"there is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion" Sir Frances Bacon, "Of Beauty, Essays" 1625
I can now show you the cover art for the Russian edition (Eksmo) of my novel Necessary Monsters. I really like the cover, it reminds me of George McDonald’s Lilith, which has a nice resonance for me. Quite a thrill to see this. Unfortunately, I don’t know the artist’s name yet, but I will update when I find out. The image below is the original edition (Arche Press), which features my art, a crop from my drawing Chimera.
– Richard.
I’ve been balancing my production between personal work for upcoming group shows, illustration and fiction writing. Balance is hard to achieve, especially when you get seduced by one particular project. This week is was short stories. I finished two that were, sort of, almost there. I might drop one here, to celebrate the first anniversary of my novel, Necessary Monsters. Like my art, my fiction isn’t intended for everyone. It’s my statement, my aesthetic. I love it when readers respond. It’s so gratifying when people “get it.”
Now that the two stories are finished, this weekend I am returning to the final illustrations for my collection of short stories (Magpie’s Ladder, PS Publishing, later this year). Work on my next novel is progressing, but it’s the kind of thing that has to slow cook.
Booking group shows into 2019. Very excited by projects coming down the line. Thanks for your interest and support.
– Richard
This is an illustration for one of Caitlin R. Kiernan’s short stories in the recently published Houses Under the Sea (Centipede Press). I’m showing the image in its original state because I like the warmth of the off white Arches paper (the file submitted to the publisher was altered for printing). The finished book is beautifully made. Below are a few snaps so you can see how the artwork was incorporated into the design.
– Richard
The good folks a PS Publishing posted an announcement in this week’s newsletter for a new edition of To Charles Fort With Love by CRK. It included my cover art – Entomologist’s Daughter.
Richard.
This is a second illustration for Caitlin R. Kiernan’s Houses Under the Sea, forthcoming from Centipede Press, and the last that I can show for now. It goes with a story called Houndwife and was also done with carbon pencil.
In this post, I also want to give a shout out to my friend Steve Venright who has a new book (November 2017) called The Least You Can Do is Be Magnificent
From the Anvil Press Website –
For over thirty years, Steve Venright has devoted himself to the liberation of the imagination, documenting hallucinatory trips through Southwestern Ontario’s deliriomantic landscapes with his signature puns, portmanteaus, and spoonerisms. The Least You Can Do Is Be Magnificent: Selected & New Writings is a generous gathering of Venright’s most enduring and extraordinary poems, including the revised and expanded “Manta Ray Jack and the Crew of the Spooner”— the most outlandish and hilarious seafaring tale since Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark. This volume also features an in-depth examination of Venright’s work by scholar Alessandro Porco.
Haverhill House Publishing is putting out a new edition of Christopher Golden’s Strangewood. I produced illustrations for an earlier edition (Earthling Publications, 2008). I love the colours on this cover by Michelle Madsen.
Further to my last post, PS Publishing has just posted its December newsletter. It includes the full wrap around illustration for Odin’s Girl by Kim Wilkins, which I share here. It also shows a little of an interior illustration, which you can see by following the link.
I am currently hard at work/ play creating the illustrations for Magpie’s Ladder (also mentioned in the newsletter). I will be posting some teasers on my Instagram account. So if you are interested, please follow me there. The link is at the bottom of this page.
Finally, I would be remiss not to throw in a plug for my novel Necessary Monsters published in June by Resurrection House. You can find it on Amazon or, in your local bookshop of choice.
