Christopher Rutledge (American, b. 1992) is a CG artist, director and animator known for floppy, slightly ugly, grotesquely detailed characters brought to life through realistic simulation. Working primarily in the 3D software Houdini, he renders cartoonish character designs with a tactile, physically believable material quality and movements he describes as “satisfying yet unsettling”.
Rutledge grew up in the Boston suburb of Concord, Massachusetts, and began animating as a child after acquiring a copy of Macromedia Flash in sixth grade. He studied film and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design before attending the Pratt Institute, where he became interested in 3D animation and computer graphics. His Pratt thesis film, The Loaf Zone (2018), set in the fictional Loaf Town and rendered in a gooey, stretchy CG style, won a Vimeo staff pick and led him toward directing his own work for Adult Swim while freelancing as an effects artist and technical director.
