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
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
The Stranger Greets the Dawn, 2023, ink on artboard, 10" x 11.5" I finished this drawing on September 10. It started life as an endpaper illustration for a forthcoming book project. In the end we chose another image, so I expanded the this original drawing and rounded out the composition. It is very much in-line... Continue Reading →
Past the Light is a new work in ink and watercolour, which explores some of my favourite themes of transformation, decay and natural history. I've included a few close ups below. This piece is available for sale on my Big Cartel webstore. Past the Light, 2023, ink & watercolour on board, 14" x 10"
The Other Earth, 2023, ink on paper, 14” x 18” Earlier this year I was honored to get this special commission from a long time collector and friend, which I can now show you in its entirety. The theme of the piece is that of father and son—exploring your imagination and sharing the journey with... Continue Reading →
For highly rendered ink drawings I like to start with a detailed graphite line drawing. This piece started life as a proposed book illustration. If you look carefully, you can see the vertical line that marks the edge of the original drawing. When the editor selected another piece in its place, I finished the drawing... Continue Reading →
Birdseye, 2022, ink on paper, 17" x 14" Tonight, I am sharing a newly completed personal piece called Birdseye. I worked on it, off and on, over the summer, in between some book illustration projects and revisions to my novel in progress. Earlier this week, I turned in the latter to my literary agent, so... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 