The Silver Cord

So this is my first blog post of 2015, and I have some great news to share.  A project I had the great privilege of working on is finally done and available for purchase online and in bookstores nationwide.  The Silver Cord A huge 400 plus page graphic novel about newly conscious robots in a religious war with ancient jealous angels, and a young half-breed girl who must save them all . You can learn more about the book on the main site , here Follow us on Twitter here , and like us on Facebook here .  You can purchase a copy of the book here .  I provided digital Paintings for several of the pages in book one ( The graphic novel is broken up into 2 books )  Here are screenshots of some of the pages I colored. These pics do it no justice as the production value of this book is absolutely gorgeous. 

And here are shots of me signing autographs for the fans that backed the Kickstarter campaign, along with some shots of the individual doodles I did for each page I signed. About 250 unique doodles was my way of saying thanks to the fans for being so awesome. 

I would like to Thank Kevin Kelly and Steve Masseroni for the opportunity to be a part of such a great adventure. Here is a link to Kevin's site and a link to Steve's site. A huge shout out to Industrial Lights and Magic Art Director Alex Jaeger, it was an honor to be part of a project that has your name attached.  You can check out Alex's blog here , and Like his facebook art page here . And last but not least, to my brother from another mother, Tippet Studio Concept Artist Gus Dizon, thanks for all of the great support, advice, mentoring, and kick ass Photoshop brushes :)  Gus has a passion for taking amazing photos. Check out his photography site here .  Congrats to all of the other creatives involved, you guys all rock. Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to order a copy of The Silver Cord, available now on Amazon. Enjoy !!!!!

Art Book Preview copy

So I received a preview copy of my book. The Official title is going to be jab, jab, Whammo!!! The Art Of Rafael Rivera, A.K.A. DARAF. catchy isn't it:) I wanted to review the printing quality and so on, so I can adjust the art work if need be. I was very pleased with the look of the book so far. I am working on a cover, some interior text, and about 20 more pages of new art and sketches, it's a lot of work to do solo, but it's worth it and I am having a ball. Below is a pic of the back cover and one of the interior pages. Sorry for the crappy focus job. I'm no photographer.lol Thanks to my good friend, artist Steve Masseroni for a really nice intro write up for the book, and thanks to writer Kevin Kelly, and artist, Mark Bode, Gus Dizon, Dave Woodman, Bobby Chiu, and Writer Todd Livingston for lending the kind words for the back cover. I am super excited, I think I'll go draw now.

Silver Cord Villian

Here is another piece I worked on today for The silver Cord. This guy is named Ibog, he is the boss if you will, of the Dregs in the story. Ibog is one of the top villains in the story, and in front of him is our star, Tasi in her astral projection form. If you haven't checked out the first issue yet, you can read it for free on the site. www.silver-cord.net I was asked to do a new treatment on the Ibog character and change him up a bit from the original version. Below is my take on the character followed by the original concept by ILM VFX art director Alex Jaeger, and a page I colored with the Dregs pursuing Tasi. Pencils by Steve Masseroni. Thanks for stopping by:)

Oriax Reloaded

This is revisit of a character from The Silver Cord graphic novel I worked on named Oriax. If you have not read the novel you can read it on line for free and download a PDF version as well on the website http://silver-cord.net/ The guys over at Disruptive Media http://www.disruptivepublishers.com/index.php showed interest in making a line of Silver Cord Dynamic Themes for Playstation 3 users. Co-Creator Steve Masseroni asked if I would do a color treatment of Oriax for the themes and give him some golden skin. There is a bunch of cool things possibly in the works for The Silver Cord, I'll keep you all posted as it happens, for now here is my redo of Oriax followed by the quick color comp I sent to Steve for approval and The original concept art by Steve Masseroni.

Sketchy Ladies, Scribbler Too, and The Silver Cord

I was excited to recieve my copy of a book I worked on a few years ago titled "The Silver Cord" You can read an online version of the book and find out how to order a printed copy at www.silver-cord.net There is also a link to a kickstarter page where you can help get the rest of the project out there, so head over to the site and learn all about it. Below is a two page spread that I painted for the book. Pencils by my friend and artist Steve Masseroni. Next are a few figure drawing studies I did to stay loose at work this past Saturday These next couple of thumbnails were done in an online sketching program called Scribbler Too. Look it up, it's pretty addicting. I just spend a few seconds on each of these to try it out, I intend on messing around with it more.