Blackwell was interested in the arts, and around 1850 she began studying art at the newly opened Philadelphia School of Design for Women; she also took classes in New York. In 1855, she went to Europe to continue her training, studying design in Paris before moving on to study painting in London with John Ruskin. She funded her trip in part by writing weekly letters for two Philadelphia newspapers, an opportunity that opened up after one of her stories won a prize in a magazine contest.
