New Art E-Book

Jab, Jab, Whammo!!! The Art Of Rafael Rivera A.K.A. DARAF is now available as a downloadable e-book for less tthan ten bucks:) Go get some funky art goodness for your mobile devices. You can preview the book at this address: http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/367174-jab-jab-whammo This next piece was another experiment using the stamp tool mixed with various custom brushes in Photoshop cs6. Inspiration came from The Transformers and the works of artist Daniel Dociu. Thanks for stopping by.

Spidermech

This is a quick speedpainting I did while watching the original Star Wars and John Carter movies. Trying out a few things, I used mostly a pallet knife for this one. Enjoy!!!

Conan The Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 sword and sorcery/adventure film directed and co-written by John Milius. It is based on stories by Robert E. Howard, a pulp fiction writer of the 1930s, about the adventures of the eponymous character in a fictional pre-historic world of dark magic and savagery. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones, and tells the story of a young barbarian (Schwarzenegger) who seeks vengeance for the death of his parents at the hands of Thulsa Doom (Jones), the leader of a snake cult. Buzz Feitshans and Raffaella De Laurentiis produced the film for her father Dino De Laurentiis. Basil Poledouris provided the music. Directed by John Milius, Written by John Milius and Oliver Stone, Based on Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard. Conan was among my childhood favorite Comic book Magazines to read as a child, with amazing art by the great John Buscema, and covers by Frank Frazetta. Here is a caricature of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan. thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!

Happy Holidays

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate during this Holiday Season. Here is a speed paint of a scene from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy!!!

Clint Eastwood gets a makeover

From Wikipedia: Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American film actor, director, producer, composer, and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide (1959–1966). He rose to fame for playing the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy of spaghetti westerns (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) during the late 1960s, and as Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry films (Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact, and The Dead Pool) throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made him an enduring cultural icon of a certain type of masculinity. For his work in the films Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004), Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director and Producer of the Best Picture, as well as receiving nominations for Best Actor. These films in particular, as well as others including Play Misty for Me (1971), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Tightrope (1984), Pale Rider (1985), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), In the Line of Fire (1993), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), and Gran Torino (2008), have all received commercial success and critical acclaim. Eastwood's only comedies have been Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and its sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980), which are his two most commercially successful films after adjustment for inflation. In addition to directing many of his own star vehicles, Eastwood has also directed films in which he did not appear, such as Mystic River (2003) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), for which he received Academy Award nominations, and Changeling (2008). He has received considerable critical praise in France, including for several films which were not well received in the United States, and he has been awarded two of France's highest honors: in 1994 he became a recipient of the French Republic's Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2007 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur medal. In 2000, he was awarded the Italian Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Since 1967, Eastwood has run his own production company, Malpaso, which has produced all except four of his American films. He also served as the nonpartisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California from 1986 to 1988. I decided to re-visit a caricature of Clint Eastwood that I did about 6 years ago. What a difference that time has made. Encouragement to keep pressing forward:) Below is the new version followed by a screen shot showing the older version side by side with a wip of the newer version and the reference picture. Enjoy!!!

Female Figure Studies

Trying my hand at yet another style. This time, some painted ladies:) Keeping these studies painterly and loose. Done in Corel Painter 12. I love the look of the natural media brushes and how they interact with the papers you choose to paint on. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!

New Sci-Fi Concept art magazine

A new Magazine titled Sci-Fi Concept Art and Literature Review from Publisher Ian Blaza is now available. You can check it out at this address: SFCALR Magazine | Sci-Fi Concept Art http://www.sfcalr-mag.com/issue-one-available-now/ This issue has galleries that focus on Sci-Fi environments and land vehicles. I have a few of my pieces in this issue as well as art from some other very talented guys from all over the globe. There is also an exclusive interview with Stargate designer James Robbins, Artists Wayne Haag and Justine Fields. You’ll also find reviews of the latest Sci-Fi literature and much more. Below is a pic of the cover as well as a couple of pages that showcase 2 of my contributions to this issue. Enjoy, and go download it, you won't be dissapointed:)

Get 25% off my book jab, jab, Whammo

Get 25% off of my book in softcover or hardcover from now until Dec 17th. Use Promo Code: WARM when you get to checkout.

jab, jab, WHAMMO!!! by Rafael Rivera | Make Your Own Book

Vampires and other things that go bump in the night

A couple of monster/ creature designs to test out a new technique/ approach. I started with a black canvas in photoshop, then on a new layer and layed down a basic gradient. I then turned the gradient layer into a mask, so I can paint in black and white with a textured brush to reveal some interesting shapes until I see a design emerge. Working this way allowed my to see a design fairly quickly. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!

