"there is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion" Sir Frances Bacon, "Of Beauty, Essays" 1625
One of the pieces I’m working on this fall is The Wedding of the Earth and Sky. It will be entirely stippled with my trusty Rapidograph pens. I am pleased with the progress so far. Apart from the pencilling, these images represent about 4-5 hours work thus far. I’m already penciling two more pieces in this cycle of work. I’ll be posting updates as work progresses.
– Richard
It’s been a busy summer so I haven’t had the chance to update my blog. With fall approaching I can get back to posting on a regular schedule.
So, first up is this piece, Garden of the Moon, which I just finished on Wednesday. It took two months to complete, in sessions of 2 – 5 hours. So lots of hours, but lots of fun too, working with small brushes and carbon black acrylic ink. The brush and ink allow a fluidity that is more difficult to achieve with stippling, my usual technique. The crazy level of detail is intended to invite exploration within the piece. I am much more interested in that aspect than how it looks from across the room – which is kind of cool too though, right? Really, I’d just like the viewer to read the piece as if they were immersing themselves in a tangled and mysterious fairy-tale.
Garden of the Moon will be on show at the La Lune II show in the Haven Gallery later this month.
Wrath is my latest drawing. It was done for an upcoming show at Copro Gallery in California called 7 Sins. The show, curated by Cris Velasco, opens June 8.
I spent much of yesterday finishing this drawing, which has been in my studio for a while. It was originally conceived for a Lovecraft themed show at Copro Gallery a couple of years ago (curated by Cris Velasco). Unfortunately, my workload at the time was very heavy and in the end I went with a smaller piece. Anyway, it was great to finally get this piece finished. Love this medium, and I will definitely be starting another carbon pencil piece right away. Hopefully it won’t take two years to finish!
– Richard.
These are two recent drawings done more or less back to back. If you look closely, you can see that they have similar compositional bones, despite the difference in technique. The Hollowing was created for a WOW X WOW show called Monochromagic coming up in September. The Candidate was created for an August show called The Thin Black Line, at Ars Memoria Gallery. Click on the images to open larger versions in a separate window.
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
I had a few free hours today so I finished my drawing “The Hidden Exhibition.” Ink on 140lb Arches hotpress paper, 12″ x 16.″ The work will be shown for the first time at the Roadside Attractions III show at Copro Gallery (curated by Cris Velasco). Inquiries can be made by contacting the gallery through their website. The show opens May 12. If you’ve been following my work in progress shots on this piece, thanks for checking it out.
Here are some detail shots.
– Richard.
