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.

Luis Tarin

As a full time photographer and cinematographer, it’s easy to get caught up on the belief that your equipment, social media following, or network is what makes you stand out from others. If the internet was shut down tomorrow, would you still be successful? Read more>>

Matt Oliver

The iPhone is really what got me excited about photography. I had owned cameras before that, but never liked the process of either shooting on film and having to wait for developing, or shooting digital and having to transfer to a computer. iPhone photography gave me the satisfaction of an instant feedback loop. I could have an idea for a shot, shoot it, edit it, and see the final product immediately. That made me excited to try finding weird angles and reflections, and just delete the ideas that turned out to be duds. Read more>>

Danika Green

At first I was learning on my own, fortunately the schools i’ve attended had really great photography programs and it escalated from then on. I learned from constantly studying artists and wonderful mentors that I looked up to over the years to help me push the boundaries of my work. There was no need to speed up the learning process. Im contempt with everything I’ve done so far. If it wasn’t for years of constant trial and error, I wouldn’t be where I am today with my work. Read more>>

Tessa Markle

I’d like to break down this question with two separate answers for acting vs filmmaking. But for both, I would say that everyone learns differently, some people thrive in school while others learn better on the field. Either way, you’ll never truly know what you’re doing until you get on set and do it! Read more>>

Daniela Werneck

 

I have always loved art and crafts, I was born with this very strong interest in me. Read more>>

Mike Tony

I started learning how to play instruments at an early age. When I was 4 years old, I would make a drum set out of boxes, pots, pans and pillows and play them wooden spoons. Around the age of 5 I was enrolled In a music program in my elementary school where I learned how to play a multitude of instruments, including violin, thought at that age I just wanted to beat on things so I gravitated towards drums and percussion. Read more>>

D’Marrea Steed

Writing has always been natural to me. Reading literature, breaking down elements and building them back up to make sense of what I was reading and reflecting through perspectives allowed me to wander deep into organizing my own thoughts and making sense of my own world — creating relatable pieces of art, short stories, and rhythm and poetry. The love of the art form and the process of it brings hope, peace, and refuge and when dots are connected it’s like solving equations. Read more>>

Wesley Clark

I recently just released my first indie feature film and it was a very exciting yet difficult process. I set out to make a Sci-Fi film called “Sirona”. I wanted to try to make a movie that I’d pay to see. Most indie filmmakers that are brand new stick to dramas or comedies but I really wanted to challenge myself. Read more>>

Howard Kaplan

Reading, reading, reading. I taught writing at UCLA Extension for a decade but there is too great a proliferation of writing groups, writing support groups, beta readers. Some fundamentals of writing can be taught but soaking up the masters is a better avenue. I recommend people who want to write read novels twice: once for the story and the next time to see how the writer achieved it. Read more>>

Ran Wang

When I began my journey as a visual effects artist, I quickly realized the importance of starting small. Instead of diving headfirst into complex projects, I focused on mastering the fundamentals. It’s crucial to understand that greatness often emerges from the smallest details. I’ve always sought inspiration from the things I’m genuinely passionate about rather than chasing trends or trying to be “cool.” Read more>>

Avarex NJ

Honestly talent runs through my family tree I have some uncles including cousins that DJ. My grandfathers where singers & some of my aunts sing & do hair. I wouldn’t speed my process because the process made me you can’t skip the grind. The skill that I have were I’m most essential would be my art & music they both are kind of tied into each other like a ying & yang. Read more>>

Austin Faber

I started taking animation seriously about a year before I went to college, but I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing. I knew animation schools were competitive, so I honestly just looked up students at schools like Sheridan, Ringling, and Calarts and tried to copy what they did. Read more>>

Dustin Lyons

In 2008, on my way back up to Alaska for a seasonal restaurant gig I stopped off at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It was there that I first spotted and became enamored with the style of footwear I now build. A couple years later I found just the right teacher, Bill Shanor of Bonney & Will’s School of Shoemaking in Ashland, OR (he and his wife, Julie are now mostly retired). Read more>>

Nick Mason

When I decided to learn a musical instrument there was never the idea of “self taught.” With my parents it was “if you want to learn you have to take lessons.” End of story. So I got signed up for private percussion lessons at school and joined the orchestra. A couple years of that and my passion for heavy rock music took over, and I transitioned to drum set. Read more>>

Mohammed Ghanayem

I was professionally trained as a journalist and cinematographer. When I moved to the U.S.A. I had to readjust my craft to fit the market here. I was lucky to find a job with a Palestinian-American man who founded CHI hair products and needed a professional photographer. I had very little professional experience as a photographer so I had to learn on the job. I began to study their previous work and the work of other photographers in my field. Read more>>

