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.

Richard Kahn

A significant part of being prepared is knowing the repertoire (the actual musical selections) that are popular in the given region in which you will be performing. Read more>>

Giorgio Serafini

Learning the craft is a never-ending process on both the creative and the financial aspects of the business. Since I was a kid I knew I wanted to become a film-maker. Read more>>

Luke Galloway

Like many, I learned my first instrument with an instructor. But, also like many, most of my growth as a musician came when I was alone, exploring, tinkering, and experimenting. Read more>>

Chala June

Food is central to all of the work I do–to my entire life, really–and my journey in food has been a long and winding one. I’ve been cooking my entire life, but my professional culinary career started in 2016 when I got my first prep cook job on a Vietnamese food truck in Boston during college. Read more>>

Sheila Wolff

When I was young, I had a problem believing in myself. I always had the impulse towards visual art. but the minute I started a class, I would compare myself to the most advanced students in the class and tell myself I was not good enough; that I lacked ‘talent’. Read more>>

Elizaveta Gaevaya

Following my high school graduation, I was accepted into the BFA program at School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. While going through the 3D Animation and VFX track, my goal was to learn as much as possible about computer art so that I could make an informed decision on what path I wanted to pursue. Read more>>

Aarohi Bansal

It is so important to have a passion for learning and to continuously develop your skills in the creative fields. I consider it to be one of the most important aspects of my illustration practice. Read more>>

Kana Shimanuki

The craft of singing. How humbling it is to be a singer. The constant challenge of improving my skills and reaching towards excellence, and at the same time, always having access to this beautiful and primal experience of just making sound with my voice. Read more>>

Tonja Ayers

Mastering the craft of filmmaking has proven to be both gratifying and demanding. Starting without any prior training or education, I leaped into producing a feature film. Read more>>

Shav’ae (Zen) Johnson

I’ve begun drawing since late elementary school early middle school, I believe. I don’t remember how I learned how to draw other than observation and inspiration from things I enjoy, like Disney Fairies. Read more>>

Doter Sweetly

I truly, truly believe that nothing teaches you better than doing something. I think that’s probably something we can all agree on. Read more>>

Nate Wagner

How did I learn? It took most of my adult life working in marketing and business development to become a consultant. But to become an award-winning novelist, I just started doing it. Read more>>

Tom Colcord

I got really into painting in high school and then decided to major in it at IU Bloomington for my undergrad degree. I’ve probably re learned to paint 10 times or so but really first got a sense for unique ways of approaching painting with the professors I had at IU. Read more>>

Cash Campain

10,000 hours. I’ve spent so many days, nights, and hours creating that it feels natural to me now. It was not always that way it took a while for me to find my voice and understand myself as a creative. Read more>>

Patrick Rea

Learning to make films has taken many years and you’re never finished learning. There is always some new skill or technology that is right around the corner. Read more>>

Drew Keys

I initially developed my passion and foundational skills in music through a combination of self-teaching, hands-on experience, and formal education. Read more>>

Khushi Jamnadas

I started doing photography in my freshman year of high school back when I lived in the suburbs near Toronto, Canada. My walk to school was 20 minutes – it started with a stroll outside of my neighbourhood, then on a downwards trail that oversaw a lake, then finally a series of neighborhoods arranged like a maze that I had to navigate through. Read more>>

RLo

I learned to produce the work that I do by experimenting with stylistic and fundamental influences across a multitude of medias and disciplines within the arts. Read more>>

Kiran Babu

Learning the craft of “a curiosity driven approach to design & moving beyond procrastination”. Through a curiosity-driven approach, I learned to adopt a holistic approach to problem-solving as a UX designer and systems thinker. Read more>>

Jack Remick

Artists and writers have to start someplace. When I was younger, I wanted to be a poet, but I didn’t know how to do that. It sounded easy–write poems. Read more>>

TT Hernandez

My formal training began at age seven, with artist Liv Saether. Some of my earliest memories are of pulling fruit from the trees and collecting a living snail from the garden, as a model for a still life oil painting. Read more>>

Tina Capricorn

My mother likes to tell me that my first word was “book”, so of course I wanted to grow up and be a writer. I wrote my first chapter book in fourth grade and have been writing ever since. Read more>>

Rachael Mayer

I feel lucky and privileged to count myself as a fiber artist. My craft very much feels as though I have inherited it from a long line of women. Read more>>

Teeb Martin

My creative abilities come from my mother. As a kid I used to try to mimmic her every move when she used to draw. I would always ask for help but get mad when she helped too much. Read more>>

Green Grove Cabin

I am looking for continuous improvement in my art journey in both visual rendering and narrative solutions, I like to explore nature healing power through a inner path that with a simple communicative language can convey to those who look at my works the same moods and feeling of spirituality, balance and belonging that mother nature gives me Read more>>

Gina Menichino

In my life, I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by some truly special folks who’ve taught me a lot. My dad’s the embodiment of grit—he started with nothing and built a stable life for our family. Read more>>

Chandler Sherrill

The biggest thing about being a producer is learning the craft. I took a long time of diving in and learning the craft before I decided to pursue it as a business. Read more>>

Eddie Covarrubias

Before I was a cinematographer and video editor, I was a musician and producer. Both careers have so many similarities that it became an easy transition from one dream to another. Read more>>

RENE MEDRANO

Honestly, it’s a sort of “Love-Hate” relationship with cosplay in general. Usually, when you’re starting your pretty much just in the process of piecing things together or just going through a costume shop/amazon to even get an idea of what you want to dress up as. Read more>>

Angelle Quesnel

It wasn’t until late in my degree that I found what I wanted to pursue professionally. Something about 3D modeling just stuck with me. Read more>>