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.
Jalon Aka Jaylawn Dukes
Being an artist is a skill thats within you, a gift given from God. However, this doesn’t mean that you can hone your craft without any practice. I’ve always had musical abilities because as a kid I took several music classes. I learned how to play the recorder at a young age and eventually learned a little bit about the piano. These classes helped develop my ear which is an important skill to have when dealing with music. When I began writing music, I knew I needed to improve my vocabulary, perfect my flow and learn how to count beats. Read more>>
Tyler Yeomans
I have been in the princess business for over 10 years now. I started off as a character, a board member, running a non-profit, and now I run one of the list prestigious princess company in the middle Georgia area. Read more>>
Nyorh Agwe
I’ve always been an entrepreneur, ever since I was 13. My first experience of supply & demand was in that middle school cafeteria, selling a hundred dollars worth of gimp bracelets. It was amazing and I think that memory always sticks with me because it’s not something I learned in a book- it’s something I learned through connecting with people. Read more>>
Janet-Okwui Oputa
I am constantly learning the craft of blogging. When I started the Wellness 4 Brown Girls platform, I had no prior experience with blogging. The only experience I had with blogs were blogs that I had written for previous jobs, and they were very different from the style of blogging I’m doing for this creative project that focuses on the experiences of Black women in pop culture and wellness topics. Read more>>
DADA SOULFACE
In 1998 my good friend Paul Sigwerth invited me up share an art studio with a group of artists he knew. The studio would be my teacher thru my contact with other artists and the books that were left behind by past artists in the space. This is where I would discover the art movement DADAISM. Dadaism is an art movement that emerged in Europe in the early 20th century, before surrealism. It was characterized by deliberate irrationality and negation of traditional artistic values, and it used various media, including collage, sound poetry, cut-up writing, and sculpture. Read more>>
Jeremi Durand
I navigated my way to film directing (and photography) through design and music; I’ve studied product design in the 1st place, which is one of the hardest forms of creation as there are so many constraints. I then specialized in Design Fiction and began scripting product design solutions with the future in mind. Read more>>
Troy Richardson
I started learning music pretty early. I didn’t come from a musical family by any means, but I took advantage of everything my public school had to offer. There’s only so much to learn in a school that wasn’t a performing arts type, so I was self-taught to some extent before I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston. Knowing what I know now, I would have concentrated on songwriting earlier. Read more>>
Daya Brown
My love for poetry came years ago in one of the hardest times of my life. It was an escape for me and helped me through everything. I used my passion and gift to grow myself and brand with written and spoken words. Fully understanding how to use words and their meanings is definitely very essential to poetry and speaking. Thriving as a high school student and balancing a young company has been an obstacle. It’s been both a gift a learning experience and a gift to be in this position at a young age. Read more>>
Kevaun Folks
I’ve been creating music ever since I was a child in church. The real creative process began in 2005. A man by the name of Kenny Brown was my first manager who kind of taught me about the music business and put me and four others into his home studio where we learned how to really create hits! It was kind of easy to me since I come from a family of so many musical talents, it was evident. Over the years I began to write music for me and others as well. Read more>>
Shiva Mehta
My photography journey started soon after completing my undergraduate studies, developing at first as a creative and therapeutic outlet. Over the years I went onto explore different avenues of photography. I hadn’t gone any taught courses initially, I simply remember reading the manual of my first DSLR camera over and over and experimenting with it. I read books and watched Youtube videos to understand light and exposure and later attended various in-person workshops. Read more>>
Jason Pritchard
During my childhood in the 1980s, I lived in a small village in East Anglia, UK, and had to come up with my own methods of keeping entertained. Our TV only had only four channels and video games did not have the fancy graphics or immersive game play that kids enjoy today, so I spent a lot of my childhood drawing and sketching instead. Luckily, my father had his own printing business and with it came a lot of spare paper, plenty of art pens, and other art supplies in his workshop to help hone my drawing skills from an early age. Read more>>
Caleb D. Gordon
One thing about doing stand up comedy is the craft. In my opinion I don’t think stand up is something you can consider a hobby or take for granted. It’s something that you most definitely have to practice, study, and learn the craft. You have to be really mentally prepared and motivated once you get into this business. It can definitely discourage you at some points, but you have to just keep pushing through. Read more>>