Cindy Quayle

As far back as I can remember I have always wanted to create art. I remember being in elementary school and getting into a bit of trouble because I was drawing or doodling all of the time in class. In junior high, I was fortunate to have an incredible art teacher who introduced me to oil painting. I am dating myself, but my first painting was a deer drinking from a forest stream. Read more>>

David Quintanilla

I have been a creator for as long as I can remember. Even while in grade school, I was writing plays and looking for ways to put creative new spins on familiar stories. As I grew older, I began to expand into different mediums where I could share my art. Videography came first, having spent many years creating weekly short videos as a freelancer. Read more>>

Janine Brown

In 2003, I started my artistic career when my twin boys were just two years old. I held a Bachelor of Fine Arts, but I hadn’t created art for ten years. Over the past twenty years, I have been exploring as many mediums as I possibly can. I started by painting with watercolors. Then moved on to oil paints, printmaking, and pastels. Read more>>

Dario Forzato

In this day and age I feel like there is no one way to learn your craft. Information is so accessible that sometimes it can be overwhelming: you can learn from an academy or university, from another mentor or colleague, or straight from the internet with all those million courses and videos. I had extensive experience with all these three ways, and they are all great to help you acquire the necessary knowledge. Read more>>

Eric Toms

When I was a kid, my friends and I idolized Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, a couple of the creative minds behind THE EVIL DEAD series. We loved them because they were just these small town guys who decided they wanted to make a movie. My friends and I felt we mirrored them perfectly! My friends raised money, we shot the film and released it. Read more>>

Brian Ulrich

Learning is a lifelong journey, and the moment you feel you’ve arrived, someone younger and more eager will surpass you. Read more>>

Alex DelVecchio

In 2013 I had a roommate who’s father was a professional photographer. He had handed her down an extra Nikon D3100 and she was trying to figure out how to use it. The photos just kept coming out black. At this point I’d never touched a DSLR but I was curious what could be wrong. I’d only ever used cameras that were automatic so some degree; point-and-shoots, iPhones, etc. Read more>>

Alexander Morgan

I am currently in the process of transitioning into the field of Sound Design, specifically for video games. I’ve always been a passionate enthusiast, particularly within the realms of gaming and music, and it’s fascinating to see how these interests intersect. Many people may be surprised to learn just how much effort goes into crafting a soundscape for a game. Read more>>

Ana Carolina Estarita Guerrero

I come from an analog background in experimental animation. Think techniques like light painting, sand animation, and creating directly under the camera. That’s where my passion for playing with light started. As I transitioned to digital, I took that same experimental mindset with me. It was a process of thinking, “Let’s combine these ideas or materials, see the outcome, and then maybe introduce something new.” Essentially, experimentation was my go-to approach. Read more>>

Jose Andres Cortes

I learned photography and color grading through a combination of self-study and quiet observation. Being a naturally shy person, I often found solace in observing the world around me, and that curiosity led me to discover the beauty of visual storytelling. Read more>>

Image

When it comes to the path of being a musician or person of influence in the world you want ti develop good people skills how to one be a good person and number two how to connect organically too people because that’s what music is for to find relation to an experience or situation you and the listener both share in common. I think the more you allow yourself to be open ti hearing people out and learning their stories it opens a door of creativity because you don’t have to now just rely soley on your own experience for creative expression but the experiences of others make for great stories or songs too. Keep an open mind and a pure heart and you will always find success. Read more>>

Henry Lara

Writing stories about the people of Los Angeles is not something I initially set out to do. I began walking and taking pictures of the streets and buildings of Los Angeles as a hobby. Soon I found myself talking to people on the streets. In doing so, I listened to their stories which I found unique. Some of them impacted me. Read more>>

Chitra Subramanian

My name is Chitra Subramanian and I am a Washington, DC-based dance artist and educator. I have been dancing all of my life, starting as a young 7-year old child. I was trained in a South Indian Classical dance form called Bharathanatyam. I studied this under the teaching of Jaya Mani at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Pittsburgh. Read more>>

Jill Thomen

I always knew that I wanted to do something with my creative abilities and always have found ways to be creative throughout my life. When I was young I was drawn to interior design. I always loved that I could create a mood by just changing a paint color or re arranging furniture in a room. I struggeled in my schooling years because I’m dyslexic and had always felt I wasn’t smart enough or good enough just because I learned differently. Read more>>

Alicia Gavarian (Heinemann)

