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