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
Tailor of Echoes Title Page Art © Richard A. Kirk 2021 I posted this image on my social media accounts to tease my forthcoming illustrated novel Tailor of Echoes (PS Publications, 2021). It was created for the title page. The original drawing is graphite. Since this blog is a defacto record of my studio activities... Continue Reading →
Cardinal, 2020/21, oil on panel, 20 x 16 inches Oil paintings are notoriously difficult to photograph and even worse to scan due to reflective properties. Fortunately, my printmaker has amazing skills in this area and was able to get me a nice clean capture of Cardinal. I've already added it to the cover design for... Continue Reading →
“Drowned Library” Greeting Cards January 26th and this is my first blog post of the year. I guess the month got away on me! I have been busy though, organizing a number of art and writing projects for the coming months. One fun little project was to produce these Drowned Library greeting cards. Initially, I... Continue Reading →
I’m a couple of days late with this week’s post. Most of the past week was spent marshaling supplies needed for a couple of big illustration jobs, making sketches and basically getting into the creative headspace needed to immerse myself in a multi-month task. I’ve also been in the workshop assembling strip frames for my... Continue Reading →
This week, I am showing my latest completed drawing called Harbinger. I started this piece on October 2 and finished it on December 6. I hope you enjoy checking out the detail shots below. I will be making a limited giclee print of Harbinger in the New Year. The best way to stay on top... Continue Reading →
It's been a busy week. I've been working steadily on Harbinger (see previous post), and on this series of oils (below). These are rough and ready iPhone images off my drawing table and once they are properly finished I'll put some better shots on my website. Birds and flight seem to be the central theme.... Continue Reading →
For the past few weeks I've been working on this large drawing called Harbinger (24" x 18"). Check out the images below. I'm rendering with Pigma Micron 005 pens on 140lb Arches hotpress. I haven't done a lot of finished work with Microns, so I wanted to give them a real workout to see what... Continue Reading →
One might be forgiven for thinking this piece a surrealist response to Aubrey Beardsley's illustration, The Examination of the Herald from Lysistrata, but it is in fact a meditation on vision (see previous posts). I hope you have enjoyed watching this process. This work is available for purchase. Please message me with any questions. Richard... Continue Reading →
Rendered the first figure on this piece.
The past week was spent working on the background of this piece. It was rendered in ink using a fine brush to make cross-hatch marks, layering for the dark area. I'll start the figures tomorrow. Detail of crosshatching
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 