Micah Lidberg was born in 1985 and was raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He spent the majority of his childhood being absolutely enamored with the fields, forests, and volatile weather that surrounded him. After many years of traveling, Micah has now returned to Kansas City where he happily spends his days cutting, pasting, and drawing.

His illustrations are highly populated and detailed intersections of nature and his imagination. He has been featured in publications such as Computer Arts, Beautiful/Decay, and Society of Illustrators LA. He was recently named one of the Top Ten Illustrators of 2008 by Computer Arts Magazine and was also included in the Illustrative 08 show in Zurich, Switzerland. Micah also recently had the privilege to join the very exciting agency, Hugo & Marie.

How would you describe your personal style?
I like my work to have the feeling of being a sort of alternate reality - a place where things half exist. I like to draw by hand and use a lot of patterns.

When you were a child, did you want to become an illustrator?
Yes and no, I didn't know it was called illustration then, but I wanted to draw pictures like the ones I saw in books. However, drawing and making things was always second nature to me so I didn't know it was something I could 'be' when I grew up. I had a lot of other occupations in mind when I was little. For a long time I wanted to be a veterinarian or a meteorologist.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Sciences are very interesting to me. Biology, ecology, meteorology, physics, astrophysics, neurology - the list is long. I think it's the basic curiousness and willingness to explore that really gets me going about science. I also really get inspired by anomalous phenomena as well. Weird and unknown events represent a part of our reality that we can't define yet. I think the fringe of our knowledge will always a very special place for me.

Could you describe your working process?
I do a lot of visualizing and daydreaming. Listening to music and watching documentaries helps me build spaces and moods to work from. After I form a sort of mental landscape, I lay out everything on the paper and go through a series of refinements until I have the final drawing. At that point I usually scan in the work and color it digitally.

What would be the ideal working setup for you?
I really do prefer to have as large of a desktop as possible. I enjoy spreading out so I always have a pretty big desk. All my light bulbs are daylight balanced and I like big windows. I also like a simple and organized space so that it doesn't become a burden or distraction.

What do you love the most about your life as an illustrator?
I think the absolute best part of it is being able to explore and wonder as an occupation. Also, the creative industry is very social. I really enjoy being able to meet extraordinarily interesting people and exchanging beautiful things with them.

If you had to do something totally different for living, what would it be?
I think I would really like to get into social work of some form. I'd love to make a direct and positive effect in people's lives. If not that, then I think I'd really like to be a researcher of some sort. I totally don't have the discipline for it but being a professional learner sounds fantastic.

What kind of music do you listen while working?
I listen to all kinds of music while I'm working. Potency is a big part of the music I listen to. If it makes me feel something pretty deeply then it'll find it's way on to my playlists. I also listen to a lot of lectures while I work. Sometimes, I work better while listening to someone talking. It just depends on how I'm feeling.

If you could go anywhere tomorrow, where would you go?
Maybe the ruins of Machu Picchu, or maybe Chichén Itzá on the Yucatan peninsula. If I were to just go to a region in general I think I would love going to Mongolia. I've always thought that it's an absolutely fascinating part of the world.

Who are you all-time favorite artists?
Kara Walker and Henry Darger have had a big impact on me. Their work is very beautiful, very personal, humbly constructed, and is somewhat unsettling.  It's a lot like reality.

Who has been the most inspiring non-artistic person for you?
Nikola Tesla. He was eccentric, persistent, brilliant, mysterious, intuitive, curious, and our current society wouldn't exist without him.

What is the most bizarre dream you ever had?
I had a lucid dream where I was sitting crossed-legged in front of a wall made of old dry wood. I wanted to see what the material of my dream was really made of so I pulled down on the wall and it started to sag and stretch. Apparently, everything in my dreams is made out of spandex.

If you could meet any great name from known human history, who would it be?
Maybe Pythagoras of Samos. Geometry, mathematics, and knowledge were meaningful to him in a way that I feel we've lost.

Thank you!