tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73489994838621786212012-01-01T02:52:22.673-05:00(Various doodles, sketches, drawings & cartoons by Michael J. Ruocco)Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.comBlogger3621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-8292609443653999022011-10-04T07:23:00.012-04:002011-10-04T08:00:52.397-04:00

I started my webcomic a few weeks ago. "Why didn't I post about it here sooner?", you ask? I wanted to leave my friend Shelley's interview up on the front page for as long as possible so people could see it. Anyway, I started posting it a few weeks back, and it's been a lot of fun! Shannon's doing the coloring and it's looking better than I expected it would! I'm learning something new with each

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-44861524654275207292011-09-17T10:22:00.008-04:002011-09-17T12:12:33.272-04:00

When I met Shelley Low at SVA as a freshman in 2007, she was already a junior. At the time, she was working diligently on a scene for a class project in Howard Beckerman's third year class, of a horse trotting in a circle. There was so much involved in that one scene; perspective, believable horse locomotion and solidity of the drawings, and of course I was pretty blown away by it all. Over time,

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-75399366830811467062011-08-29T06:47:00.008-04:002011-09-02T23:55:43.334-04:00

A while back, Ricky Garduno over at Dumm Comics asked if I wanted to do a guest strip for his comic, 1930's Nightmare Theater. Because I was on vacation, I didn't get around to it until only a week or so ago. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun and it gave me good practice for my own strip (the site will hopefully be up and running very very soon.) Click on the horrifically painful yet insightful

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-11353398980750692492011-08-10T12:00:00.001-04:002011-08-10T12:00:04.211-04:00

Fiddling with Manga Studio...

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-32620083227092079562011-08-03T13:05:00.008-04:002011-08-03T13:37:01.725-04:00

My girlfriend Shannon and I have been spending the last month or so together. We've had a really great time; taking drives, going out to eat, even spending a week in Disney World! It's been a blast!During that time, we've also been drawing together. We've done a few jam comics and a couple little doodles back and forth. The other day, she asked me to draw a picture of my dodo, Randy, that she can

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-8171411457230071252011-07-21T19:15:00.006-04:002011-07-21T19:41:26.466-04:00

Here's the rest of my Yearbook:17) Nigel Clark18) Berdian Torres, Daryn Wolfson and Robert Hom19) Kaukab Basheer20) Jimmy Harrigan21) Mike Zecca (3rd Year)22) Mark Minnig (our floor manager/superhero) and Jillann Hertel (our animation advisor/super-heroine)23) Eric Eiser (professor)24) Brody Klotzman and Alyssa Alecci25) Calin Fernandez26) Greg Yagolnitzer27) Jes Sang Lee and John Lee28) Justin

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-11701341923734212092011-07-02T18:25:00.003-04:002011-07-02T20:36:57.577-04:00

While at SVA, a lot of us were disappointed with the yearbooks that were given out to seniors over the past few years. They were very artsy looking, with unique layouts and over-the-top patterns, but they were always a jumbled, unorganized mess of images and fonts. And you'd think an art school yearbook would have places to DRAW in them, right? Nope. Packed to the covers. I guess it's because the

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-62843833881073681372011-06-07T20:08:00.004-04:002011-06-07T20:22:12.438-04:00

Well, besides that....I just need to clean up and color those last couple of shots and it'll be all over. I want to start sending the film out to festivals and see if it has the legs for it. Sadly, I've been pretty preoccupied with stuff at home, so I haven't really had the time to put any more work into it. I just gotta bite the big bazooka and get it out of the way so I can move on to some of

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-56351958678736186162011-05-11T17:56:00.004-04:002011-05-13T19:28:08.940-04:00

Yesterday, I received my diploma and was pronounced a college graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, along with the nearly 50 fellow animators who I lived and worked alongside for the past four years. And after packing up my dorm room and leaving the city one last time, I reflected on what I've been through here. Sure, there were plenty of bumps in the road and politics to deal with, but

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-26827514438614988422011-05-06T20:06:00.005-04:002011-05-06T20:30:22.926-04:00

I made a side-by-side comparison chart for my film. The images on the left are panels from my preliminary storyboard from last July, and the images on the right are from the finished film, 10 months later.These few examples are special because they pretty much stayed the same from my first pass (albeit a few minor changes here and there). Not every shot in the film was copied verbatim from the

