Takeover Tuesday with Fabien Rousseau
Q&A with Fabien Rousseau, an Illustrator and Animator currently living in Brussels, with a design and code background.
Q&A with Fabien Rousseau
Read time: 8min
MDS Motion Pro Trailer - Shot 5 Final. Fabien Rousseau.
Madison Caprara:
Hi, Fabien! Why don’t you start us off with a little introduction to yourself?
Fabien Rousseau:
Hi, thank you so much for having me! I’m Fabien Rousseau, a French Animator currently living in Brussels, Belgium—you know, the tiny country with two official languages, double-fried fries, and beers twice as strong as normal. I love goofy characters, colorful art, and things I don’t understand. I feel lucky to do what I am doing every day, and I try to be an active player in our community.
Madison Caprara:
Double-fried fries AND freakishly strong beer. Sounds like my type of place.
How did you originally find yourself within the creative field? When did you know this was something you wanted to pursue professionally?
Fabien Rousseau:
I guess the drive for creation came pretty early. I was not drawing that much as a kid, but I remember building giant robots out of paper toilet tubes, cardboard, and glue. I forced my parents to keep my creations in their bedroom as my own personal exhibition. I was so obsessed with tape that they had to hide it from me—I still think it’s one of the best inventions ever.
Later on, I became a bass player and the composer of my 8-members ska teenager band. Being able to express our lefty propaganda through art was a blast, and seeing people shaking their butts to my music was a killer achievement. That was the first time I had felt the effervescence of a team, and what we could achieve with symbiosis and dedication. This career sadly ended when I broke my cello on stage cause I was wearing fins and a diving suit.
Fabien Rousseau:
Eventually, I landed in a Graphic Design study and rapidly understood that illustration was the thing I was most excited about. After school, I was digging interactive design so I started to work as a freelance UX Designer/Web Developer. I loved learning to code and at the same time, I was putting more and more motion into it.
I learned illustration and animation in my free time, with tutorials, practice, and any advice I could get. I always thought of animation as an unreachable job I couldn’t even dream of because my drawing skills weren’t great. But as soon I succeeded in making my first frame loop, I knew I would do everything to make it my daily activity. It has only been three years that I have been working as an animator, it’s a step-by-step journey.
My Fairy Unicorny. Fabien Rousseau.
Madison Caprara:
Now, how would you describe your style to those who may be unfamiliar?
Fabien Rousseau:
Dang, already one of the most difficult questions! I’ve always done many different things, and I don't have a proper signature style like many illustrators I admire. Though I can say I have recurring themes as they’re most often character-driven and related to music. I love playing with loops, shapes, bright colors, silly moves, smoothness, and... yeah, bouncy tings (mostly butts)!
The truth is, I get bored way too fast. I enjoy changing my approach on every project, and style is a part of it. I have buddies working on animated featured films and I’m amazed by their ability to stick to the same project or role for months—or even years. I already feel washed out if I have to do the same thing for more than one week.
Madison Caprara:
Fair! I myself find it extremely difficult to focus on the same task for weeks on end. It’s something I’m so impressed by when I see the dash staff working on a project for (what feels like) months at a time.
Madison Caprara:
If you had to narrow down your “specialty,” what would it be?
Fabien Rousseau:
My specialty is...being a generalist. Wait! What I’m trying to say is that with my different skills, I’ve become pretty good at problem-solving—I know it sounds extremely LinkedIn-y, but bear with me.
I often make unexpected connections, find new ways, workarounds, or hacks to achieve a goal. I feel like I’m closing the gap between a developer's and designer’s minds. That’s why I’m not putting up a lot of barriers when I want to create something new. Having an idea that may seem out of hand in the first place, really may just need to be deconstructed into smaller pieces. I embrace the feeling of being lost and go for it; doing loads of research and “trusting the process.” In the end, I try to make discomfort a cozy place.
That being said, I am more specialized than I was a few years ago. It’s hard to stay a decent designer when you spend most of your time animating. My illustrator friends are now way too good so I’m just happy they let me animate their work, but I’m still trying to do solo personal projects. It’s only a matter of balance, I guess.
Wobbly Pigeon. Fabien Rousseau.
Madison Caprara:
Moving on to your career, what do you see as being your first “big break” in the industry?
Fabien Rousseau:
I guess it would be that dumb walking pigeon (and I see dumb as a compliment). It might sound silly because it’s such a small loop and just a couple of days of work, but the response was so unexpected. It’s amazing that many people have actually seen it! I even got to teach an online course about it, and I still see hilarious versions popping on my IG feed.
Madison Caprara:
I love that! Other than the pigeon, what is your favorite work you have ever created or been a part of?
Fabien Rousseau:
It would be our Bee Jizz collab with my talented friend Xerxes Heirman. It was the first time I was directing an ambitious video like this. It’s a blend between cel animation, classic AE, expression rigs, and creative technology. I wanted a convincing risograph look, and that led to a lot of cool researches.
It was supposed to be a bigger piece about self-expectation, dopamine, and anxiety, but in the end, we only did the trailer. What a twist! Sometimes you have to let it go and release it, which was actually a good ending considering the thematics.
Bee Jizz (Teaser), 2020. Direction, Animation, Design | Fabien Rousseau, Illustration | Xerxes Heirman.
Madison Caprara:
That’s such a fun piece!
