ARTIST SPOTLIGHT – Gabriela Rivera

Chris GarciaArtist Spotlight Leave a Comment

This week we welcome Gabriela Rivera to the CBFC Artist Spotlight!

Q. Where are you from?

A. I was born in Mexico City but I came to El Paso TX when I was about 4 or 5 years old, and have lived here since!

Q. How long you’ve been drawing?

A. On and off, I’ve been doodling here and there since I was about 12 or 13. However, I stopped during high school to focus on music. I was in marching and jazz band all throughout high school, and I genuinely thought I was going to pursue music as a career. But something told me that illustrating was more up my alley! I chose graphic design as my degree and graduated from UTEP in 2015 with a major in Graphic Design and a minor in Advertising. Once I graduated I realized I preferred illustration over graphic design and began developing and practicing with more art styles and mediums. I’ve been doing it ever since.

Q. What materials do prefer to do your art with?

A. I actually really love inking and line art! I love Micron Pens but if I find a random Sharpie on the floor I’ll use that. I also really love illustration markers and colored pencil. But I really just try to practice with multiple mediums.

Q. Character do you love to draw?

A. When I was younger I was obsessed with Raven from Teen Titans. I love drawing her. I also really loved to draw Sasuke and Itachi from Naruto because I’m a simp for them.
I also really love drawing female characters in strong dynamic poses. I think women should be celebrated for their skills as well as their beauty.

Q. Character that you want to draw that you haven’t drawn yet?

A. I really want to draw Naruto! I’ve been meaning to so hopefully I’ll do it soon!

Q. What artist inspires you the most and why?

A. I really love Stanley Artgerm Lau! He’s such a skilled illustrator in both the digital and traditional sense and I think its great to develop those skills in both.

Q. What was your first published work?

A. My first published works were a book cover for an independent publisher who specializes in science fiction literature! You can find him on Amazon under the name Ross Harringway and the titles of the books I did covers for are:
Doctrine of Avoidance
A Place Called Freedom
The Undaunted

Q. Which artist would you love to do a collaboration piece with?

A. There are just so many artists I would love to collaborate with, its hard to choose! As far as local artists, I’d love to collaborate with Andy Perez. He’s been a good friend and mentor to me ever since I’ve began doing conventions and he’s helped me significantly in guiding me through my art career. And he’s incredibly skilled! 

Thank Gabriela Rivera for taking the time to answer a few of our questions! Be sure to give her a follow!

-Chris

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