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.

Jessica Walton

Most people don’t see creativity and national security as a natural fit—but that’s exactly where my career has taken me. Storytelling has been a passion of mine since I was a kid. I wrote short stories and essays, interned at a newspaper, and eventually earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. My interest in national security and international affairs then led me to pursue a Master’s in Security Intelligence. Today, I’m fortunate enough to merge these two fields as a communications strategist and creative writer in the defense sector. Read more>>

Renée Doiron

I am primarily a concert photographer (who sometimes likes to take my camera on as many trips as I can afford).

I was always creative/artsy as a child and thought I wanted to be an architect when I grew up. I drew, I painted. I was a musician.

In order to be accepted into architecture programs I first needed two years of university and a portfolio. My high school guidance counselors recommended that I take engineering as I was good in math and some of my classes could be credited towards a degree in architecture. I started engineering and never made it to the school of architecture, however that itch to make the world a more beautiful place remained. Read more>>

Rhea Morales

When it comes to acting, I cannot stress enough the importance of training. I feel as if when people get too reliant on “natural ability” and don’t work that “muscle” that is their talent, you’re not putting yourself in the best position for success. You need to have craft especially to survive in environments where talent is essentially everywhere you look. You simply cannot “coast” and think you’re honestly going to have a career by being casual about your craft and business. I started my training in high school, I was lucky enough to have found what I wanted to do as a career path early in my youth but didn’t have the confidence to pursue it professionally until my early 20’s. Read more>>

Daniel Vettorazi

I learned to do what I do through a combination of curiosity, hands-on experimentation, and a relentless drive to stay ahead of emerging technologies. Early in my career, I immersed myself in the intersection of design and technology, constantly exploring new tools and techniques even when they were still in their infancy. Founding one of Brazil’s first adlabs was a turning point that forced me to learn by doing—experimenting with emerging technologies like AR and AI long before they became mainstream, which positioned me as a leader in the field. Read more>>

Rodney Iler G.e.

The Bible says in Philippians 2:2 “Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” This verse speaks to unity, shared purpose, and aligning oneself with a common goal, which can offer a meaningful framework for approaching learning and growth. As a collective, we must operate in this spirit of oneness because it helps us maintain order on and off the platform and that’s how we continue to learn how to do what we’ve been called to do. Read more>>

Katie Cunningham

I was 29 years old when I realized I wanted to work in film. To set the scene, I had been working corporate jobs for most of my career, and had never imagined that I could make a living as a creative. I’ve always loved writers and writing, but something about sitting in a room alone day in and day out felt misaligned for me. It wasn’t until I started doing The Artist’s Way that I began to figure out I really wanted to write for film, because film is the exact opposite of a solo endeavor. And not only did I want to write for film, but I wanted to direct. Read more>>

Sunni Ann Thompson

Creativity has always been a part of who I am. As a child, I was constantly drawing, creating, and occasionally causing trouble with a crayon in hand. When I was about nine, I had a moment that shifted how I saw art. A friend drew a scene with perspective, and I was captivated by how real it looked. In that instant, I knew I wanted to learn how to do that. She mentioned taking art classes at a local studio, and I begged my parents to let me enroll. Read more>>

Dillon Sleper

I am a self taught producer/DJ. Ever since I was a young kid i’ve been pretty good at achieving whatever I set my mind to. Im not special, but I firmly believe the discipline I learned early on is the main factor. Starting anything new is not easy. It feels aimless, like the odds are stacked against you. But once you dive in you begin to find the flow and what works for you. Like most, I started just watching Ableton tutorials on Youtube. Basically immersing myself in all things dance music production. It took a couple years honestly, to get to a point where I didn’t sound like complete trash. Luckily I personally tend to not get frustrated with myself. Patience and consistency allowed me to power through. Read more>>

Buddy Friedman

Initially was self taught. Eventually found myself interning at a world renowned music studio here in Austin via a family friend. In terms of speeding up the learning process I wish I would have collaborated with other artists/engineers/song enthusiasts earlier, specifically when I first started. Collaboration is one of the quickest and most efficient ways to learn not only how to engineer, produce, and write, but also allows you to get comfortable working with others. Understanding how different artist like to work and how to communicate with others in a music setting is really important the further you get into the industry on a professional level, and it also is a great way to just get better overall. Read more>>

Calvin Rafah

I developed my understanding of fashion design through extensive training and access to vast amounts of information on design principles, trends, and techniques.

