After earning a degree in law, Antonio Rubino turned towards a career in journalism and illustrating. His first job was illustrating the book L'Albatros by Alberto Colantuoni
In 1908 he started a collaboration as illustrator and cartoonist with the children's magazine Il Corriere dei Piccoli, for which he created numerous successful comic characters. In the 1920s and 1930s Rubino was also chief-editor and sometimes founder of several children's publications, such as Il Balilla, Topolino, Mondo Bambino.
He also directed several animated films, debuting in 1942 with Il Paese dei Ranocchi (The Land of the Frogs), which won the best film award at the Venice Film Festival in the animation category. His film I sette colori (The Seven Colors), was released posthumously in 1955.
The surreal style of Rubino has been variously associated to Futurism, East Asian painting, and above all Art Nouveau.