Daily Inspiration: Meet Caitlin Chiusano

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caitlin Chiusano.

Hi Caitlin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m one of those people that has had an interest in animation and storytelling since I was a kid. The first time I ever realized that creating cartoons could be a career was after I watched Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (yes, you could say I was somewhat of a “horse girl”).

In the dvd extras, there were clips showing how the animators developed the film and I drew horses for weeks off of what I learned. I was kind of obsessed which blossomed into a newfound determination to be a better artist. The idea lay dormant in the back of my mind all throughout elementary, middle, and high school where I continued to draw for fun almost every day. When I reached my junior year of high school, I decided to forget any hangups I had surrounding a career path in animation and just went for it. I applied to a few art schools and I got into Ringling College of Art and Design where I got my Bachelors in Computer Animation. It was a bit of a boot camp but I made it out alive! After school, I worked at Starbucks for a year. I eventually saved up enough money to move out to LA, where I worked at Olive Garden as a hostess until I got my job at Pocket.watch as a CG generalist.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Oh, absolutely not! I think that is rarely the case for anybody. I’ve had my fair share of financial difficulties, burnout, and job hunting blues. Like I said, I worked at Starbucks and Olive Garden for almost two years after graduation. There was a lot of self-doubt and confusion over whether I was making the right choices or if I was “worthy” enough for a job. One time while working as a Hostess I had to seat some fellow alumni who were already working in the industry despite graduating a year after me. I was admittedly a little embarrassed. It kind of felt like I was the butt of the joke on a sitcom. It was one of those moments I’m sure many people experience that makes them ask “Am I failure? Am I a….Squidward?” I had to remember that everyone is on their own path and faces different struggles that may or may not impede their journey. Not everybody has to navigate life the same way and whatever makes you happy should be your own definition of success. So far, my not-quite fully cooked 24 years old brain has learned that life is just a cycle of low periods and high periods. You’re not gonna be in your best shape all the time and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As of right now, I work as a 3d modeler for a company called Pocket.watch which partners with YouTubers and creates animated content for kids. The job mostly entails bringing finalized 2d character designs to life in 3d, which I find a lot of fun. Modeling is my favorite part of the 3d pipeline and I also feel quite an affinity for design and pulling together the visual aesthetics of a project. On occasion, I get thrown onto some content development, animation, and rigging projects as well. I feel my best quality is that I have natural creativity. I’ve always had the ability to come up with ideas that are unique and fun. A lot of people might say I mean… duh…you’re an artist! But I’ve come to discover myself that “artist” is a range of skills, not one concrete set. Some people might have a good eye for aesthetics, some might be good in the technical department and I mean…hell.. some people can even paint using only their feet! After realizing that, I’ve come to take pride in this skill because I know that I could always train myself to paint with my feet but I can’t train myself to be creative, which makes it pretty special. 

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I just wanna say to anyone struggling right now to pursue their dream or even just finding a job, be kind to yourself! A lot of people don’t understand how harmful it is to be overly critical of themselves. I think confidence is a huge factor in being able to take control of your own destiny and you should work hard to nurture it. Why knock yourself down for having a rough time? It might feel kind of foolish to self-praise despite not meeting your own standards, but it can’t hurt to try. Now that that is out of the way, I can tell you that my secret talent is the worm. Thanks for tuning in.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: http://cchiusan.com

Image Credits
My thesis partners, Sean Esser and Zhara Honore contributed to the work I uploaded for the “Tiffanys” short.