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
No matter how surreal or fantastic my pieces finish up, they nearly always start with natural forms. No matter how surreal or fantastic my pieces finish up, they nearly always start with natural forms. The shapes of insects, plants, bones, fossils etc. are all building blocks I use to create composition and meaning in my... Continue Reading →
The title of my new piece was taken from Mary Shelley's introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein. I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some terrible engine, show signs... Continue Reading →
A common question I hear is "where do you get your ideas?" I'm not sure I can answer that satisfactorily—it's a combination of lifelong interests and intuition. I can tell you how I get them to paper though. My favourite design tool is the humble Ultra Fine Black Sharpie marker. You can buy them by... Continue Reading →
Currently in the studio I am working on a large drawing called EXTREMOPHILE. According to Wikipedia an extremophile is an organism that is able to live in extreme environments with conditions approaching or stretching the limits of what known life can adapt to. By that definition, one might argue taking on a 22" x 30"... Continue Reading →
I found a forgotten stash of watercolour paper in my studio, which inspired me to do a few smaller works over the last couple of weeks. These ink drawings are tinted with Liquitex coloured inks in the manner of watercolours. I'm adding these to my shop as I finish them, so check in from time... Continue Reading →
I'm working on a new book of drawings called AURA. BEETLE IN THE BOX is intended as the first illustration and serves as the portal into the world of the book. AURA will encompass all aspects of my aesthetic: fantasy, surrealism, humour and horror. It is a journey, but not a structured narrative, as in... Continue Reading →
The Nameless Flower, 2024, ink on paper, 30” x 22” I posted a detail of this piece a few days ago. Here is the completed drawing! It’s a large one (for me) and took many weeks of on again, off again work—the original graphite underdrawing was done back in August 2023. I posted a few... Continue Reading →
Cover Illustration by Richard A. Kirk for “The Dinosaur Tourist” Pictured above is an illustration I did for the cover of a short fiction collection by Caitlin R. Kiernan. It was rendered with a 0.18 Rotring Rapidograph for people who are interested in such things. I’ve always enjoyed working with subjects from natural history. This... Continue Reading →
A detail of my new drawing The Nameless Flower I’ve been working on this piece called The Nameless Flower for a few weeks now and I am getting close to finishing. When I do, I’ll post it in full and include some details. For now, here is a little timelapse video of me working on... Continue Reading →
Many of you that follow my work will have seen the images I created earlier this year for the vinyl reissue of KoRN Untitled—KoRn's 8th studio album. In this post I will show you some of the production shots I took while I was working on this project. It's my practice to document my work... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 