Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author
"there is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion" Sir Frances Bacon, Of Beauty, Essays" 1625
I woke up yesterday morning to the news that Ernst Fuchs had passed away. Fuchs' influence on fantastic art is incalculable and mirrored in the works of innumerable artists. Like Salvador Dali, Zdzislaw Beksinski, and Hans Rudolph Giger, Fuchs' work became a touchstone for visionary and fantastic artists everywhere, a gateway into a realm of... Continue Reading →
I had to take advantage of the light this morning to do a watercolor (or strictly speaking an acrylic ink) painting. The paper wasp nest on the figure's head is directly inspired by a yellow-jacket nest I've been watching over the summer in our garden. The recent cold mornings have killed off the nest, but... Continue Reading →
Here is a look at the drawing's bones. What you see here will soon disappear under layers of ink. I find these line drawings have a beauty of their own, which is why I always take the time to make a high resolution scan of them before rendering. The ink looks a bit darker here... Continue Reading →
“I tell you, there are more worlds, and more doors to them, than you will think of in many years!” ― George MacDonald, Lilith I've been thinking of doors to different worlds for many years. Or maybe its the same world, just many different doors. The first drawing was done in 2004, the second this... Continue Reading →
I’m catching up on some images that I posted to Facebook recently but not on this blog. This vignette drawing is called Petal. The medium is graphite, which for me is the most basic and direct method of expression. Petal is a grotesque. Without over analyzing what was essentially an intuitively drawn piece, my intention... Continue Reading →
This is probably the longest period of time that I have left this blog in free-fall. The last post was September 5, and it is now November 5! I have been busy during that period, making art, writing and filling my brain with all kinds of inspiration. Now, with the cold weather coming, I plan... Continue Reading →
For the last couple of weeks I've been working on a series of cross hatched drawings. It started out as a test of some paper I found in the back of my paper rack called #234 Paris Bleedproof Paper for Pens by Borden and Riley. I have a habit of picking up tablets of paper... Continue Reading →
The Dark Bead is finally finished! This image shows the completed drawing, The Dark Bead. You can see details and work in progress images in previous posts. The Dark Bead is an ink pointillism drawing done primarily with a Rotring .13 technical pen, and a Koh I Noor .18 for the outlines. As is typical... Continue Reading →
I thought I'd share my progress to date on The Dark Seed. It took a bit of a back seat to Bells Call Others, but it's not unusual for me to have several drawing on the go at once. This strategy is necessary as pointillism is by its nature a slow technique. Having a few... Continue Reading →
Bells Call Others is a new drawing, just finished this morning. It was a bit of a digression from another drawing I am working on, The Dark Bead, occasioned by finding a piece of toned board in my paper rack. Working on toned paper had been on my mind since looking at some work by... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 