Meet Emily Rodriguez: 2D Animator and Designer

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

Hi Emily, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I felt it was something I had to pursue from a very young age, an innate gift that I knew deep down I had to figure out what to do with. Like many of us, I grew up watching animated shows and movies, and I can’t exactly pinpoint the moment, I know I had a realization like, “Oh, you can make money doing art? Sign me up!” And I didn’t really stop pursuing all forms of art, and specifically studying animation in college and getting to know absolutely everything about the medium was a real turning point for me as a growing artist. I became 100x more passionate about storytelling through animation and wanted to be a part of it as a professional artist as soon as I could.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I sometimes can’t believe that I’m in the middle of living out the dreams I had as a child, the goals I set out to achieve even 3, 4 years ago. With my support system backing me up, I hustled harder than I ever thought I could in order to be where I am today, 23 years old and working full-time as a professional 2D animator. Graduating college and starting my animation career amidst a global pandemic was not easy, and there were lots of challenges and changes that came with that on a day-to-day basis that I had to learn to adapt to and overcome. If anything, going into the unknown and uncertainty with my head held high has made me a stronger, more confident, and skilled artist today. I’ve really begun to figure out what I’m passionate about pursuing as an artist and what I hope to achieve in my career; not just within the animation industry, but in my life as well. I’d love to give back to others and feed into young artists the way I was fed into by others as I was starting out my journey, be that teaching or leading a team on a production. We’ll see how things go!

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?
I do love the North Georgia wineries and would love to spend a few days renting out a cabin to visit them! Also love hiking in places like Kennessaw Mountain, Providence Canyons, Amicalola Falls, etc. Within the city though, there’s this great place called Velvet Taco that is by far one of my favorite food spots for tacos and margaritas, and right next to it is the ever famous Jeni’s ice cream… my ideal day! Being an artist myself, I am also always keeping up to date with what the High Museum is exhibiting! The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The women I grew up with, studied under, and currently work with have all played a vital part in my journey as a woman in the arts. From the strong women who raised me, to my dance teachers who allowed me to explore creative movement at a young age, to my professors and mentors who gave me constant advice and encouragement as I started my career, and now my coworkers/leads/directors that not only helped me as I navigated the professional world of animation, but constantly inspire me and spur me on towards my goals everyday. I feel so blessed to have had examples of strong, successful women from all walks of life around me to show me that I can be successful, too.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyrod.art/