You are currently freelance, correct? What did that journey like for you? Have you ever worked for an overarching company or studio?
Fabien Rousseau:
I’ve always been freelance, straight from school! Boy, it was not an easy ride. I think my work is so bonded to my mental health that I never could work on a “bread-and-butter” job without being completely depressed. That means having only a few paid gigs and tough months for a pretty long time. I’m aware that’s still a big privilege, so I find myself very lucky to spend the majority of my work in fulfilling jobs.
And I’m doing better now! I worked on an awesome 12-month project with my buddy, Renaud Lavency, in 2020 (too bad it’s under NDA). It’s been a year since I started working with studios that I admire; Buck and Oddfellows. A blast so far! I’m closer than ever to trying an in-house experience. I know I will learn a lot doing so.
Madison Caprara:
That’s amazing, congrats on your success!
Is freelancing something you would recommend doing at least once for all creatives?
Fabien Rousseau:
I’m always the first to recommend people quitting their job if they feel unhappy. Elise Leonard who got me this interview (thank you Elise!) can bear witness to this. But I know freelancing can be very stressful for a ton of reasons. You can run a self-employed business with thousands of different approaches. Everyone is different. And let’s not forget it’s not an equal status in every country.
Château l’Enroule workshop photo
Madison Caprara:
Are there any current trends that are changing the nature of your role? How do you feel about them?
Fabien Rousseau:
I see you coming with the NFT talk! It’s definitely changing how artists embody their personal work, and that’s great for some of us. But the biggest change for me has been the dawn of remote work within the last two years. The workload increased and studios have been more likely to hire freelancers from around the world.
That also leads to new forms of workspaces. I’m part of a freelancer’s workshop—let’s call it “palancing”—which is basically sharing a studio with my buddies. We currently have nine people working in different fields such as commercial animation, illustration, design, print, photo, animated feature films…Even if we don’t work on the same projects, I share so many things with these guys. We live together as a big family, and I spend more time in our workspace than at my own place.
Madison Caprara:
It’s so great to have that professional support system to lean on, doubly so if you all are genuinely friends!
What about tools? They’re constantly evolving within this industry. With these developments, how do you see the role of animator/illustrator subsequently evolving?
Fabien Rousseau:
Yes, tools! I love them for what they are: bridges between mind and craft. You can cross a river with different bridges and have different results, but what matters is that you’re on the other side.
I fancy procedural and computer-generated thingies. Sometimes I prefer trying to automate a task with code rather than doing it by hand, even if that sometimes takes longer. I do this because I hate doing the same thing twice, and I will have learned something in the process. Also, generated art sometimes produces more natural results than the human eye.
On the other end of the spectrum, learning cel animation is teaching me to trust. It doesn’t rely on tools, you need only very basic apps to get started. It’s soothing to “know” things for real, as some rules were described decades or centuries ago and they are still relevant. I love the fact that you can hone a craft and time or technology have a minor effect on it.
Wave IQ - Tookie Tookie Pt. 2 - Visualizer, 2020. Fabien Rousseau.
Madison Caprara:
What would you say is your biggest accomplishment, and on the flip side, your biggest regret?
Fabien Rousseau:
Three years ago I was working at home, and I didn’t have a lot of friends. My weeks were sometimes gloomy and it felt as if it wasn’t going anywhere. I started to reach out to folks that were living in Brussels, from whom I loved their work. We met, and a few weeks later I was organizing meetup nights that were open to a broader audience of creatives. This is how L’Enroule was born! From there, we’ve created an intertwined process of relationships and projects. A big part of my life now has unfolded from this decision.
I only have small regrets, which is nice! The first is that I never really had a mentor. Thankfully, animation is one of the friendliest communities. We’re always keen on helping each other. The second has to do with unreleased, unfinished, or NDA-barred projects, but I’ve learned my lessons.
Madison Caprara:
Where do you go for inspiration when you find yourself in a creative rut?
Fabien Rousseau:
For a long time, I had told myself that my stories weren’t worth telling. Now, I put away my logic and focus on emotion. It feels more natural. Once I get this flow going, ideas seem to come together pretty magically. I have a very (very) long list of pending projects waiting to be tackled.
The downside is that I am more likely to overwork myself. While I’m conscious of it, it’s still a big unhealthy habit I’m trying to cut. When I feel burned out I usually let other senses take over. I enjoy cooking a lot because taste and smell take up different energy. It’s really refreshing. I also love gardening, especially growing stuff to eat, and tinkering in my small woodworking shop.
I’m convinced that I won’t be animating forever. I'm 31 and already feel like an old guy in this job. I like the idea of leaving the "industry" before becoming that grumpy dude in the corner of the room. I’d probably prefer to fill people’s bellies when the time comes. The question is if I become a chef, will I be a specialist or a generalist?
Nepal Hike, 2018. Fabien Rousseau.
Madison Caprara:
I love that for you! I’ve had my own pipedream of opening a bakery one day.
We’re reaching the end of our time together, Fabien. Before we wrap up, is there anything you would like to end on?
Fabien Rousseau:
The last few years have been rough for a lot of folks, especially on the social side. I’m a fervent advocate of surrounding yourself with friends at work. Remember, butts are fun because they come with two cheeks. We don’t have to be alone in this. Have fun, cherish your community, and let’s build a world of happy palancers!
Showreel Summer, 2020. Fabien Rousseau.