H.P. Lovecraft, Rodney Dollah's Little Book Of Monsters and Halloween 2014

So it's been awhile since my last post, as I have been busy juggling a lot of projects, but I can't pass up the opportunity to post some creepy stuff this time of year. First I have to mention that vol.2 of Rodney Dollah's Little Book Of Monsters is now available right in time for Halloween. I had some of my work featured in vol. 1 and this year's volume is even bigger than the last one. It features some seriously talent artist from all over the world (I'm in good company), So if you are a lover of monsters don't miss out, you can order your copy and learn more about the project here. This is a cool and unique project as it is released every year right on time for Halloween and features a very diverse group of artist. ...And that brings me to my H.P. Lovecraft piece. The publisher of Little Book Of Monsters asked if I would put together an H.P. Lovecraft painting to go along with my tribute to H.R. Giger for Vol. 3. You can check out the H.R. Giger here. Of course I said Hell Yes :) Below is my caricature / portrait of H.P. Lovecraft. If your not familiar with this writer you can read about him at this Wikipedia article here. I also included a little poster I put together of some of my other work depicting various things that go bump in the night. Thanks for stopping by, Sweet Dreams :)

Art Poster

So I got my promo copy of Rodney Dollah's little book of Monsters in the mail yesterday. This was a fun project to be part of, I'm looking forward to seeing what they do for vol. 2 next year. We got a shout out on Parka blogs, which is one of my favorite blogs to visit from time to time to read up on all the new art related books that are out. You can see the review on Parka Blogs here. And read a blog post I did about the book here. Make sure you follow the link to order your copy, so you can enjoy some Monster goodness in time for this Halloween:) While you're at it don't forget to stop by and order my art book, Jab Jab Whammo!!! using the preview link below

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

I been super busy lately, but will be sharing some artwork real soon, for now here is a page from Rodney Dollah's Little Book Of Monsters and a promo poster of my art both new and old for you to enjoy!!! Thanks for stopping by

Rodney Dollah's Little BOOK of MONSTERS Volume 1

Some exciting news: A few of my pieces have been published in Rodney Dollah's Little Book of Monsters Volume 1, Available now. Click Here for details. It's an honor to be among so much great talent. A special shout out and thanks to Rodney Dollah, The uber talented Brian Haberlin, and an old friend from my Kitchen Sink Press days, James O' Barr (creator of The Crow), for giving me the opportunity to showcase my art in such a cool forum. Make sure you use coupon code LIKE US! at checkout for 10% off your entire order. Here's a Link to the artist page for a list of all the talent involved. I believe this may turn into an annual event, in fact the submissions for book 2, have a deadline of October 18th 2013, so head on over to the facebook page for details, if you are interested. So now that that shameless plug is over (LOL), I'll do what I do best and share some work. I call this one Baboon Heart. He truly fought me to be created. The file got corrupted on me, so I had to paint over a really bad low res version that I saved that had the words WIP written acrossed it. Then right when I finally got done and signed it, I signed it across the wrong layer, yup, the one with all the details. So I had to start that all over again, anyway, I hope it was worth it and you guys like the end result. Thanks for stopping by, Enjoy!!! and go enjoy some Monsters. Keep the lights ON !!!!

Baba Yaga

according to wikipedia: Baba Yaga or Baba Roga known by various other names, is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs. In most Slavic folk tales, she is portrayed as an antagonist; however, some characters in other mythological folk stories have been known to seek her out for her wisdom, and she has been known on rare occasions to offer guidance to lost souls. According to Propp, she often fulfills the function of donor; that is, her role is in supplying the hero (sometimes unwillingly) with something necessary for the further quest.

Here rather than paint this witch with her traditional chicken legged house, I envision her transforming into a nasty demon with chicken like features. This would happen before she eats the children no doubt. Right on time for a Halloween treat.

Brains anyone?

Here is a recent painting I completed of a Zombie chef, just in time to gross you out for Halloween. I included a few progress shots -painting, textures, then final details, lighting and color corrections.

Skull Robot

Skull Robot: This would make a cool Halloween outfit.