Captain Jack Sparrow

Here is a caricature of actor Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow from The Pirates Of The Caribbean movies :) One of my favorite roles that this actor has played. Enjoy!!!!

Rocky And Adrian

Whoa, it has been a crazy couple of weeks, but it's time to start posting some new art and updating the blog again. I decided to revisit this old piece I did of Actor Sylvester Stallone and actress Talia Shire from the movie Rocky. Rocky is a 1976 American sports film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rocky starts out as a club fighter who later gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. It also stars Talia Shire as Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill, and Carl Weathers as the champion, Apollo Creed. The film is also the reason why many pro fighters, including myself wanted to become fighters in the first place :) Below is the revised painting followed by the original (which I thought was awesome at the time, heh) and the reference material. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy!!!

Happy New Year 2014, R.I.P. DAD

2013 , was for me, a very trying year, with many ups and downs, but it was also a very productive year for me art wise. I was surprised to glance back at all of the art (both client work and personal) that I had done this year. I also managed to fill up pages and pages of sketches which is common practice for me, but still I did not realize I managed that much content, and that's not counting all of the tattoos I have done this year as well. Hopefully I can keep the motivation up throughout 2014 and continue to grow in the process. Here are a few screen captures of characters and environments that were started towards the end of this year, that I will be finishing up early in 2014. I hope you all like them so far :) ...and on a more somber note, the Year 2013 also ended in a bittersweet way, with the Passing of my Father, Rafael Rivera Sr. who passed away right on Christmas morning this year. He was a major influence in both my loves (Boxing,and Art). He was a huge fight fan ( which made me want to fight), and he used to work at his family's printing business, so I pretty much got tons of free paper to scribble on, not to mention all of the toys, comic books and magazines he got for me, definitely fuelled the passion for drawing at an early age. I'm gonna miss my weekly conversations with him about the fights, but I know his suffering is over and I will reunite with him eventually. Below are some pics of him and my family, who appreciate all he has done for us and miss him tremendously. Rest In Peace DAD. From left to right: My Dad, Me, and my son Miguel in Sarasota, Fl. Me and my dad in North Hampton Mass about 20 years ago: Me and Dad in Sarasota celebrating one of my birthdays: My dad and Daughter Ariel when she was a little one (North Hampton Mass) My dad and Ariel again: Two of the Great Grandbabies I wish he had more time to get to know, My daughter Mellisa's boyz, Jon-Jon and Jo-Jo :) Me giving my Grandson Jon-Jon some art lessons on his new easle :) DA KIDZ :) Melissa and Miguel :) From left to Right, My wife Vicky and her little girl, Melissa : And the latest member of the family, Rocky Da Pit. He is about 3 1/2 weeks old here, I got him for my wife as an anniversary present back in November. We also have 2 Main Coon cats that won't be in this post And last but not least, here's is me followed by wife, holding Rocky :) well I hope you enjoyed this short post and semi tribute to my Dad. I Pray for a Healthy and Prosperous New Year 2014 for all of you out there. Thanks for stopping by, GOD Bless, and as always, Enjoy!!!!! Don't forget to Be Awesome Daily :)

Clint Eastwood Creature?

Book project update: So I got a few more votes to push my Book project. That's awesome, thanks to everyone who has supported and shared my info so far. A special thanks to the fine folks over at Heavy Metal Magazine for sharing the book project on their Facebook page and voting for me as well. My art was featured in Heavy Metal's June 2013 edition, so go get some back issues and like the face book page to stay current with the world's greatest fantasy and sci-fi art magazine of all time. We have a ways to go for my book to get published , so if you haven't voted yet, please do so, and remember, sharing the link with others is just as important. Take a look at the project page link by clicking here. And as always I thank everyone for their support, you guys are the reasons I keep my pencil/ pen/stylus moving :) Below is a creature concept sketch I painted recently. Taking on some of the lessons that my good friend Carlos Huante shared with me. for some reason it looks like Clint Eastwood to me. LOL Thanks for stopping by, enjoy !!!!!

Bat Creature

I Decided to leave this creepy thing sketchy and painterly for now. The face was patterned after one of those Sphynx cats, which I always found kinda of creepy because they are hairless. LOL Below is the painting followed by the sketch. while your here please don't forget to click on this link that will take you to the Skechoholic site, and vote for my book to get published by hitting the Push to shelf button, and also sharing it with friends:) All supporters of the book will be added to a list in the book's credits. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!

Sketchoholic Art Book Publishing

Hey everyone out there in cyber space, I have some shameless self promotion that I can use your help with :) I am trying to get my book published by the fine folks over at Sketchoholic.com. What I need from you fine folks is A. To head on over to my projects page and press the Push To Shelf  Button, to help push and vote for my book to get published. It's free, you can get over there and vote by clicking HERE. If and when I reach 200 pushes, they will work with me to publish and promote my book, And B.(this ones also free, free is good) Please help spread the word by sharing the link and info to all of your favorite social media sites. What's in it for you, you may ask, well for one it's good Karma, and also all the pushers will have their names and a URL (if you have a site to promote) printed in the book as a thanks for backing it. Plus I will be forever grateful and able to continue sharing my art with the world, AWWWWWWW. Isn't that sweet. So please head on over and help Push my project and help spread the word ( cuz, we all know sharing is caring). O.K. shameless self promotion is over for now, so here is some more art for you to enjoy:) Below is a painting that started out as a sketch done for a fan of my art and aspiring artist, in his sketchbook. I made sure I got a pic of the sketch so I can paint over it. I always love signing autographs and sketching for people. It forces you to work purely from imagination and only reference what you have in your mind. In this case it was artist H.R. Giger, Bernie Wrightson, Simon Bisley, Carlos Huante, and the movie Prometheus. Thanks for stopping by, and helping out with my book project. Enjoy!!!!!

The Bride Of Frankenstein

Bride of Frankenstein (advertised as The Bride of Frankenstein) is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein (1931). Bride of Frankenstein was directed by James Whale and stars Boris Karloff as The Monster, Elsa Lanchester in the dual role of the Bride and Mary Shelley, Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein, and Ernest Thesiger as Doctor Septimus Pretorius. The film follows on immediately from the events of the earlier film, and is rooted in a subplot of the original Mary Shelley novel, Frankenstein (1818). In the film, a chastened Henry Frankenstein abandons his plans to create life, only to be tempted and finally coerced by the Monster, encouraged by Henry's old mentor Dr. Pretorius, into constructing a mate for him. Below is my caricature of The Bride, done for The Little Book Of Monsters Vol.2 Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!!!