10 Quick with Ruel Pascual

Today's 10 Quick comes from the talented Ruel Pascual.

Ruel has worked for Blur for the past 3 years, on projects such as "In the Rough" as well as animation for Disney on the Mickey show.

Take it away Ruel... after my first question, that is...

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born in the Philippines in the early 70's. I always loved to draw ever since I could remember. I watched a lot of Anime, Disney, WB cartoons growing up. My step father was in the Air Force and so we lived in Japan for about 3 years. Which was awesome! I was into modeling gundam kits, RC cars, break dancing, BMX bikes, and skateboarding. Then we moved to California in the 1986 at Edwards AFB, where I went to high school. Fast forward to present date… I’m married, love to cook, travel, play guitar, tennis, art, movies, animation and sleep.

How did you break into the business?

I kind of got into the business a little late. After high school, I worked as a graphic designer for 2 years, then I started to freelance doing portraiture. A couple years later I thought about going to an art school to learn how to draw and paint better. I took a summer figure drawing class at Art Center in Pasadena. Around that time Toy Story came out! I was amazed by it. It made me fall in love with animation again. I didn't have enough funds to go full time at Art Center and they didn't have a computer animation program. So I moved to San Francisco and enrolled at the Academy of Art College. There I learned the fundamentals of drawing, painting, and animation. After graduating I got my first gig at a game company in Burlingame called Cinemaware. The company didn't have another project line up so I started to look for a new job. I got an email from Blur Studios and was hired to work on a Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas. I have been at Blur for 3 awesome years. About 2 months ago my wife was offered a program director position at a radio station in Las Vegas. Now we are gonna be living there. Got a new job at 3d Site and working remotely from Vegas.

2. Which of your work are you most proud of?

The animation that we did on the Mickey show was super fun. I learned a lot from working with some amazing Disney animators. Also the short film that Blur created called In the Rough was great to work on.


Watch "In the Rough" by clicking here!

3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?

The first software I used to animate with was Maya. Then I learned to animate in 3d Max. I dabbled a little bit in Softimage XSI. Now I am working in Houdini.

4. What's a typical day in your life like?

I wake up 7:30 a.m., but don’t get out of bed until 8 a.m. I get into work at 9 am. Get my coffee and bagel and look at my schedule and plan my shots accordingly. I draw little thumbnails and act stuff out before I block out my shots. I walk over to my sup to look over my drawings and ideas to get approval to start first pass animation. Then lunch! An hour later back to animating. I leave work around 6 - 7 p.m.





5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?

Movies, artist, animators, friends,colleagues and life.

6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?

I’m a 3d artist wishing I could animate in 2d.



7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?

Best: Creating content that’s entertaining, working with talented people and learning from them, being able to animate for a living.

Worst: Software getting in the way of the art, surrendering animation due to deadlines, being full after lunch.

8. Tell us a bit about your new job at 3dSite. Any projects you can speak on at this time?

It is a very chill working environment and super talented people that work here. I can't talk about the project, but it is very cool to be able to work on it.


Watch the Psymon Unhappy animation by clicking here!

9. You are also an amazing painter. How long have you been painting? Do you ever have any gallery showings?

I don't consider myself an amazing painter by far, I still have a lot to learn about the craft, but thanks for the compliment. I've only been in gallery shows when I was in school at the Academy of Art. I am slowly trying to get myself back into painting again. I'm setting a goal in a year or so to be showing in a gallery.



10. How is Las Vegas treating you compared to California?

I am actually still in California at the moment. I'll be moving to Las Vegas in mid July to start work offsite. I live close to the ocean out here California. So Las Vegas is gonna be a big change of scenery.


Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my silly questions, Ruel!

If you've got a few moments to spare... heck even if you don't, make some time and swing over to Ruel's Site to see his other amazing work!

Thanks again, Ruel!