We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Micah Claycamp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Micah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Drew all David Ankin’s rides for season 2 of Toymakers on Velocity Channel in 2017

Published in cartoons Magazine

=16 plus coloring books published

Micah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a husband, father or 4, lizard enthusiast and Christian who loves to draw CARtooned cars. I started Micahdoodles (part-time) after I began getting requests to draw people’s vehicles in Dec. of 2014. It’s been a wild ride as my style continues to change and develop. I draw every Monday night at 6pm MT on Cartoons Magazine Automotive Humor (their fb page). I finish the color version of a custom piece of art I had drawn the week prior to. I have been doing this for 3 years.

I do micahdoodles part time, and finish art for clients on the weekends, and a few open nights during the week. Most of my clients are from Facebook or have seen my art online. I post often on a page I am an admin of called Cartooned Drawings of Cars, Trucks and Bikes, as well as Free Cartoon Coloring Pages.
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My encouragement for those car artists is to get involved in a car artist forum either on IG or Fb. Draw and post often and learn from others. Most of all, have fun at what you do.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Building an audience on social media takes time. You might be lucky to have a video go viral, but most of us need to put in the work and post often. One thing I did early on was draw nightly and hone my skills drawing cars. I would also join facebook pages of vehicles Ive drawn and post my art. I also joined a car art pages where i could see what other respected and talented artists were doing and learn from them.

This was easier to do 5 years ago as people and clients were more trusting and I didn’t really have many scammers. Now, its a whole different story. Facebook has been flooded with those looking for quick electronic deposits as they pretend to be an artist. They literally duplicate my account on instagram and facebook, steal all my art and creat a page impersonating me. I have 7 accounts that are currently doing this. I also get my art stolen and used to create shirts in other countries. A lot of people in the cartooned car field can recognize my art (even when my signature is removed). I now no longer just text back my clients but require a personal phone call. I have had too many scammers fishing for my info and text messages I sent only to use that when they are pretending to be me.
This has been going on for over 1 year.

Over the course of micahdoodles which started in 2015, I have drawn well over 1000 vehicles, and post most of my art online on different social media platforms. I have created my own tshirt store (cartoonedtees.com) and now have 16+ coloring books available from vehicle art I have drawn. The coloring books are theme related, so I’m sure I have one that you would enjoy. These were a hit a few years ago as I sold 800 one Christmas season as I advertised them as 410 stocking stuffers.

My story and my art growth can be seen on my webpage, micahdoodles.com

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There is a big difference between getting to draw and having to draw. Is easy to start to lose passion in art when you have to draw all the time. I would rather draw and enjoy it, then draw and lose my passion. Passion, enjoyment and creativity is what keeps my job fun. Yes, it requires hard work, but i love drawing and find myself doing it whether I have clients or not.

I draw mostly on my IPad Pro using an Apple Pencil and procreate app. I take my IPad with me everywhere. I have drawn on planes at 30,000 feet, on car trips, at car shows, at home, even in coffee shops. You will find time to do what you love.

Contact Info:

• Website: Micahdoodles.com
• Instagram: _micahdoodles_
• Facebook: Micah Claycamp, Micahdoodles
• Youtube: Micahdoodles