The Twilight Saga

A few caricatures I finished today of the three main characters from the Twilight Saga, Kristen Stewart (Bella), Robert Pattinson (Edward) , and Taylor Lautner (Jacob). I wanted to keep this one nice and loose and painterly. I think I got the look I was after. Done in Corel painter 12 and Photoshop. Below is the painting followed by some process shots. If you want to see some more of this kind of work and other stuff I do, pick up a copy of my book, jab, jab, Whammo!!! the Art of Rafael Rivera. Thanks for stopping by

jab, jab, WHAMMO!!! by Rafael Rivera | Make Your Own Book

jab, jab, WHAMMO!!! the art of Rafael Rivera a.k.a. DARAF

My book is finally done. It was alot of fun to work on, but along the way everything that could go wrong did. My main PC did not power up anymore, my external hard drives seem to not be working ( this had all the back ups) you name it. Still I pushed through and am very proud of the outcome. I own a ton of art books, so I feel mine is a bit unique because I have not seen an art book with so much different subject matter and styles all done by one artist. usually books like this will be published with various artist contributing. So with that said, you can flip through a few of the pages below to give you a preview and also click on the link (the icon that looks like a shopping cart) to purchase the book. It will make an excellent book for the artist or art lover in your life:) And remember: sharing is caring so please help spread the word in all of your social media circles. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy jab,jab WHAMMO!!! the art of Rafael Rivera

jab, jab, WHAMMO!!! by Rafael Rivera | Make Your Own Book

Fight Night WIP

A little something I like to do when I hit an artist block. I try a different style out. Here is an experiment with the loaded pallet knife in painter 12. I will be refining this piece for my book and exploring this style further as well.

Fun but far from done

Another piece for my book:)

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone out there is enjoying the Holiday. Here is a cropped section of my cover design for my art book. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy!!!

Confronting The Machine GOD

Enlarging a quick thumbnail and painting over it. The finished piece will be in my up coming art book. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy.

Cartoon character sculpt

To warm up for some serious art today, I decided to try to do a quick block in of a cartoon cop character I drew sometime ago in one of my sketchbooks. I got to watch a webinar demonstration this morning by artist Danny Williams of the pointpusher blog. (He makes it look so easy), and I learned a couple of things that I was able to apply to my workflow. This is by no means a good refined , finished sculpt. In fact it's pretty bad in my opinion, but I learned lots doing it, and I can refine it from here if I choose to. The point was to do a speed sculpt of the concept drawing I used as reference.  I will definitely keep practicing my z-brush skills whenever I have time between jobs. Thanks for checking it out.

Art Book Preview copy

So I received a preview copy of my book. The Official title is going to be jab, jab, Whammo!!! The Art Of Rafael Rivera, A.K.A. DARAF. catchy isn't it:) I wanted to review the printing quality and so on, so I can adjust the art work if need be. I was very pleased with the look of the book so far. I am working on a cover, some interior text, and about 20 more pages of new art and sketches, it's a lot of work to do solo, but it's worth it and I am having a ball. Below is a pic of the back cover and one of the interior pages. Sorry for the crappy focus job. I'm no photographer.lol Thanks to my good friend, artist Steve Masseroni for a really nice intro write up for the book, and thanks to writer Kevin Kelly, and artist, Mark Bode, Gus Dizon, Dave Woodman, Bobby Chiu, and Writer Todd Livingston for lending the kind words for the back cover. I am super excited, I think I'll go draw now.

The Art Of Rafael Rivera update

Been working hard on my art book, so not many blogpost. All the new art will be in the book, so I won't be sharing any new stuff. For now here is another screen grab minus the text which I will add later. Enjoy

New Art Book

I'm putting together an art book of my works. The book is coming together lovely. I'll update as it progresses. For now here is a screen grab of one of the pages and a sneak peak to one of the many never published images I will include in the book. Also a couple of abstract ship shapes I did for fun and to experiment. thanks for stopping by. Enjoy!!!

