Lopez

Learning the craft? What did I know about organizing shows in the beginning? Not much. I knew how to contact straight venues and get enough promo in front of a booker for them to slightly understand what we were trying to do. Noise music is an exceptional genre of music in that you can never really explain what it is until you are already on stage performing. Noise music comes in various forms. Sometimes its painfully chaotic; swells of jagged feedback permeating the room like rotting meat. Other times, its soothing, blissful like an intoxicating dream. Read more>>