I was taught by my Grandmother Mary (Grammy) how to bead in middle school. She taught me things from how to pick out good quality beads, how to thread and design necklaces, and what qualities to look for in essential parts of a piece of jewelry. One essential part I always assess is the clasps. There are many different types and ways they should securely hold your jewelry. Read more>>

Jake D Williamson

Like a lot of people my knowledge has been a combination of traditional didactic learning and good ol’ hard-won, first-hand experience… just “doing the thing” and making mistakes and trying to do it better next time. I will say, now that I’m older I value the latter much more than I once did when I was first starting out. I like formulas, I like plans, and I really like answers. I think my younger self maybe put a little too much emphasis on “rules”, which, of course, don’t really exist in art. Read more>>

Charlie Frail

Visual Effects is a vast artistic landscape with many different disciplines. Animation, Rigging, Asset Creation, Environments, Lighting, Matte Painting, Compositing, and more. Every discipline is a chasm to explore, but each only forms one small piece of the puzzle that produces blockbuster quality movies. Read more>>

Heather Steele

I learned at a very young age, how I could use materials and tools around me and create something pleasing to the soul. I grew up on property. I guess you could safely say, that we were homesteaders. We lived off the land, raised our own meat, vegetables and fruit. It was just another day when my dad would leave and come back with a pheasant or grouse for dinner. Read more>>

Tiana Pongs

Coaching Supported my Acting Career. A few years ago, I slowly transitioned from modeling to acting. And I had some great coaches by my side on that journey. My German coach at that time Matthias Beier introduced me to Ivana Chubbuck when she held a masterclass in Munich. I also took classes with Susan Batson and Michael Nouri in Los Angeles and New York. Read more>>

Lit Jones

I grew up around music. There was always some kind of music playing at home, because my dad was really into bands and played the drums. To be honest, the beginning is kind of a blur, but I started formal lessons in fifth grade and never really stopped playing. Learning how to read has been a helpful tool, plus being in different ensembles over the years kind of shaped how I notice nuances in music as a listener. Read more>>

Rex Darnell

As a kid growing up, I gradually figured out how to be a composer by improvising at the piano. When I was a toddler, I was totally fascinated by how big the piano was and how it sounded, so I’d frequently wander over to it and start hitting random keys. We had this really old piano with chipped ivory keys, so I’d keep track of my favorite keys based on their chip marks. Read more>>

Nasya XO

I took it upon myself to learn producing and engineering through YouTube. I acquired the information pretty fast but I love to learn the techniques of others. The responsibilities of life and my own procrastination stood in the way of learning more. Read more>>

Eleonora Chessa

How did you learn to do what you do? Oh well, I went to photography school and i graduate in Italy in 1999. But honestly photography have change the game passing from analogical to digital so i had to learn as a freelance here and there from other photographers and I still learning from youtube or just observing others working…especially with evolution of technology. Read more>>

Nancy Crowd

I did not learn design and how to be creative in the traditional sense. I think being creative has a lot to do with exploration and curiosity. I’m a curious person! My process is the design process and I utilize this through all aspects of my life. The design process involves a series of steps beginning with research, analysis, and understanding the needs of your consumer. Read more>>

Shelly Cluff

My first time painting was as a new mom for a girls night out at an acrylic “paint nite”. I enjoyed it but did not create any impressive art. I went to a few more over the next few years and eventually decided to get some paints and try to figure it out on my own at home. I started watching YouTube videos and painting things as favors for friends. I started painting several times a week and was able to sell very cheap paintings to friends through social media. Read more>>

Philip Irving

While I’ve spent several years developing my craft as a filmmaker, I still consider myself in a foundational stage of my career with much to learn and experience. This much was evident on a recent set for my latest feature film project. I was directing a scene about a religiously conservative father struggling to connect to his young adult son. Read more>>

Anjini Taneja Azhar

I did not go to film school. I am a visual learner, a hands on learner, a learner who often has to do things the hard way. Learning the craft is of the utmost importance. This is our very currency; our craft is how the value of our currency increases throughout our careers. As a writer, the currency is a finished script. Read more>>

Liam Wade

How did you learn to do what you do? Read more>>

Edgar Herrera

Discovering my knack for drawing was an early revelation in my life. However, it wasn’t until 2020 that I stumbled upon another hidden talent of mine: crafting detailed designs on strawberries. I vividly remember the day when I decided to give it a shot, and to my surprise, the results were met with admiration when I shared them online. Read more>>

Tae Henry

It all started when I was in the grade school honestly. I’ve always had a passion for writing poetry and that’s where I’ve learned to turn that into music writing. It was a way for me to express myself and just feel free without no regret. It was something that was always embedded in me I think lol Read more>>