In fashion design, creativity and attention to detail are crucial. Staying current with trends, understanding fabrics, and mastering technical skills like sketching and sewing are important. It’s also vital to have a unique vision and the ability to adapt to changing consumer preferences. Read more>>

Noah Toaso

It all started in middle school when I got my first 35mm film camera. Our school had just received a grant that allowed us to shoot 400-speed black-and-white film. I spent the entire year chasing my friends with that camera, capturing almost everything I could. Looking back, I think I could have accelerated my learning if I had continued shooting at that same pace. Those early years of photography pushed me out of my comfort zone with the variety of subjects I experimented with. I vividly remember the frustration of reviewing my contact sheets and feeling disappointed with how I captured the action. Read more>>

Izel Calderon

I started playing the piano when I was two years old. I would take melodies such as “Happy Birthday” and play them in the piano by ear. At three years old, my parents started a piano school, and I started hearing a lot of different melodies their students were learning and I was able to play them by ear as well. Then, when I was four, I started taking piano lessons in a Russian Institute. I could have sped up my learning process by taking more classes, but I think that two classes per week were sufficient. Read more>>

Nicole Snow

I have a big dance background so any form of movement was always fun for me to play with. I wanted to continue with that world right out of high school but I listened too much to society and heavily believed in the “starving artist” metaphor and it kept me from being an instructor for over 10+ years. As much as I regret those years I do believe that they helped me find the path that I am on now. I learned a lot of what I do and do not want to do with my creative career and I’m excited to see where they will lead me now. Read more>>

Kristen Bell

I attended O’Brien’s Aveda Institute fall of 2018 – 2019. Previous to that I did two years of cosmetology and science education while in HS which greatly kept me ahead of the game during my credited schooling. Post graduation and state boards, thus becoming a professional licensed cosmetologist I began my work at a small salon about 30 minutes from my home town. I signed up for a balayage and hair cutting class immediately, offered by Redken and by 2020 I had completed a third course in hair coloring formulating in Redken color. Read more>>

Wilhelm Duke

When I started in 2012 I was far from the best emcee rhythmically or lyrically. I spent years locked in a bedroom writing raps and freestyling over YouTube beats. A lot of my growth came from trial and error, making mistakes, and learning the hard way that the early records I was releasing were no good and not reflective of me or what I could be as an artist. Proud to say much of my talent and skill as a rapper is something I’ve had to work on and earn. Eventually I delved into speed rapping which is ironic because growing up I didn’t like the style as much as some buddies of mine. I started chopping in 2016 and by 2022 I had the awesome privilege of working as a personal assistant to Twista (who I consider the pioneering father of the fast rap style if not possibly the inventor) where I learned amazing tricks and tips with the craft of recording and how to rap in the booth. That knowledge was tantamount to me blowing up on Facebook Reels that same year. Read more>>

Avongale Art

Since my childhood, I’ve always dreamed of publishing my comic. I remember endlessly drafting out pages and sketching, but I realized that I wouldn’t be able to create what I had envisioned due to my abilities at the time. That was when I knew I wanted to improve and take my work more seriously, so I created an agenda of what I needed to teach myself. From there I began studying a multitude of different things, such as realism, anatomy, artist styles, environmental backgrounds, and more. With that much time and effort into my art, I quickly saw improvement which only fueled my drive. Read more>>

Oliver Ocampo

What could never make me grow tired of life is the mindset that there is always more to discover. After I graduated from theatre school, I realized I was unhappy with my acting, because I wasn’t satisfied with how I was playing. I thank my curiosity, because it was through curiosity that I found the Meisner technique + LB acting studios, that taught me that the best way to be authentic is to give yourself to the character and the story. You need to care about something/someone other than yourself. I learned to do that by recognizing my insecurities, and healing them on my own (but, not being afraid to ask help from someone EMOTIONALLY SECURE, when I didn’t know what to do): Read more>>

Athena Rose

I spent a lot of time growing up playing music, I played flute in concert band first chair. Then I spent time in marching band, I also did chorus.

