Meet Emily Knoppe | Animator & Illustrator

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

Hi Emily, why did you pursue a creative career?
As is the case with many artists– I’ve just always had the drive to create! Regardless of artistic medium, being able to bring an idea to life with my own hands is SO fulfilling. Plus, working as an artist allows for a more flexible schedule. When doing freelance work, I can set my own hours and work at my own pace (within reason). This bit is important to me since I’ve run the gamut of minimum wage jobs that wear at your sanity and free time.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I work in 2D animation and both digital and traditional illustration. In my traditional work I opt for soft pastels or acrylics.

Most of my work leans toward fantasy or fantasy-horror! During the last couple years of college, I rekindled my childhood mermaid obsession, and that’s been a driving force in my artwork and animations for a while now. The pivot to fantasy-horror and more serious tones happened around the same time. My work used to be more cutesy, so there’s a lot of variety in my portfolio as of late.

My senior film, Rough Waters, made it into the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase in 2024 and won the “small crew” animation category in Kinematifest 2025. Related to that, I’m flexing my world-building skills and putting together a comic that expands upon the story in Rough Waters. It’s a huge passion project that I always look forward to working on!

I was also assistant animator on “The Spinning Wheel” by Davy Stoces and Max Wasserstrom. It premiered at the Voices With Impact film festival in Vancouver. That is the most recent animation work I’ve done and a short film I’m proud to have been a part of.

Professionally, getting *anywhere* isn’t easy in this industry. I haven’t yet gotten my footing; lot of it is due to being a fresh graduate, and my location– not a lot of studios do remote work! Not to mention the mass layoffs leaving countless other animators in search of work at the same time.

Thankfully, I have freelance art commissions and my fine art skills to fall back on in the meantime. That’s an important lesson to learn as an animator: Have a back-up plan, find other artistic avenues to apply your skills to, and connect with other people– they can help!

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.
I would start with some places closer to home that don’t get enough recognition!

I’m in what they call Missouri’s “wine country”, so there are loads of wineries and gorgeous vineyards between all the forest and farmland. Hermann, MO. is close by and has a trolley tour that takes you to all the popular spots. They also have some good antique stores if you want to find something weird and probably haunted. Over in Washington they have my favorite coffee shop- Washington Coffee Shop- (straight-forward name I know), and near that is Neighborhood Reads with a great selection of books and knickknacks. There’s also the farmers market on Saturday mornings that’s worth checking out.
Then we’d HAVE to make the drive and spend a day or two in St. Louis, it’s only an hour out from here. There’s so many free or affordable amenities in STL– the zoo, art museum, city museum, and botanical gardens are some of my favorite places to hit up.

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?
I’d love to first shout out my colleague Davy Stoces, they’ve been a wonderful friend and connection that’s given my animation career a spark of hope after graduating!

Then I should shout out my art and animation professors at the institutions I went to– East Central College and Webster University. Without their guidance, mentorship, and encouragement, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Lastly, shout out to Kimmy McDowell, fellow animator & illustrator and my closest friend. We’ve helped each other out on our senior films (despite going to different universities) and provided endless support over the years. Thanks Kimbo!

Website: https://emilyknoppe.wordpress.com

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

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Mimiteyy

Image Credits
Rebecca Pontieri (personal photo)