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 hope everyone is doing okay. Today I'm posting a couple of things I did over the weekend. I hope you enjoy them. I found a little scribble in an old sketchbook and decided to turn it into a drawing. The watercolour gives the piece the feel of a children's book illustration. One of... Continue Reading →
Sometimes, when making illustrative images, I find it easy to forget that I'm making a thing. This is especially so when most of the engagement with my artwork happens on the web. As grateful as I am for that avenue of engagement, it tends to have a flattening effect. Sometimes I like to remind myself... Continue Reading →
The Darkling Lands is a new 40 page perfect bound book, which reproduces 28 of my images and includes a new weird tale titled Ecesis. I posted 10 copies on my webshop yesterday, and I am pleased to report they went quickly, but there will be more copies available in about a week. As I... Continue Reading →
It's October at last, my favorite month of the year. I have just added a small number of signed copies of Magpie's Ladder to my webstore. The constant reader will remember that Magpie's Ladder is my illustrated short story collection published by PS Publishing earlier this year. Get yours now! Also in celebration of October,... Continue Reading →
I have just listed an original illustration on Ebay. This one was for Caitlin R. Kiernan's Mythos Tales, Houses Under the Sea published by Centipede Press. This is a bit of an experiment, so we'll see how it goes!
Magpie's Ladder, my illustrated collection of short stories, is currently available for pre-order. Copies of the unsigned edition are expected at PS Publishing at the end of May! I am currently signing the signature sheets for the signed editions. Please check the PS Publishing website for more information. Here is a sampling of the illustrations:... Continue Reading →
This past week was productive. I handed in all of the artwork for Magpie's Ladder (my forthcoming short story collection) to PS Publishing. Unfortunately I can't show it to you yet, though if you follow me on Instagram you might have glimpsed some of the work in progress. Instead, I am showing you this new... Continue Reading →
This piece, called Arco, is part of an ongoing commission of silverpoint miniatures called The Symphonists. The actual work, drawn with silver wire on archival quality illustration board, is 3" x 4." For fun, you can see the others below. Richard.
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... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 