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-53867918895789503542011-05-03T15:28:00.007-04:002011-05-03T19:22:08.647-04:00

Here's a few selected images from my film.I'll eventually post it up online, but I'm going to try to submit to a few festivals to see if it has the legs for it. Or wings. God, I hate bird puns.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-71116196326455629032011-04-29T23:05:00.008-04:002011-04-29T23:11:36.631-04:00

Hey, my thesis is done. Now I can sleep!Here's all the backgrounds from my SVA thesis film! While I drew all of them, my girlfriend Shannon did all the color, so most of the credit should go to her for making it look so pretty and stuff.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-36697905934762844342011-04-08T00:46:00.002-04:002011-04-08T00:51:36.394-04:00

I also tried to draw Zach's Voodoo Croc character. He's really hard to draw right.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-62622178516015574402011-04-03T00:14:00.001-04:002011-04-03T00:15:47.584-04:00

There's one on every train.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-70877193766854254342011-03-21T11:05:00.004-04:002011-03-21T11:17:20.628-04:00

Here's another little sneak peek at my short. It's Shot 17 (out of about 65) all roughed out and ready for cleanup.It's a dialogue shot. One of many. The dialogue shots are usually the ones I hold off on, but nonetheless, this was one I really was looking forward to doing because of how juicy the dialogue was. Maybe I went a bit over the top with the physical acting, but I enjoyed doing it. All

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-81382914736895084682011-03-13T15:03:00.007-04:002011-03-13T17:22:38.016-04:00

Ever since I've started using Tumblr, I've come across some cool art/film blogs. A really neat one I recently found is called MovieBarCode. Each frame from a movie is stretched and compiled into one long "barcode". You can see the entire movie's continuity as a whole, like a color script. Some movies look pretty uniform and it's hard to pinpoint certain scenes, but some are really easy. Looking

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-23089022579509330132011-03-11T00:02:00.006-05:002011-03-11T00:18:55.846-05:00

My Canadian friend Audrey Kare did a commission that was so amazing that I had to share it!First the lineart:Then the flats:Throw on some shading:And some extra bits and VOILA!The best part about this was I watched her make this completely, from initial sketch to final color (except the shading, which came the next day). I definitely got a lot for my buck. Audrey's artwork is simply astounding.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-80720093725416010432011-02-28T02:26:00.000-05:002011-02-28T02:28:44.569-05:00

Sorry folks, that's all you're getting. :P

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-26049724571695512032011-02-27T17:47:00.002-05:002011-02-27T18:01:19.717-05:00

A jazzy swamp critter:An excuse to draw a dodo in turn-of-the-century driving clothes riding a vespa:My explanation for Pooh's peculiar head shape:And a perennial favorite; Pooh as a big, fat n' sweaty dynamo.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-26546236727215009552011-02-17T12:57:00.009-05:002011-02-20T23:11:58.468-05:00

Some time ago, I commissioned a friend, Kevin McKenna, to make a 3D sculpture of my rotund dodo, Randy. I gave him this to use as a guide:A few months later (he was busy with schoolwork, so I told him to take his time), he sends me this:FREAKING. AWESOME. Especially when it's spinning around in a circle like this: Kevin is an amazing 3D modeler, and a damn good traditional artist to boot! Go

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-287718861369032852011-02-11T19:09:00.008-05:002011-02-11T19:19:34.978-05:00

Instead of a sketchbook (which I should use more often) I do all my drawings on a clipboard, and after a while, old drawings get shuffled in the back and get lost. I came across this unfinished one that I put off because I needed to adjust the legs, but then thesis production came in full swing and I never got around to it. Because of my thesis, I haven't had much time to draw much of anything

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-13068177572770409302011-01-04T19:46:00.005-05:002011-01-04T20:02:53.018-05:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I regularly search the web and collect photos/artwork that inspire me and store them in meticulously-labeled and organized folders, which I call “The Stash”. Whenever I’ve been in an artistic slump, "The Stash" has helped give me those well-needed bursts of inspiration to keep on working. And now, I thought it would be a good time to share that wealth to other

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-31050691548987176302010-12-29T19:01:00.013-05:002010-12-29T21:28:20.247-05:00

