Meet Steve Rampton | Caricature artist & Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Rampton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I kind of accidentally fell into it. I’ve been drawing cartoons since I was young, but never thought I could make a career of it as my own business.. A former coworker asked me if I could draw a cartoon of his pug, which I did. He loved it and had it printed on tee shirts. A friend of mine saw the caricature and asked if I could draw her shih tzu. A light bulb went off in my head thinking this could be a lucrative side gig. Five years later, and after transitioning to drawing mostly human caricatures, it became my full time job.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a caricature artist and illustrator. My artwork is mostly line based with simple colors so I can create lots of work fairly quickly. I try to achieve my caricature likenesses with a simplicity of line and form, which is actually quite difficult. The more simple your drawing, the more every detail has to be right or else the effect suffers.

It took many long nights and weekends to get to where I am today, and I still put in long and late hours, as do most illustrators. It’s a rewarding job, creatively, but it takes up a lot of time. Anything artistic is difficult to get off the ground since the results are very subjective. I’m lucky and grateful that so many people see value in my work.

One of the big challenges I face is that I try very hard to work with other small businesses. I’ve done work for Google, Panasonic, and a couple other large corporations. I don’t mind working with them, but I prefer the personal connection that I get from working with other small businesses and figuring out ways that we can help each other succeed.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some favorite spots to eat are Avila’s El Ranchito for Mexican food and Sushi Town for Japanese.

Laguna Beach has a great artistic community and many exceptional galleries, so if I’m in an art mood, I go there. I also enjoy having a drink at Hennessey’s in Costa Mesa or 25 Degrees in Huntington Beach.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to thank my mom for always nurturing my artistic skills and my dad for giving me my love of entrepreneurship.

Website: www.caricaturesbysteve.com

Instagram: instagram.com/caricaturesbysteve