Meet Adriel Meka | Illustrator & Animator

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

Hi Adriel, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
In a way, I feel the simplest answer is that it’s all I’ve ever known to be the best way to express myself however, in all honesty, the biggest factor was my family. I come from a family full of creatives: my grandmother and aunt are graphic designers, my dad is an architect, my sister is in fashion, and my mother is an aircraft designer, so it was not uncommon for creative ideas to be explored and encouraged while growing up. My grandmother would always take my sister and I to work with her and it was only a matter of time before we caught the artist bug. For various reasons, I also ended up moving around a lot between many different states and countries including Montreal, Atlanta, Hawaii, Arizona, and Neuchâtel. Amidst the life of adaptation, it was comforting to use art as a steady constant.

All that was left for me to do was find my own creative voice. As a kid, I was a big fan of movies, drawings, and cartoons and always found myself making things or looking for ways to communicate my passion to others. This could manifest itself in me stealing dental floss from my parents and using it to make Spiderman webs that I left around the house or me making comic books and paper action figures for all of my friends to enjoy at the lunch table. I quickly learned that I loved making things for people to enjoy and connect with while simultaneously showing them how I saw the world. All I knew was my love of art and that I wanted to learn as much as I could to get better. This led to me starting off as an illustrator then, after attending the Savannah College of Art and Design and the University of Southern California, I was able to further my passion through the study of Animation.

When it came down to pursuing a career, most of the reassurance I needed came from my mom’s journey. She was raised in Cameroon, defied odds to study overseas, and worked hard to become an aerospace engineer. Now she has been able to build a career doing what she loves from all over the world and always made sure to tell me: “no matter what you choose to do in life, make it your passion and give it 110% all the way through.” With this mantra, I’ve pushed my love for using art and storytelling to connect people and have been fortunate enough to begin a career that has enabled me to work on films, children’s books, animated TV shows, and musical records. It’s no secret that I’m beyond excited for what the future has in store and where my creative career will take me next!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I tend to gravitate toward things that are grand, cinematic, moody, and visually striking. I love the idea of storytelling through the use of scenery and characters and enjoy creating various art styles to visually execute them in the form of colorful, vibrant digital illustrations or animations. I’m deeply inspired by the transportive powers of art in its ability to make you feel like you’re traveling to a new world and find I really enjoy making things with a bit of a surrealist, cinematic, escapist quality. With a passion for visual development/concept art, a lot of my works tend to lean into either, moody portrait paintings, stylized character designs, or world-building landscape illustrations.

In terms of my professional journey, the path from A-B wasn’t always so clear, but the best advice I got was to trust the process and give it your all each step of the way. After graduating with a degree in animation I initially found it a bit difficult to breach the competitive industry however, I soon found a home for myself working as a Creative at the Apple Store. My days were filled with teaching curious minds how to draw using Procreate for iPad and my nights were spent doing what I could to improve my skills and beef up my portfolio. Soon the hard work got me connected to a few amazing authors who shared my vision for empowering a creative voice in the black community and I was fortunate enough to illustrate three, now fully published children’s books that have gone on to win awards and inspire kids. Gary and the Great Inventors, I am a Triathlete, and Kulu the Wise Turtle are three works I’m truly proud and honored to be a part of and their success enabled me to take the next step of my career: pursuing a master’s degree in Animation at USC

Grad school brought me coast to coast from Montreal to LA and so far I’ve been grateful for all of the opportunities and connections it’s given me. It’s been great learning new skills and getting the chance to create my short films, “Nalu” and “Deep in the Woods”. Through a studio career event at USC, I was able to pursue an opportunity to work on a TV show at Nickelodeon and it’s been awesome coming full circle to be a part of the company that helped shape my childhood. Career-wise, the dream is to work as an Art Director in the industry and I’ve been fortunate enough to find steady work in concept art for films, TV shows, games, and illustrating album covers while keeping up with my art Instagram.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Shall I plaint the narrative picture?

The morning starts early with a pitstop at Tiago Coffee before heading up for a hike on the Runyon trail. What better way to cool off than with a nice visit to the Academy Museum.

Lunch is going to be chowing down on the legendary tacos of Sonora Town before resting near Echo park for some coffee shop drawing and plein air paintings. (perhaps a detour to check out some records at Amoeba Music). Once the art session is done we’ll be making our way to the Grove for the latest movie released at AMC.

The movie will probably work up an appetite so it’s a good thing we are taking the group to Joey DTLA for some nice steak and sushi dinner. Next is bar roulette to pick between Shoo Shoo Baby, Bar Flores, Bar Lubitsch, Warwick, and Bungalow

Finally…the night is going to start and end with us searching Venice, Hollywood, and KTown to complete our Infinity Gauntlet for the best places to DANCE

All inspired by some of the awesome memories I’ve been able to make since living out here

(Other Honorable mentions: Manhattan Beach, Will Rogers Beach, Burton Chance Park, Winston House, The Victorian, Griffith)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Drum roll for the incredible superstars in my life!

My sister Emilie, Mom, Dad, and my wonderful family for supporting, encouraging, and pushing me each step of the way

John Webber and Greg Araya, former mentors and professors at SCAD that helped give me the opportunities to grow in school, my animation career, and in life

My close friends and loved ones in Montreal that have always helped make the wonderful city back home feel like home! You guys mean the world to me!

My LA fam! huge thank you to my good friend Ros Fiol for connecting me with Shoutout LA as well as the incredible friends I’ve made in Los Angeles during my MFA degree. I’ve been honored to work with, learn from, (and discover the city’s best dance places with) these awesome and talented people as we push each other towards the next stages of our careers

Mike Patterson and Candace Reckinger, my USC parents, professors, and mentors who have helped make the program fulfilling and creative.

Lighting round: Nico, Kylesh, Alex, Tom, Deb, Jo, Phil, Paulina (and too many more to name!)

Finally a big shout out to the world of film and animation for constantly inspiring me and pushing me to share my stories

Website: https://www.adrielmeka.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arekusan_meka

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriel-a-meka23/

Other: https://www.artstation.com/arekusan-meka

Image Credits
The Motion Epic, Jack Preston, Bashia Rivera, Nia Obotette, Akura Marshall, Brenda Mveng, Kwaku Ansa, Nickelodeon