We recently connected with Mike Yapps and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Mike thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I’ve always created art ever since I was little. I had a great art teacher through high school who always encouraged me. I went onto college, Maryland Institute, College of Art. I graduated with a bachelors in graphic arts. I started out doing editorial illustration and had a few jobs here and there, but always loved drawing cars and monsters. I loved the lowbrow art and kustom car scene. Artists like EdRoth, Robert Williams and the like. I just wanted to do that more. Be more creative. I decided to switch gears and go back to what I loved to do and always had done, drawing cars and monsters. I came up with the name Kreative Oddities. The “K” is a nod to kustoms and oddities just because I like odd things. I have always been creating artwork as a side gig, but always wanted to be able to do it full time. I am just recently started doing it full time finally. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything different than any other artist would do. We all want to get these ideas and visions we have in our mind out. And hope people enjoy seeing it and hopefully wanting your work for themselves
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
As I said before, I’ve always drawn, so it made sense for me to do this as a living. I enjoy drawing cars and monsters. Always have, so it made sense that is what I do. I love taking someone’s car and finding the character in it. I always want to make sure that people send pics of any details that is specific to their car. To me it makes it more personal. I always try to ask questions and feel out what the clients are looking for. I like to keep them updated on the project as I go to make sure they are happy with it and see if they want changes along the way. As for something I’m proud of, is that I keep pushing myself to get better and try new things. I’m also proud of the fact that I have the regulars who always come back to me for more work. With what I do I always make sure the client gets what they are envisioning.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Pretty all my work comes from social media. I try to post everyday whether it’s works in progress or finished pieces. I also push myself to do a sketch a day to keep people interested. I also am able to sell my art online, whether it’s prints, stickers or my coloring books. So having access to the internet has made things a lot easier for me to promote my art and get more clientele. For up and comers, they have it much easier. When started out, I didn’t have the luxury of having everything at my fingertips. I went to bookstores and flipped through magazines and had to write down addresses and info, then mail off a promo package. Then sit and wait and hope they call me with a job nowadays it’s instant. You can just post your art online and the world sees it. You want to be able to connect with someone, it’s instant. .
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I’ve always worked a full time job to be able to pay the bills. That is also what funded my art supplies. I am fortunate enough now to be able to do my art full time although I plan on working part time elsewhere to keep up with bills when the art work is slow. Being an artist, the money isn’t consistent. I can be really busy and have a backlog of work to nothing. So I need to have a secondary job to keep up on the funds. But I am grateful to be able to turn it around and do what I love full time instead of a side gig.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kreativeoddities
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/Kreative-Oddities