I learned a lot from my dad, he is an entrepreneur and has been my whole life. I remember him always reminding me how important it was to be successful, I remember him telling me how important it was for me to be able to stand on my own regardless of who I have in my life to support me. Read more>>

Travis Prokop

One learns to do something by doing it, in my case, dance education and choreography. In one of my favorite books, Art & Fear by Bayles and Orland, there is an example of a ceramics class. The ones who spent their time making pots and learning from their mistakes grew and improved, whereas those who theorized about perfection had nothing to show for their efforts. I apply this to my creative craft daily. The essential skills I’ve learned are to celebrate my uniqueness and live in my identity. The obstacles that stood in my way were the minimal examples of myself in the art I was exposed to. Read more>>

Ashley Quills

Learning to be a voice actor was a somewhat blind dive into the unknown! It was around August 2020, a few months into the pandemic, and I saw voice over memes from people like Gianni Matragrano and Luke Correia and thought “why not?” I’d already enjoyed playing things like Dungeons & Dragons with friends, getting to roleplay and act out characters, and this was almost like the next step up from there. Read more>>

Sarah Tocko

Growing up I was always maximizing my creative outlets; my parents sent me to art camps in the summertime, I chose to be in art classes all throughout my education, and I loved creating things in my free time. In my early teens I learned that in order to be the best artist I could be I had to stretch my talents beyond what was interesting to me. I sought out classes that were outside my comfort zone, ones that expanded my skillset and sharpened my artistic abilities. Some of the most valuable parts of my education were spent doing utterly silly tasks that, at the time, felt pointless and frustrating. I remember my freshman year of college I took Drawing 101 and it felt so juvenile that I had to take it to be able to take higher level art classes that I was actually excited about. I spent a lot of time during that semester pushing myself in directions that were different and new. This widened my viewpoint of my art and what it could look like. Read more>>

Matthew Smith

Practice-wise, I’m a bit cavalier. I’ve never taken a guitar lesson or a voice lesson in my life, and I blame that on my stubbornness. First, I played bass guitar for 6 years. My dad, who plays guitar, was integral in my learning and a touchpoint if I ever had any questions. I then learned guitar by listening to my favorite songs and playing every note until it sounded right. A long and painstaking process indeed. As for changing my learning process, I wouldn’t change a thing. We, as humans, get very fixated on hindsight bias. While taking stock is a very important part of our lives, I believe it is always important to accept yourself for who you are and accept the things you did to get here. Was it perfect? No? Was it easy? No. Will it help you as a creative person to dwell on past decisions? Certainly not. As cliche as it sounds, self-acceptance truly is a superpower. Read more>>

Kimberly Ogden

For my entire adolescent life, I’d been an only child of two working class parents. I’d known from a young age that I’d wanted to do something productive with my introspective time. I’d also discovered a particular fondness for the arts, and I wanted to share this with as many people as possible. Read more>>

Raisa Tolchinsky

I learned to write poetry by paying attention– so many drafts that no one saw but me, so many notebooks filled with feelings and scenes and moments I didn’t want to forget. I am still learning, and there’s no “arrival”– the act of writing means constantly being remade by the act itself. Read more>>

Chris Cruz

I took my first painting class 40 years ago, I was hooked and knew I wanted to learn as much as I could about this art. My first projects were what is known as pen and ink. You draw the design with a pen and give it a lot of detail and then complete the work of art with paint. From there I knew I wanted to know everything there was about painting. I learned how to do watercolors, acrylics, mixed media and colored pencil. I started teaching and sharing with my students some of the techniques I perfected and the unending creative process that we all have within us. Read more>>

Eddie Hall

I am self-taught as an artist. The first time I really picked up a paint brush was when I was nearly forty, just playing around with some leftover paints someone else had left laying around. I think I first felt then what keeps bringing me back to the artistic process, that state where you don’t really care about anything other than expressing the idea you have in your head. Read more>>

Eduard Gavril

I started playing piano at the age of six, introduced to it by my parents, who are both professional musicians in the Tîrgu-Mureș State Orchestra in Romania—my mother a cellist and my father a French horn player. My early education was rooted in the Art School in Tîrgu-Mureș, where I studied piano from grades 1 to 12. Afterward, I earned my bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In 2015, I moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies, completing a master’s in Collaborative Piano from Sam Houston State University, followed by a second master’s in Piano Performance from the University of California, Irvine. Read more>>