Okay, lemme try making a more insightful post, rather than a "Hey, look what I did!" dog and pony show.I just completed the 1st semester of my final year in college (wow...that went quick), and we've all been working on our thesis films. Because thesis takes up a good chunk of our time this year, the 4th year animation class schedule is much more limited compared to previous years. Besides thesis

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-23853864653627735002010-12-26T21:21:00.007-05:002010-12-26T21:38:47.941-05:00

Here's a picture for a pitch book I made for my Animation Law class (which I'll post a few pages of later on). I consider this the 'highlight' of the assignment, not because of I'm proud of the drawing......but because I'm proud of Shannon's superb job coloring it! She really brings depth and atmosphere to it.She uses an old Wacom Graphire Tablet. I had a Graphire years ago, and it was a real

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-355641368956304092010-12-23T17:03:00.010-05:002010-12-23T17:11:03.491-05:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-58210407535757532972010-11-28T14:28:00.002-05:002010-11-28T14:33:04.393-05:00

In case your wondering, he's reading "Love's Captive" by Mrs. Arabella Richardson and drinking a Boston Cooler.When you hibernate in a hotel suite for a few months, you're bound to rack up a hefty bill.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-11216855835686116772010-11-24T23:04:00.005-05:002010-11-24T23:11:36.334-05:00

Lately, I've been drawing more fleshed-out scenes rather than a page of random nonsensical doodles all over the place.Here's one of my better ones:And Shannon, being the gracious and loving helperton that she is, colored it all up for me. I really admire her dedication and patience when it comes to color. She's gonna be an awesome professional colorist someday!

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-31491150042427787092010-10-30T21:24:00.003-04:002010-10-30T21:27:23.110-04:00

I saw this at the supermarket earlier, sitting right next to a good ol' fashioned box of Maypo.Cartoon product tie-ins have definitely come full circle.Honestly, cream of wheat? Kids don't eat cream of wheat! In fact, I don't think PARENTS even eat cream of wheat!

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-77230784077004242042010-10-22T02:47:00.004-04:002010-10-22T02:57:12.167-04:00

While working behind the counter at the SVA animation studio, boredom started to creep in. So I picked up a ballpoint pen and started doodling on the Cintiq sign-out sheets. After 20 minutes, and 16 pages, I ended up with this.The best animations stem from sheer boredom.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-73969253579903705292010-10-19T23:52:00.002-04:002010-10-20T00:12:01.102-04:00

How many times have you seen a picture that looked like this?I needed a picture for SVA's Dusty's program book. Luckily, Zach was around to bail me out. (Thanks again, man!)I thought it would also make a good photo ID for the various places I'm found all over the internet. Blogger, Twitter, Facebook... all that crapioca.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-79183962545806136642010-10-16T15:21:00.003-04:002010-10-16T15:30:46.250-04:00

I've been busy as hell these past few weeks (and will be for some time to come), so here's a couple sneak peek images from my recently finished "revised" animatic to tide you over. I've made a few important changes throughout the film, so consider about 45% of the previously-posted storyboard to be "obsolete". Also, I cut a minute's worth of footage out, which makes me really happy.I've been

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-52973469543462557162010-10-01T00:58:00.003-04:002010-10-01T01:16:34.496-04:00

Here's a new discovery (at least for me): an early piece of animation by Glen Keane for a dog food commercial, made by Bob Kurtz' studio in the early 80's. I guess this was while he was briefly working freelance in between productions at Disney (?).This his been on Kurtz' youtube channel for over a year. How this wasn't brought to my attention immediately after it was posted remains a mystery.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-90583818499762561002010-09-10T18:21:00.003-04:002010-09-23T11:11:55.877-04:00

Here's a side-by-side comparison of "Orphan's Benefit", a black-and-white ∂isney cartoon made in 1934 (left), and then remade in color 8 years later in 1941 (right).I don't understand why they did this. Why would they put so much time, money and effort into a remake when they could use that same energy on making something original? Was it because of the big Disney strike that happened a few

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-51318530059530423432010-08-31T02:56:00.005-04:002010-08-31T03:21:26.758-04:00

