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
This watercolour is a study for a future oil painting. I wanted to give the figure an avian quality, hence the placement of the eye. The whole piece hinges on that pitiless eye! I think it's also quite funny. I have a series of paintings in mind featuring monsters in remote outdoor settings. I plan... Continue Reading →
I had to take advantage of the light this morning to do a watercolor (or strictly speaking an acrylic ink) painting. The paper wasp nest on the figure's head is directly inspired by a yellow-jacket nest I've been watching over the summer in our garden. The recent cold mornings have killed off the nest, but... Continue Reading →
Update: The Veil is sold! The Veil is a cross hatched drawing done with a dip pen and then painted with acrylic inks. The drawing was done last year but the coloring was done today. One of these days I'd love to illustrate a book in this technique. This piece is on sale. If you... Continue Reading →
I had a nice time working on this painting last summer, so it is rewarding to see it in its finished form. The cover design looks great. I believe it comes out next month (March). The book also includes b/w interior illustrations.
I came across this image while poking around on the Morgan Library and Museum website. It's a beautiful sketch by Audubon. In the notes I discovered that Audubon had written a few lines in graphite on the back of the paper. I don't know the circumstances that would have enabled Audubon to work at such... Continue Reading →
This piece is an oil miniature that I just finished on the weekend. It started life as a sketch in my Moleskine. I enjoyed working on it so much I think I'll continue working in oils for a bit. I have some good ideas for more creatures like this. Summer is a nice time to... Continue Reading →
Keeping with this week's theme of older works here is an ink/ watercolour from 2003. It's called Buddy. I can still remember doing this painting. It's hard to believe it was 11 years ago Richard.
A few months ago I was invited to submit work for a show at the Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra California. The show's theme was Rock n' Roll. One of the options was to illustrate a song or a lyric. I chose to do The Fairy Feller's Master-stroke by Queen, which was itself a riff on... Continue Reading →
Leviathan is the first in a small series of watercolours I am calling the Seven Princes of the Underworld. These works will be available in my Etsy store as they are completed. Richard.
I came across a few sheets of thumbnails that I did a couple of years ago. At the time I was just trying to generate a few ideas for monster characters that had a strong organic vibe. Last night I took one and developed it into this tinted ink drawing. I plan on doing more... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 