Michael Ruocco
@michaeljruocco
Annie-Nominated Animator/Storyboarder/Oblivious Bon Vivant. Voiced a buzzard. Looney Tunes Cartoons, The Cuphead Show, Helluva Boss, The Day the Earth Blew Up, BoJack Horseman, etc. PORTFOLIO:
Another ArtFight warm up, this time Heiyew for @inkbetweens.bsky.social !
Barely made it! Happy 80th to one of the greatest Looney Tunes ever made: "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery"!
An ArtFight revenge for @snoutywolf.bsky.social ! Played with texture, line width n detail to channel a bit of their energy! Lotsa fun! #artfight
I stayed up to 3am last night ArtFightin', this time @janegumball.bsky.social's gargantuan gator Precious! I couldn't help it, I just got so lost in drawing all of this chubby guy's wrinkles n folds! Hope you like it!
Finally reached that late-30's milestone compulsion that all American men seem to go through; I bought myself a propane grill. Wish me and what's left of my facial hair luck.
Today's ArtFight/warm-up: @alwelch.bsky.social drew their dodo character Wallie interacting with my own dodo Randy, so I had to return the favor as an act of dodo solidarity.
What, #portfolioday already? Lessee... -I've boarded/animated/directed/supervised on a bunch of projects, from big studio projects/IPs to indie darlings (Looney Tunes, Cuphead Show, Helluva Boss, etc.), done some voice over work here and there, have 15+ years experience and I'm somehow still sane!
Today's ArtFight warmup: Valerian by bibimbeepbop.bsky.social! Love drawing fauns and elves, and having a character that's half of each makes it double the fun somehow (don't ask me how the math works!).
Another art fight, of @henrieke.bsky.social's little birdy, Jack! #artfight
REVENGE for @skraggie.bsky.social, of their lil' longboy Hognose! #artfight
Baked my own birthday cake today! Devil's food with chocolate cream cheese icing, just like my mom made me when I was a kid. Still hits just right! Thanks for the well wishes all!
Another art fight drawing! I love bimboozled.bsky.social 's shape language, especially with their lion character. He's a lot of fun to draw! #artfight
My first Art Fight, and I'm glad I could draw @shnikkles.bsky.social character! A fun design and a real great challenge!
Thinking about my children's book again. It's all written, it's been sitting in my files for over a decade, just gotta bite the bullet n' illustrate it. Would you wanna read about a Tiny Tiger and his not-so-tiny breakfast?
Another unfinished plane sketch. I'm still playing around with the design of the cat in my film. Still looks too anthropomorphized, too much character/personality behind the eyes. Needs to be an animal, pure and simple. Didn't have proper ref on hand at the time either. Back to the drawing board!
Drew this while on a short flight the other day. Haven't drawn these guys in a bit. Boy, it's been hot...
Built two more bookcases for my studio this morning and moved all my maquettes n larger pieces over to it. Might have to start downsizing my collection, there's only so much room in here.
Drew my curious little birdie from my short film. Been animating a bunch of shots in my spare time and I'm so excited to make my own stuff again.
Drew my nightmare from last night and added some levity to it to process it. "He doesn't walk very good, does he?"
Gonna work on my film today, try to rough out a shot before EOD. Should I stream it, see if folks wanna see my shitty process?