Years ago, I was REALLY into the whole Pokemon thing. I had everything: the cards, the figurines, the games, the videos... you name it. There even used to be a "Pokemon store" a few towns over from where I live, and I'd beg my mom to take me there every week. It was mostly cheap Chinese knockoffs or imported cards, but I still dove headfirst into the stuff. God, it was nuts. I could barely keep

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-42378505601161180322010-08-27T20:22:00.006-04:002011-05-26T02:17:37.631-04:00

Ok, opinion time... I admire Milt Kahl. I mean, what aspiring animator doesn't? But honestly, there's one thing that I have to say about Milt Kahl; he was a real hammy animator. Don't get me wrong, his animation has a stupendous feeling of movement, weight, timing and believability. He can pull that off better than any other animator in the business, and that's something that always inspired me

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-69769148874784736452010-08-22T17:47:00.004-04:002010-08-22T17:57:19.947-04:00

A recent meme template has popped up all over deviantART, and everybody seems to have jumped on the bandwagon. It's an "influence map", where you fill in the grid with things that inspire you. The larger the picture, the more inspiring it is/was to you. Since all my friends were doing it, I thought it would be fun for me to get in on it too. (click to enlarge)I kinda went a bit overboard, but

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-42908257090785359322010-08-15T23:42:00.006-04:002010-08-16T13:19:21.665-04:00

Here's the first draft of my storyboard for my thesis film. If the drawings and descriptions are too small to see, click on them to direct you to my Flickr gallery, where you can see them full size. (I would put the larger size here, but the blog layout is too small for it to fit). While drawing it out, I tried to make the drawings expressive and clear enough that you can pretty much tell

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-6735853038534759762010-08-11T18:34:00.006-04:002010-08-11T18:59:42.773-04:00

I never really thought my old banner was too good. I just put it up there as a temp. banner, and it ended up staying there for over a year. So I finally got around to making a new one. I sketched this doodle of Randy kicking a pine cone......scanned it into the computer, cleaned it up in Sketchbook Pro...... sent it over to Shannon to color (who did a fantastic job as always)...Put it into a

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-8072376137946687952010-08-06T20:41:00.014-04:002010-08-07T12:41:08.705-04:00

When I have nothing else better to do, I scour the web looking for things that inspire me. If I like a certain artist, I'll make a new folder on my hard drive and collect their work onto it for future reference. If I see a painting or drawing I like, I'll study up on the artist and look for other works of theirs. At the time of this post, I have over 130 folders full of artwork, along with

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-612434268151637662010-08-05T20:07:00.005-04:002010-08-05T21:03:17.362-04:00

Production on my thesis is revving up pretty soon, so I need to prepare myself for the oncoming onslaught of work that I'll be focusing on for the next 9 months or so. One of the things I'm working on are my background designs. Since landscapes and stuff like that aren't my forte', I need plenty of practice. These two were roughly based on 2 scribbles I did in my storyboard. I sketched them out

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-21013141490055594032010-07-27T15:57:00.003-04:002010-07-27T15:59:52.694-04:00

Here's the colored version, done by Shannon.I can imagine hugging Randy would be like hugging an overstuffed pillow, or a bean bag chair filled with memory foam.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-57217742019800290142010-07-19T15:10:00.007-04:002010-07-25T01:11:28.401-04:00

I've had a great deal of inspiration lately, all thanks to my love Shannon. We began our relationship about 2 months ago, and it's been absolutely wonderful. She makes me feel so great each day, it's really given me a new lease on life. She's cute, and funny, and sweet... and to add icing on the cake, she's an artist too! And a very good one to boot! Go check out her stuff!One thing we've really

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-54479968340004916392010-07-18T15:57:00.008-04:002010-07-18T18:45:32.722-04:00

Check out this comic I did a few weeks ago (it's WAY too big to post here): CLICKMy cousin once brought over one of those phones when I was a toddler, and it traumatized the living hell out of me. I still haven't quite gotten over it. That and the VHS cover for Cinderella.I remember going to see the first Toy Story in theaters back in 1995, when I was 6. While I don't remember much about my first

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-28244215379210418272010-07-11T16:30:00.003-04:002010-07-11T16:45:53.118-04:00

This was our final assignment for our Life Drawing class. We had to take a pre-existing composition and put our own spin on it. I used Corregio's Nativity as my basis, and slandered his painting of the birth of Jesus Christ by drawing a pointy-edged firehouse jazz band over it. Personally, I liked Sachio's better.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-19723311304831496162010-07-02T01:29:00.003-04:002010-07-02T01:32:08.595-04:00

