Today we’d like to introduce you to Revel Rosa.
Revel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am a Puerto-Rican artist born from artistic parents. Growing up back and forth between Los Angeles and Puerto-Rico, I had the privilege of being raised in an environment that celebrated the arts in all its’ forms, so naturally, when I started showing interest at a real young age (like two-ish, I think), my parents supported me. It started when I would have my mom draw, paint, and sculpt animals for me, mostly whales, because I loved them. I’ve always been enamored with the natural world, specifically animals, living or extinct. I would get excited at the concept of someone recreating them for me, and it made me want to try making some myself. Soon, I started drawing every day, moving onto dinosaurs (another obsession of mine) as well as other animals and eventually people. This passion for it was not only fueled by my parents but also older artist friends and family that all encouraged me to keep at it. I’m thankful for having so many people in my life that supported my creativity moving forward.
It wasn’t until I made it to high school that I started seriously thinking about art as a career choice. Luckily, I had the privilege of attending LACHSA (Los Angeles County High School for the Arts) and met fellow artists who were just as passionate about their own art as I was about mine, and a few of my classmates became lifelong friends through our shared interests. For the first time, I was able to use my art to socialize and communicate with peers, drawing silly stuff in each others’ sketchbooks, and whenever the work environment became loud with the bustling of everyone working and talking, I thrived in it. I sought out that same kind of vibe in college, attending ArtCenter College of Design as an Entertainment Design major, learning so much about visual development and design process that occasionally pushed me to my limit, but honestly it was worth it, I had a lot of fun. Growing up, I’ve always been pretty social, so that sense of community and chaos became what I loved the most about working with other artists. My big goal in life is to keep experimenting with different art forms, expand my knowledge of different fields, and make content/products that I believe in and that others can believe in.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road of an artist isn’t ever smooth, to be honest. It’s rough and full of potholes that can discourage you. As a child, I dealt with the usual teasing that a little Latino art kid would face, as well as teachers who tried to suppress my artistic nature, or worse, tried to exploit it. In adulthood, I’ve had entire projects fall through after months of planning because of unexpected complications or inconsiderate collaborators. A huge obstacle lately has been this country’s irresponsible apathy to the Covid-19 pandemic, which put a few potential gigs on hold and, for a while, depressed me so much that it killed my motivation. Luckily for me, my friends and family are going through the same thing, and I’m blessed to be surrounded by a community of artists who care about and support each other.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a freelancer, so I go where the work is, expanding my skills so I can work different jobs in different fields. Right out of college, I landed a job at Thinkwell Group doing clean-up illustration of interior spaces and loose concepts of architecture. I then was contacted by Framestore to come in as an intern doing 3D concept sculpture, and after a while, I was invited to draw a slew of storyboards and concept pieces for The Universal Sphere, a project created in collaboration with Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Animation for Comcast’s Philadelphia based planetarium-style theatre. One of my favorite projects I got to work on was with my brother, Redamo Rosa, and Wrenfield Productions, doing art direction, storyboards, and visual design on the music video entitled “Tu Lado Oscuro”, A piece done in collaboration with Sharpball Animation that was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Long Form Video for an animated piece. Now, I’m moving into fashion, doing sneaker customization and clothing design for different up and coming designers who I vibe with and like their art.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My future plans involve linking up with fellow artists and crafting interesting products for the new market. I’m currently in fashion and concept design right now, but I’m working on getting a video game off the ground since it’s a field I’m very interested in breaking into and have been a big fan of all my life. Moving forward, I want to do a bit of everything, creating art from the heart that I and people I work with can believe in, that reflect the vibe that I love so much about life and art.
Contact Info:
- Website: revelrosa.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @revelationman
Image Credit:
Portrait of Revel Rosa by Angela Alvarado, Film still by Redamo Rosa
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