Russell Reinhart
I put myself in the position to learn more. While in college I worked at a radio station, KTSU 90.9, and pursued other work within the industry. I was not 100% clear on what I wanted to do within the industry, at the time I was an engineer and producer myself and I was majoring in Radio Television and Film, but I knew I wanted to learn more about the music industry and see what other opportunities were out there. Read more>>
Kristen Willden
I took a photography class, an art elective, in college, which was also when I bought my first DSLR Nikon camera. People started asking me if I could take family photos for them and started tipping me. Then, I realized I could do this as a business. I was going to college and working part-time, so I was already busy with everything and didn’t put a lot of thought into photography as much as I would have liked to. Read more>>
Maisy Capps
A big question in my studio is about what my craft actually is. A practice that is not defined by medium or tool or industry requires my persistent curiosity. I spend a lot of time in the realm of ceramics. Every aspect of what constitutes ceramic work is exemplary of this conundrum. Where does the ceramic process even begin? A single ingredient like Copper Carbonate encounters so much before it even arrives in my possession – geologic processes, Read more>>
Christopher Goody
So shortly after graduating from high school in 2010, I attended a local media school in the broadcasting field. The school taught us how to use video cameras, radio, podcast and other media. Upon graduating from the school, my parents purchased my very first camera and from there it was all on me to learn! Read more>>
Clayton Waller
I took piano lessons from an early age (age 5) and then moved onto ‘rock’ instruments in high school – bass, drums, guitar. I taught myself how to record (first with garage band then with pro tools) via the internet/YouTube videos). I’ve worn many hats over the years out of necessity – booking agent, graphic designer (to make merch & flyers), tour manager, manager, songwriter, producer, engineer, mixer, and the list goes on. Read more>>
Iona Wilson
I started taking belly dance classes with an instructor in the city. She was a great instructor who planted the seeds for further growth in my dance. While I did practice almost daily, feedback would have likely sped up the process for me. Admittedly, I was nervous to hear feedback because no one wants to hear negative information about something they are enjoying. Read more>>
Giovanni Cabrera
I was very determined and self efficient I hated to ask anyone for anything. So I learn by trial and error. I simply just did it and with repetition you have no choice but to improve. With music and photography. Read more>>
Janina Garay
Well being a Culinary Director ain’t easy… everyone in the industry ask me how do I manage 6+ kitchens, and the answer is i just take it day by day. Managing over 60 BOH humans, it’s for sure a challenge. Tec really helps this days, being able to talk to my assistant “siri” to schedule meeting, add notes and remainders to my to do’s, scheduling text, emails and calls, etc. A manager it’s really about how good are you resolving things, all the things!!! As fast as possible, and with a smile. Read more>>
John Klosterman
As an artist, I have made a nostalgic and symbolic decision to incorporate the medium of woodcut. Growing up in my rural southern household, much of my identity and learning was founded upon honing skills of physically demanding labor. This same mentality transitioned over into my origins as a printmaker with my love of woodblock carving. Instead of the turn of a wrench, it became the carving of a block with a gouge. The combination of artistic skill and laborious intensity resonates with my own identity. Read more>>
Noah Garabedian
Being a musician is a life-long journey. There are the technical and physical aspects of music and one’s instrument to focus on, and then there are the less tangible elements; sound, touch, style, theory, etc. Improvisation is a big part of what I do, and studying great improvisors from all traditions of music from all over the world is essential to my development. Recently I have been thinking about “sounding good,” and what “sounding good” Read more>>
Kamble
Learning the craft I feel is important more than anything as an artist. There’s not a lot of artists that take the time to study or learn their craft. Most artists just jump into the game without even knowing the basics of music or even knowing who came before them. Read more>>
Julia S.
I studied Architecture & Still Life Design for 3 years and then got in University of Athens in Greece at the Department of Photography and Audiovisual Arts. While I was studying there and working as a photographer doing my early steps, I was browsing one day on the internet and seeing all these beautiful henna designs on hands. Instagram and Pinterest were full of them back in 2015. I decided I wanted to have fun and try it out and while I was making my first ever online orders, henna cones was one of them. Read more>>