If I can illustrate my 4th year thesis film with one drawing, this would be it. Thesis production starts..... NOW.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-12626584705882385672010-06-25T14:12:00.004-04:002010-06-25T14:15:36.719-04:00

THEN:NOW:

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-43769755530476931872010-06-04T17:57:00.010-04:002010-06-04T19:04:54.406-04:00

My older sister was cleaning out some old file cabinets at our auto body shop and she found a folder filled with old drawings I did anywhere between five and eight years ago. I usually shudder when I see my old drawings, but this time I thought it would be kind of interesting to post a few samples to show where I was at only a few years ago.... that and I don't really have anything else to post

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-37237625948824511392010-05-29T17:36:00.002-04:002010-05-29T17:37:05.550-04:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-16801710878025011852010-05-26T02:54:00.001-04:002010-05-26T02:56:05.559-04:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-14454707997087774462010-05-22T03:15:00.003-04:002010-05-22T10:04:08.762-04:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-5243475443373293242010-05-01T01:15:00.003-04:002010-05-01T01:28:25.239-04:00

Bad movie, bad pun, my bad.... but I digress.Hans Perk is posting the animation drafts for Dumbo, a film that I consider to be one of the greatest animated films of all time. He's on a very steady clip posting the drafts, along with some very interesting background info & even a few audio goodies of the King's Men test recording some of the movie's songs, which are a lot of fun listening to.Go

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-15283809050568501312010-04-29T16:14:00.001-04:002010-04-29T16:14:55.952-04:00

Tribeca Film Festival '09 Logo from Michael J. Ruocco on Vimeo.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-27627133299523557612010-04-06T21:01:00.005-04:002010-04-06T21:05:22.176-04:00

I haven't posted much lately, but here are some recent doodle pages I've done. There's some Popeye studies for a project, chimps and monkeys from my anthropology class and some quick gesture drawings from Union Square Park on Easter Sunday.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-29591531655200717482010-03-26T12:02:00.004-04:002010-03-26T12:06:02.524-04:00

Here's a turnaround I did of the dodo for somebody who's making a 3D model. Tried to make things a little easier for him. Since he's also gonna be in my thesis film, I could use this when I hand my designs/concept work to the thesis committee later this year. I'll make turnarounds for the other 2 birds sometime soon.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-53815436911026784892010-03-24T19:34:00.002-04:002010-03-24T19:36:27.244-04:00

Here's some Neanderthal doodles that I did during my anthropology class.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-23186888584503533432010-03-10T13:22:00.004-05:002010-03-10T13:32:44.016-05:00

I did a bit more work on that "Birds in a Creepy Tomb" picture in Photoshop. I added color, some highlights, shadows, textures.... & stuff like that.So it started like this...Then I inked them digitally, while changing a few things. Started coloring...Finished coloring the characters...Added some effects (fire, textures, gradients)...& then some shadows & highlights. The characters are starting

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-50696138682037411332010-03-06T14:51:00.001-05:002010-03-06T14:53:05.076-05:00

I finally figured out what my thesis is gonna be about, & it's gonna star this ragtag group of friends of the feathered kind.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-90997102332651929212010-02-10T02:01:00.004-05:002010-02-10T02:05:53.062-05:00

I sketched out this picture the other day, thinking about an offshoot story from the one I'm currently working on. I'm really having a lot of fun drawing these characters in these little scenes. They're like little story panels, or something out of a children's book.I'd like to take this (along with the one in the post before this) & color them up nice in Photoshop.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-17514998529408257352010-02-07T12:36:00.007-05:002010-02-07T14:33:10.087-05:00

Kind of branching off of what I said a few days ago, I dropped out of about half the things that were racking my mind & body for the last few months now. Some of them I'm glad to get off my back, & some of them were really hard to let go. Some of these people are friends of mine, & I never want to let any of them down, but I think it's better now that I'm in a much more healthy state of body &

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-38525948436063586402010-02-05T00:36:00.007-05:002010-02-05T01:59:41.757-05:00

