Kickin' It with Caitlin Cadieux
Meet Caitlin Cadieux! Caitlin is a super talented designer, illustrator and animator based out of Troy, NY. We watched Caitlin present some of her work at an AIGA event and her talent, knowledge of all things illustration and animation and her awesome personality blew us away — we knew we had to get to know her more! Take a look at her animation reel below and learn more about what inspires and motivates her!
Sidekick: Tell us a little about yourself and what you do for work (and fun!)
Caitlin: I'm a pretty big nerd, first and foremost. Definitely a massive animation nerd. I actually just started a new job as a motion designer for Secret Powers, really loving getting back into the motion graphics groove and working on some really cool projects. It's a big change from my last job at The Atlantic where I was doing editorial short animations and doc graphics. I'm really lucky that I've been able to do such different animation work on the job. I also really love traveling and going to motion/design conferences and doing the occasional speaking/teaching gig. It's way too much fun geeking out hard with other animators in a big group (and we totally throw the best parties). I do freelance design/animation/illustration work on the side occasionally but try not to overload myself.
As for fun, I try to fit in as much drawing and personal animation time as I can. I'm kicking around some short film ideas for next year that I'm pretty pumped about. I play video games whenever I can sneak in the time... (meaning I built a beefy PC a few months back for work and games, and have barely gotten in any games time... but someday I'm sure it'll happen!) I also recently got the itch to learn to play the piano. I had lessons as a kid and was totally not prepared to actually work at it, but it's really nice now to have a creative outlet that isn't so directly related to my day-to-day work.
How did you get into animation and illustration?
I was always drawn to it. I always refer back to seeing The Lion King as a little kid as being formative to me, there was just something about the way that it looked and felt that was so captivating to me. I grew up wanting to be a Disney 2D animator. My interests shifted as I got older and the industry changed, but it was always animation-adjacent. I was fixated on going to SCAD for 3D character animation, but it was just way too expensive, so I opted to go to the University of Oklahoma for Visual Communications/Graphic Design instead. Halfway through the program I discovered After Effects/MoGraph and I was totally sold. I still have a tremendous love for narrative animation, but really, anything animation/illustration keeps me happy. If somehow animation didn't exist as a thing anymore, I'd be totally lost on what to do.
You have a broad range of styles in your work which is awesome. Where do you find the inspiration to push your personal style?
Ahh, thank you!! I think for whatever reason I grew up feeling kind of a 'starvation mode' for creative stuff, and it's stuck with me. I'm never really satisfied with what I'm doing and I always have this kind of desperate “I need to do something different, and better!" drive that a lot of creative people contend with. I also get really excited when I see awesome new stuff and immediately want to be able to do it myself from the ground up. It's hard not to have that nagging fear, also, about getting left behind if you stop pushing forward. It can be SUPER miserable to deal with that but at the same time I'm grateful for it as a motivator for learning and trying new stuff.
Do you ever get stuck in a creative rut? We call our ruts our "non-designy days" and they make us feel pretty blah. If you get stuck, what do you do?
Oh, constantly. Oof. This one is tough because I'm not sure there's an answer. I have a tendency to beat myself up if I feel like I'm not being productive enough, which inevitably drains me even more and probably leads to harsher burnout. Now when I'm feeling stuck, I try to just take a complete break from creative stuff, which is VERY hard since most of my hobbies revolve around visual art in some way.
So giving myself permission to take a day or two to watch old movies or read books or, heck, just go outside, is really helpful. "Nothing time" is critical. I think this is one of the things that is keeping me so motivated to play piano, actually. It scratches the creative itch, but I'm at such a beginner level, I'm learning a ton with a pretty low success threshold right now. It requires a lot of focus, so my mind can't wander and obsess over my creative rut, and it's so satisfying every time I learn a new chord or can successfully run through a new song or whatever. But even those things can be too much work to be restorative. Sometimes there are days where I'm sitting on the couch reading garbage on my phone, and I think, "shouldn't you get up and do something more productive than this?" and I think the answer is, no, some days you need to just sit on the couch and read internet garbage, and you'll thank yourself for it the next day when you have brain energy again.
What advice would you give to creatives looking to pursue their passion?
Oh man, big question. So many things. It's hard to give broad advice, but I will at least say for me, I've never ended up where I hoped or thought I would, and I think that's actually a good thing? I looked at the reality of my situation and I made decisions based on what seemed both practical AND beneficial for me in pursuing my creative passions, and I think it's taken me to a lot of interesting places, and I've met so many amazing people this way. I'm not a Disney 2D animator (I mean hey Disney, call me!) but I'm so grateful that my creative path has unfolded the way it has so far. I think there's this mix of being fantastical and sensible, and open to possibilities, that can do so much for you, because so much is out of your control. Trying to find ways to break into your chosen industry or creative community with whatever means are available to you, and just showing up, that's all you can really do.
What’s one thing about being a full-time creative that you wish you knew when you started your career?
It's kind of terrifying maybe? I think that might just be like, being an adult, though. You never really know where things are headed, how the industry will change... I don't know that that's a good or a bad thing though. It helps to try to focus on taking each project as it comes.
Do you have anything exciting on the radar for the rest of 2019 or 2020?
I've had a pretty packed 2019, so right now I'm planning on taking as much of a break as I can until 2020. And then I'm not sure! I would like to make more time to focus on personal projects in 2020, but I'm happy to take the next couple months to focus on my full-time job and prep for the holidays and try to take a brain vacation. We'll see!
Now some fun questions!
Favorite Animator Ooh, impossible. Since 2D Disney animation was so formative to me, that's always what will come to mind first when I'm asked this question. I've always been a huge fan of Glen Keane, who worked on a lot of that golden age Disney stuff I love. (Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, etc.) He's ridiculously good at form and anatomy. I also especially admire Andreas Deja, who designed and animated Scar from The Lion King. He has an awesome blog for 2D animation nerds.
Favorite Illustrator Oh no, I can't answer this one! There are too many.
Favorite Animated Movie Lion King was such a huge deal to kid me that it's always gonna get a mention here. Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke will also always be one of the top animated movies for me. Pixar's Ratatouille is also way up there. BUT at the end of the day, let's be real – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME.
Pixar or DreamWorks? Oh, Pixar, for sure. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of both of these studios, but after my childhood love of Disney 2D animation, I had an extensive Pixar obsessive phase.
To see more of Caitlin’s work and to connect with her check out her website!