Rafael was born, on July 7, 1976 in Lima, Peru. In 1980, his family moved to Colombia, where he has been residing from that date on. BA in Graphic Design from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano College, where he met Master Rodez who had a definitive influence on him, which led him to completely get involved in the illustration field - especially for children illustrations -. In 2000, he, with other three artists, one of them his own master, won the “Utopia” calling organized by the International Board on Books for Young People, IBBY, directed to Latin American illustrators of books for children. From that time on, he has illustrated several books in Colombia and abroad, for publishers such as Groundwood Books (Canada), Grupo Editorial Norma, Santillana, Alfaguara, Ediciones B, Casa Editorial El Tiempo and Babel Libros. In 2003 produced one of his most well known works, in illustrating the children tale “Los árboles están colgando del cielo”, written by the Salvadorian Jorge Argueta, and published by Groundwood Books.