A lot has been going on. I know that I do complain about things an awful lot, & that I have gotten more & more pessimistic as time went on, but I feel that something has taken control over me & pulled me down really low. It's probably a combination of things: stress, lack of sleep, loneliness, malnutrition, a messy bedroom... who the hell knows. Those who've seen Song of the South probably know

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-54287130756467636782010-01-15T01:51:00.007-05:002010-01-15T03:02:56.139-05:00

Lately I've been doing a lot of brainstorming on a film I'm working on (correction: should be working on), for Howard Beckerman's 3rd year animation class. Howard's basically letting us run loose & come up with whatever we want. The only direction Howard gave us was that the film has to be exactly 90 seconds. After thinking it over for a little while, I had a slight inkling of what I wanted to do

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-22738886998105206092010-01-05T00:46:00.000-05:002010-01-05T00:47:26.578-05:00

SEE FOR YOURSELF

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-48460912959675325092009-12-28T00:01:00.001-05:002009-12-28T00:08:11.409-05:00

For those who saw Princess & the Frog, did anybody else notice this?

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-13449947798645401492009-12-27T00:01:00.000-05:002009-12-27T00:01:00.804-05:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-15250849722667012352009-12-26T02:30:00.000-05:002009-12-26T02:30:01.082-05:00

I hope you all had a nice Christmas.Now for something completely different:

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-8991001301334022282009-12-20T13:40:00.004-05:002009-12-20T13:47:18.553-05:00

I don't have much to say, so Merry Christmas everybody, & have a Happy New Year!(oh, & it's my 300th post. Insert "300" joke here)

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-77278645991628313532009-12-10T19:56:00.010-05:002009-12-10T23:01:18.642-05:00

It's Christmastime again, & you know what that means! .... CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!! Wait.... that wasn't what you were thinking?... really?... ah well, I tried.After doing my 2007 & 2008 cards, I finally realized I should do something that DOESN'T involve characters that only I know. So how do I top birds...... WITH ANOTHER BIRD, OF COURSE! & what's a better icon for the holiday than a partridge in a

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-12262096294755082892009-11-29T22:30:00.000-05:002009-11-29T22:22:33.381-05:00

Now that I got your attention, check out some of my attempts at reaching a higher level of sophistication in my drawing ability.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-85028446003854033582009-11-28T14:26:00.002-05:002009-11-28T14:29:10.684-05:00

There's 4 hours I'll never get back.Compression sucks.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-5650982548553141162009-11-25T23:39:00.008-05:002009-11-26T00:11:58.004-05:00

Hey All! I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Ah, Thanksgiving... Imagine, a day where you give thanks for killing indians by eating like a pig, watching football. dog shows & giant balloons on TV for hours on end, trampling people to death while spending every dime you own on Christmas gifts & sleeping in all day the next day... this holiday was MADE for Americans!I pity the

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-34257569997890501672009-11-01T02:18:00.000-05:002009-11-01T02:19:26.915-05:00

Just another one of those nights.... ho hum...

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-88889667271673218022009-10-19T22:42:00.007-04:002009-10-19T22:52:40.911-04:00

Here's a few model drawings from my Monday Life Drawing class with Stephen Gaffney. I'm still kinda rusty, but I'm gradually getting there.& a dry erase caricature for kicks & giggles.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-36007081608695830152009-10-10T20:19:00.001-04:002009-10-10T20:51:58.568-04:00

For my Toy Design class, we have to sculpt a "collectible figure" of an original character out of Sculpey modeling clay. Since I have no concept of how to think up something new, I chose a character from my cast of ol' reliables, Randy (whom I've been focusing on a bit too much lately).Using some tin foil & a poorly-constructed metal armature as a base, I began to sculpt him. Here's what I got

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-67963215132127354562009-10-03T12:19:00.003-04:002009-10-03T12:26:08.082-04:00

I was looking through Keith Lango's blog & I found a link to this online drawing page called Odosketch. It's sorta limited, but still really neat. Try it out!

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-50454833671554291712009-10-01T00:27:00.001-04:002009-10-01T00:29:53.359-04:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-61302160956181677922009-09-27T13:01:00.004-04:002009-09-27T13:32:43.059-04:00

While strolling through the city yesterday, I saw this business logo on the side of a tow truck. Look familiar?Originality is for losers.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-25987536161198906762009-09-25T01:30:00.002-04:002009-09-25T01:33:30.051-04:00

Here's some quick meanderings I did on the opposite side of a page where I had a finished inked drawing (to be posted later).

