Meghan Cade • Summer 2022
Summer is here which means a new Demetres menu filled with big fun desserts. For our Summer 2022 menu, we had the privilege of working with Meghan Cade. Her signature style consists of expressive characters, quirky subjects and big emphasis on fun.
Originally from Niagara Falls, Meghan is an avid traveler whose adventures make us wanderlust. We recently sat down with Meghan to chat about her work. Read on.
Hi Meghan, tell us a bit about yourself and your art journey so far.
I’m Megan Cade and I'm originally from Niagara Falls. I’m a recent graduate of Sheridan College's Bachelor of Illustration program.
I've always loved art and illustration. In high school, my teacher was an illustration graduate, so she really opened the door and showed me that illustration can be a career. So I’ve been illustrating ever since and just started to dip my toe into the freelance world now.
I’m really enjoying it so far and I'm excited for what the future brings me.
What sparked your interest in illustration ?
Growing up, my dad was a huge Disney guy so I grew up around a lot of animation. I was the creative child of my family, always drawing. My mom enrolled me in art lessons when I was really young because she wanted us to be able to draw more than just stick figures. So it really started there. And turned out I was better than just stick figures!
So I would say that I've always had a strong love for art. I think it’s such an important contributor to our culture and I like how so many things can be expressed simply through visual language.
Growing up, did you have a lot of art in your home?
Yes, my mom has always been very eclectic with her art choices. She had a lot of old estate paintings she'd pick up from garage sales. They were of different art styles and can be found all around the house.
My creative process involves me hashing things out in my sketchbook first. My sketches don’t have to be perfect or look pretty; in fact, most of the time it doesn’t. From there, I create my work digitally and really see the piece come to life.
How would you describe your art style?
I would say that my art is full of expressive and quirky characters with a big emphasis on fun. I really enjoy working with a nostalgic color palette. I take a lot of inspiration from vintage postcards and I love working with textures and grit.
I take a “more is more” approach to my artwork. I’m not a minimalist whatsoever. If there is not anything crazy happening in the background, I’d say “let’s add another layer!”
Select artwork by Meghan: Guide To the Wild West (top left), Summer Camp (bottom right), Greek Wine Labels (right)
How long did it take to develop your current style? Was it something that you had already established when you started at Sheridan?
Compared to when I was starting out, I would say that my love for big personalities has stayed consistent. But I have improved on my technique and skill. At Sheridan, we first start with art fundamentals and then move on to illustration. School gave me the time to experiment until I found the style and workflow that works for me.
We loved your thesis project: “Bigfoot’s Big Road Trip: Guide to Mythical America”. Can you talk a bit about how you put together the series?
I have always been infatuated with American Road Trip culture and my family had taken lots of road trips when we were growing up. The tourism industry is very prevalent in Niagara Falls where I grew up and you become very accustomed to quirky tourism ads. I thought it would be really fun to combine the road trip concept with tourism advertising and turn it into a magazine. Getting to incorporate folklore is really fun because I got to incorporate funny little creatures. It was like a love child of all my niche interests coming together.
Growing up, what were your most memorable road trips?
We like to go down south to visit some family. I'm half American so we’d like to go down to California and visit family. My sister and I recently rented a van for six months after my graduation and we traveled to the Yukon and then down to California and back around.
I also got to go to the Arctic Circle and the Grand Canyon on this past trip. I would love to go out to the East Coast in June - I’m very excited because I've never been to Newfoundland.
Traveling and immersing yourself in different experiences is really important for your art world view. It adds to the visual bank that you keep in your head and it’s always so inspiring to find yourself in new environments.
Meghan at Joshua Tree National Park
Meghan at the Arctic Circle
What are the important tools you use in your daily work?
My iPad is my lord and savior and I use her every day. I’m a quick thinker so whenever I brainstorm I always start in my sketchbook. It’s very messy and not very pretty but that’s where I ideate and then I translate the sketches over to digital. I really love how versatile the iPad is and how much I can travel with it. You’re not tied down to the desk.
Meghan’s well-loved pencil case - a purple hippo named Bart
Meghan’s at-home workspace
Have you ever run into an artist’s block? If so, where do you turn to for inspiration?
I do, but I see illustration as a problem to be solved and worked through. What really helps me are art concept books, so when I run into an artist’s block I'll flip through concept books even when the style is not similar to mine. I look for how other people solve their “problem” such as composition and lighting. I recently received a Mandalorian art concept book from my roommate for Christmas and it's gorgeous.
Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Season One) by Phil Szostak
What's your dream client or project?
I would love to work on a children's book or do visual development for children's media, such as a TV show or a movie. I feel like my art style really lends to something playful and young.
Who is your biggest inspiration or illustration idol?
Mary Blair’s art for Disney’s Alice in Wonderland
There is a breadth of illustrators with different styles that I look up. I love Jon Klassen, Claire Keane and Mary Blair (who did the original artwork for Disney classics including Peter Pan and Cinderella). I also love Norman Rockwell. I think his character work is beautiful and the way he sets his characters creates a beautiful scene. You can tell what is happening without the characters saying anything.
Norman Rockwell
Claire Keane’s development art for Disney’s Tangled
Which of your artwork is your favourite so far?
I love to draw so I love everything I’ve made. I do love Bigfoot’s Big Road Trip, and Cowboy Critters which is my second thesis or for my narrative project. It’s a children’s book featuring little animals wearing cowboy hats - it sparked a lot of joy!
Can you tell us more about your inspiration behind the 2022 Summer Menu Art and what messages you’re trying to convey?
When I was developing the concept, I was looking looking towards something very fun and fresh with a nostalgic quality. I thought about amusement parks with boardwalks, live carnivals and fairs. I felt that there were lots of rich visual opportunities to insert characters into fun moments.
I also felt that desserts and amusement parks go hand in hand, so it was easy to interpolate Demetres desserts into it all. The menu art embodies a nice summer fun day that can play back to your childhood memories
When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing most in your spare time?
Whenever I get time, I love to travel. When I’m not traveling or working I love going antiquing. There are nice antique markets near Niagara-on-the-Lake where I live. Sometimes old estates will donate their strange furniture pieces which is great.
I also love to try new coffee places. One of my favourite spots is 416 Coffee Co. at Port Dalhousie. They serve great coffee.
What’s your ideal creative environment? Do you listen to anything in the background - music, podcasts, movies? Do you have favorites that you recommend?
I’m constantly cycling between a lot of different music. I listen to a lot of indie alternative and Dad classic rock (80s music). Sometimes I'll get sick of music and move on to a podcast, but I’ll find that I’m not listening to the podcast. So then I move on to watching movies that I’ve seen before. I watched a lot of old school 80s movies such as Dirty Dancing, Back to the Future and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
If you can give a piece of advice to anyone new in the industry what would it be?
I would say that it's not a race and it's not a rush. You don't need to compare yourself to your peers. Just put your head down and produce the work that you want to make and the right opportunity and the right jobs will always come when they're supposed to. You should produce artwork that you enjoy because then you will be hired for the artwork you enjoy. Just stick with what you're passionate about and it'll all work out.
Thank you Meghan for the great conversation and beautiful artwork!
Here’s our Summer 2022 menu cover
And the bill cards