Rihanna

From Wikipedia: Robyn Rihanna Fenty born February 20, 1988), known mononymously as Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist and actress. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at age 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings. In 2005, Rihanna released her debut studio album, Music of the Sun, which peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart and features the Billboard Hot 100 top five hit single "Pon de Replay". In less than a year, she released her second studio album, A Girl Like Me (2006), which peaked within the top-five in the United States, and produced her first Hot 100 number one single, "SOS". Rihanna's third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad released in May 2007, spawned the international hit singles "Umbrella", "Don't Stop the Music", "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia", with an additional four singles being released. The album was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella". Her fourth studio album Rated R (2009), produced the top-ten singles "Russian Roulette", "Hard" and "Rude Boy", with the latter achieving the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Loud (2010), Rihanna's fifth studio album, spawned the number-one hits "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?" and "S&M". Rihanna's sixth studio album, Talk That Talk (2011) served number-one hit "We Found Love" and top-five single "Where Have You Been". Rihanna's work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including five American Music Awards, eighteen Billboard Music Awards, two BRIT Awards and five Grammy Awards. She has achieved a total of eleven number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the youngest solo artist to achieve the feat. Billboard named Rihanna the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade, and ranked her as the seventeenth artist of the same decade. She is the highest-selling digital artist in US history, having sold 47,571,000 singles as of 2012. Furthermore, she has also shipped 7.3 million album units in the United States as of September 2011. Some of her singles have earned their place on the list of best-selling singles worldwide. Rihanna has sold more than 25 million albums and 60 million digital singles worldwide since the beginning of her career in 2005, which makes her one of the best selling artists of all time. In June 2011, Forbes reported that Rihanna had earned $29 million between May 2010 and May 2011. In 2012, American magazine Time named Rihanna one of the most influential people in the world. Rihanna was also ranked the fourth most powerful celebrity in 2012 with earnings of $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012, according to Forbes. Here is my caricature of Rihanna followed by the initial color block in and The quick pencil sketch. Done in photoshop cs6 and Corel Painter 12. You can see a screen grab of the original reference photo in my last post. Thank for checking it out. Enjoy!!!!

Rihanna Work In Progress

My next attempt to caricature a female: Rihanna. Just adding the tonal values at this point. It will be a colored piece when it's done. Thanks for stopping by , enjoy!!!

Reservoir Dogs Update

This is a screen grab from my Reservoir Dogs piece. I still have a way to go. Here is a progress shot of actor Eddie Bunker as Mr. Blue

Kim Kardashian

From Wikipedia: Kimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian (born October 21, 1980 is an American socialite, reality television star, model and occasional actress. She is known for starring in Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the E! reality series that she shares with her family, and its spin-offs including Kourtney and Kim Take New York. Here is my caricature of Kim followed by the photo I used for reference. I started this out in Photoshop cs6, and I wanted to get a painterly look, but stay away from from the usual custom textured brushes I made for myself in Photoshop, So I carried the painting over to Corel painter 12 and used several of the oil brushes and the Acrylic captured bristle brush to achieve this look. I wanted it to remain fairly loose, so I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!

Kim Kardashian Work In Progress

Here is a screen grab of a kim Kardashian Caricature I am working on. I find it harder to caricature women, so I will probably do what I normally do when I find something difficult. I tackle it head on:) I will most likely try to do a pic with all three sisters. Here is where I am at so far with Kim. Done in Photoshop cs6. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!

Random Faces

Some sketches of random citizens for practice. Picture references provided by Jason Seiler for his caricature course on schoolism.com Thanks for stopping by.

Female Figure Drawing

Some figure drawing done today for the Bacteria Incubator weekly female figure drawing forum. Reference pictures are supplied by Alberto Ruiz of Brandstudio Press. Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy!!!

A Heist Gone Bad

Here is a screen grab of the initial block in of the crew of The Reservoir Dogs. Done in Photoshop CS6. From Left To Right: Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blue, and Mr. Brown. I intend on coloring each panel according to the characters name. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!!

Monochromatic Study

This is another assignment from Jason Seiler's Caricature course on Schoolism. This time a Monochrome painting study of a model the Jason provided. I guess this guys name is Lupe. At least that's what the file was named. There were other pics, but I just loved this guys face. Great shapes and details to play off of. Below is the sketch done with red prismacolor col-erase pencil and then scanned in a painted in Photoshop. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy!!!!