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-63111359961818533242009-09-23T01:07:00.003-04:002009-09-23T01:09:30.202-04:00

Here's a little something I inked up today while 'TAing' for Doug Crane's 1st Year Animation class. I think I'm getting a little more confident with ink. I think I'll give brushes a try soon.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-63316226988153540212009-09-22T00:26:00.002-04:002009-09-22T00:33:09.833-04:00

I've been practicing a little with the Pentel Brush pen, which I haven't dabbled with since before summer break started. Sadly, since my little visit to the emergency room a few months back, my hands have been constantly shaking, so it's really hard to keep my hands steady enough to cleanly ink my drawings. I've improved a little since inking this page, so the practice has definitely helped.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-54713323902769788992009-09-17T23:40:00.005-04:002009-09-17T23:59:56.491-04:00

Hey guys, my new scanner/printer works like a dream, & I just scanned a truckload of drawings. Thanks to the automatic feed function, I'm saving plenty of time & energy. I'm now more efficient, just in time for the new semester! I'll be posting some of my recent stuff very soon. Thanks again to Dan Caylor for recommending the scanner (click his link on the right, he rocks!).It's been about 2

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-68504362216565276142009-08-27T01:54:00.009-04:002009-08-27T03:31:13.300-04:00

Hey blog, how's things been while I was gone? I can see you're hungry & weak from lack of posts in your cybernetic belly. But don't worry, I'm still there for you....Anyways, I'm sorry that this blog has kind of gone to pot this summer. The reason why I haven't updated is because of my crappy pile of plastic & gears that I call a scanner. It's an HP, which usually (as far as I know) has a decent

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-59242551871340220002009-08-05T22:46:00.005-04:002009-08-06T17:14:02.173-04:00

Although Comic-Con ended a few weeks ago, I'm still geeking out over it. I saw so many cool things, bought a truckload of cool books & most importantly, met with a plethora of really awesome people. Friends, colleagues & major inspirations all together under one gigantic roof.I entered with a full wallet & left with:- Gag cartoon books by Bill Plympton & Ethan Nicolle- Ted Mathot's Rose & Isabel

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-65505810979468316742009-08-01T04:09:00.001-04:002009-08-01T04:10:26.265-04:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-62536592837116815042009-07-21T16:54:00.002-04:002009-07-21T17:14:38.737-04:00

Well, it's that time again! I'm heading off to the San Diego Comic-Con tomorrow. But even though I still gotta pack up my bags, I wanted to update here one more time before I shoved off.There's millions of things to look forward to this year & probably just as many people I want to meet & greet with. Old friends, colleagues & plenty of inspirational folks will be around & I'm fired up & ready to

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-18382752225971049202009-07-16T02:12:00.002-04:002009-07-16T02:14:56.950-04:00

Goddamn puns.

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-39717448823389262332009-07-14T01:58:00.001-04:002009-07-14T02:01:22.897-04:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-78073858590770377612009-07-09T13:09:00.008-04:002009-07-09T13:31:33.584-04:00

It was pretty embarrassing giving out those stupid, cheap 'flyer' things at Comic-Con last year. So this year I made sure to get myself some decent business cards.No more pointy crescent-moon heads for me! I've upgraded to tin cans now.& I think this is the first time I've drawn anyone with 5 fingers. Took me 15 years to do so...I think I'll incorporate this into my next banner. It's better than

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-22370231396252536612009-06-28T02:45:00.005-04:002009-06-28T03:06:22.473-04:00

I've been in a bit of a creative slump these past few weeks. I've lost my drive, & I haven't been animating at all. But after attending Bunny Hoest's ( of The Lockhorns & Howard Huge fame) annual "Bunny Bash", my creative juices began flowing again. I just needed a bit of a jump start from Bunny, Howard Beckerman, Stephen Silver & company to get me going again.I sat down at my Cintiq &

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-65214761262016199162009-06-13T02:58:00.007-04:002009-06-13T03:26:24.373-04:00

