Joe Rocco Featured in Illustration Age!

I'm really honored to be featured in Illustration Age today. I must read this online resource at least once a day to gain inspiration and listen to my favorite illustration podcasts, so I was all a-titter to discover that the inimitable Mark Kaufman had put this very generous piece together. I'm feeling very grateful and in my "Queen for a Day" mode right now.

Read the full article here!

Pee Wee's Big Holiday Illustration

Here's my Pee Wee Herman Illustration about his upcoming Netflix movie Pee Wee's Big Holiday, with and without a background.

Watch Me Work on a Live Streaming Webcast at Picarto.tv tomorrow. (Friday Dec. 7th)

I'll be live streaming from my home studio tomorrow (friday) working on comics and illustration work from noon until at least 1pm (Pacific Time) showing how I work if anyone would like to join me. I'll even do tutorials if anyone has any questions about my technique. Maybe I'll draw Fluffer and Nutter joining an anti-government militia. Anything could happen.


*Also, come visit my Patreon campaign for creating comics!

New Fluffer and Nutter Comic Page: "Gentri-Frickin'-Nation!"

Fluffer and Nutter look for a way to screw over the housing market before it screws them.

If you can't get enough of these critters, check out my Patreon campaign for more. I'm giving many of them away to view for free. https://www.patreon.com/JoeRocco

My Patreon Campaign Just Launched!

Hey everybody! I spent almost the last 6 weeks prepping this campaign for launch and hope some of you can help me by supporting it. And if you can't, I hope you're saying a prayer for these critters to finally find a home where I can continue to write and produce comics and maybe even animation. Joe Rocco @ Patreon.
So, come on over and check it out!

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders: Game of Thrones (in color)

My take on the frontrunners for the Democratic party in the upcoming campaign season for President. I went with a "Game of Thrones" theme since the battle is basically "to the death". How Delicious!

It's Mardi Gras, Y'all!

Check out my first Mardi Gras cover and inside spread of the year that art director Tom Carlson assigned me for The Riverfront Times out of St. Louis. The inside spread is modeled on a board game like "Mystery Date" or "Candyland". This comes complete with flashing lady parts and hurricane drink vomit. What could go wrong?

A Portfolio Teaser for 2015

Right on schedule I'd planned on making some video portfolio teasers, so here's my first one for my work in children's publishing. I'm no Marty Scorcese, but I think it's a cute little teaser. Enjoy!

Seasons Greetings from Joe Rocco at Secret Sauce Studio

Cheers Everyone! As you can see my Santa brings his own "Holiday Spirits".

Halloween Scaries of 2014 in an Animated Gif!

Since I'm working on samples of my work in motion I thought it would be the perfect time to create an animated gif for Halloween. Halloween is my favorite holiday and this year we've had some news items that only add to our list of things to be afraid of, so I worked one of those items into my gif. See if you can find the new reference.

Happy Halloween, y'all!

Chico News & Review Valentines Cover

I did a few illustrations for Valentine's Day last month and this is one complete layout I received back from one of those clients. The art director was very specific about the couples and all the types of trees, even the birds and the bees reference. It was a lot to get in there but I think it came out ok.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, ...It's SuperJew!

I just completed a large spot cover piece about the Judaic origins of the comic book superhero, Superman.

Squirrels On The Bus! Going "Back-to-School" with Some Fun Critters

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com/ WAHOOOOOOO!!! I finally got my new Semi-Fall/ Back-to-School" mailer image completed and produced, so it's circulating across this great big land of ours as we speak. E-blasts are also a comin'! This is basically going to a lot of Children's book publishers and magazines...also some newspapers and Entertainment publications. I like to imagine that the girl student in the front of the bus has a large acorn inside her lunchbox. Hope you all like the piece.

I just completed these spots illustrations for Albert Amigo at Scholastic Scope Online. The deadline was a bit tight, but I'd jump through hoops to work for Scholastic any time. The spots were there to highlight the subjects of Vocabulary, Grammar, Close-Reading and Differentiation.

Kathy Griffin "F-Bomb" Spot Illustration Finish

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com Here's my follow-up to the rough sketch I showed the other day for this spot illustration about Kathy Griffin. It is a positive piece, so the likeness is a little more idealized, but still hopefully looks like her as she drops her classic "F-Bomb". I tried out the "Torn Edges" filter in Photoshop to make the background feel a little more organic and artful. This whole piece was so much fun to do.

Kathy Griffin and The "F-Bomb" (Rough Sketch State)

I rarely get a caricature assignment that is of a person who I would really sink my teeth into, but Kathy Griffin is definitely up there as high on my list to draw. This is just the rough sketch that I send to clients. Had to stop on it to finish some bread and butter assignments, but I'll fix some issues tonight and start the finish, which I'll post in a day or 2. I may distort her face a little more and correct some of the arm issues, but I think it's starting to look ok. It could also use a little more stratosphere and maybe some curvature of the Earth as the bomb is dropping. I want to feel a little more gravity in the vignette.

Summer Children's Publishing Illustration Promotion

Uploaded with secretsaucestudio.com I'm adding work all the time to my portfolio lately, especially for the work that I love to do for the Children's Publishing Industry, books and all. I have always loved the ice cream man and how he would come down the street like some suburban Willy Wonka, ready to hit you up with icy creamy goodness. I'll always remember the demented music coming out of an old speaker atop the rusty vehicle that sounds warped from age and a curious Doppler Effect as the truck barrels down the street while kids on bicycles chase him down. Ahhhhh Summer! See you all again soon.

Halloween Mailer Rough Sketch Before Finish

I always enjoy seeing people's rough sketches before the final art is done, so maybe some of you will be interested in seeing this. I'm currently halfway through this color finish, which I'll post by the end of the week, but I thought I'd blog about the process. My initial concept was of a Drive-in Movie theatre with nothing but monsters watching the scary movie, which was "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers", but then I worried that since this is for a normal-sized postcard, the image was too complex to be appreciated unless it was a larger size and that's too costly for my current budget. So, I did this compartmental layout to showcase images of Halloween. The finish is coming along great so far and I hope it really grabs the people I'm sending it to in this mass mailer and e-blast. Halloween is just a fun holiday and it's probably one of the most effective holidays to take advantage of in my business. Most people think that Christmas is a good time to promote, but I think that right after Thanksgiving art directors, editors, designers, and creative directors are all too distracted as they get ready for their Christmas/Winter break to care about a postcard coming at them and begging for their attention.

Come back by the end of the week and I will have a lush color finish to showcase. It'll be interesting to see them side-by-side and compare how much may have changed.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Early morning illustration for Alleen Barber about Traffic Networking solutions with current technology in the NYC area. Thank you Miss Barber! Sometimes I like a real fast deadline because it forces me to use limited palettes and work with the time constraints to make my client happy. Of course, I'd rather have a couple of days to noodle on an image, but I enjoy a good double-rush sometimes and Newsday is always good to me.