Does anybody remember the Montauk Monster?About a year ago, some deformed creature was discovered washed up on the beach near Montauk Point, here on Long Island. It was dark gray like a seal with long scrawny legs & a shriveled tail like a pig, but had a beak with a row of teeth only on the bottom jaw. God, it looked like something outta The Dark Crystal! It was a big sensation for a while & it

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-20916232060414381762009-06-09T01:10:00.005-04:002009-06-09T01:33:09.139-04:00

With some encouragement from a few friends, I decided to start doing commissions over on deviantArt. Since I don't really have the skill or confidence to go for the gusto & do "full" commissions, I'm going to start off easy. My friend Zach, his girlfriend Tara & their friend Megan have been doing something called "100 Ten-Dollar Sketches". The title is pretty self-explanatory... For each

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-54253831563033652242009-05-31T00:50:00.003-04:002009-05-31T01:44:30.929-04:00

For those of you who didn't notice, I finally changed the headline banner for the blog. I just realized that Fall was over. Why doesn't anyone TELL me these things?!I originally planned to change the banner for every season. I did one for last summer & did one for the fall, but because of college & other more pressing matters, I never got around to making a new banner. So the fall banner sat all

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-89132421018153368512009-05-27T01:05:00.007-04:002009-05-27T02:59:59.802-04:00

Although I don't have an army of drooling fans drawing truckloads of fan art of my characters on a daily basis, I do receive one every once in a while. Sure, most of them are from friends, but I don't care, I love 'em just the same! I love seeing myself &/or my characters in such a wide variety of styles, it's a very amazing, if not humbling, sight. Because fan art comes very few & far between, I

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-4423006143344523002009-05-22T16:50:00.001-04:002009-05-22T16:51:54.267-04:00

30 days, has September,April, June & Montana,all the rest have cold weather,except in the summer,which isn't often!Woo hoo! Woo hoo!

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-67755558755394067902009-05-20T00:32:00.004-04:002009-05-20T00:50:25.655-04:00

I just heard that Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, had just passed away. This is a real shocking blow to the system.I was lucky to meet him & his wife Russi a few years ago. He was such a kind & wonderful man. I'm glad to know he had a very happy life, making millions of people around the world happy too. My sincerest condolences to his wife Russi & the rest of his family.M-I-C... See ya

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-6583885923123824122009-05-18T18:10:00.007-04:002009-05-18T23:28:00.655-04:00

Some time ago, Dumm Comics held a contest for people to submit their own interpretations of one of the regular comics on this site. Since I really loved the comics & got a kick out of my friend Zach & his girlfriend Tara's guest strips, I wanted to do one too.I had a hard time figuring out which of the five comics to do. I finally settled on Big Pants Mouse once I found my story. That, & because

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-6559105971439930532009-05-18T13:41:00.004-04:002009-05-18T13:43:47.931-04:00

You know it's about time to get a haircut when your hair does this:

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-4410093600922347502009-05-15T22:04:00.008-04:002009-05-24T13:44:33.295-04:00

Yesterday, I found an old sound clip my friend Chris Zito recorded for a class project, which I sadly never finished. & since I needed a bit of practice to keep the animation juices flowing, I brought the clip into Flash & animated to it, straight ahead. After an hour & 15 minutes work, here's what I ended up with:I may just go back & clean this guy up. I have a lot more sound clips lying around

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-3635011438226533362009-05-13T02:18:00.007-04:002009-05-14T15:20:32.587-04:00

Last week, I was observing my profile image. I've had that same picture there for almost a year now, & not just here on Blogger, but on Facebook, deviantArt & a bunch of other websites I galavant through on a regular basis. I thought it was finally time to make myself a new one to replace last year's model. I wanted to make something snazzier, so I opened up Flash & in about 2 hours I animated,

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-53528157642601992412009-05-10T17:49:00.004-04:002009-05-10T18:48:57.500-04:00

Hey folks, how's life treating you (besides the economic depression, swine flu & outrage from jetliner photo-op debacles)? Well, at least it's been ok on my end...-First off, my 2nd year of college is officially over. My grades were alright & I had a good time, & that's all that matters to me. I had plenty of ups & downs throughout the year, but my ups more or less outweighed the downs, & overall

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348999483862178621.post-17885419335282076062009-05-07T02:02:00.000-04:002009-05-07T02:03:44.325-04:00

Michael J. Ruoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07192649886075807499noreply@blogger.com0