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
For the past few weeks I have been busy in the studio working on some new pieces. The pictures below are my most recent works and both are available in my Big Cartel webstore. Key Bearer, 2024, silverpoint, 12"x9" Key Bearer is a new silverpoint drawing executed on acid free hotpress illustration board. In this... 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 →
A detail of my new drawing The Nameless Flower I’ve been working on this piece called The Nameless Flower for a few weeks now and I am getting close to finishing. When I do, I’ll post it in full and include some details. For now, here is a little timelapse video of me working on... 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 →
Dance of Spring, 2023, graphite on paper, 10" x 10" A small drawing completed a few days ago. Where I am in Ontario, Spring has been slow in coming and the sky has been very grey. With luck, the sun will soon come from behind the clouds and things will warm up. Regardless, things are... 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 →
A few years ago, I had to give up painting in oil because the paints triggered ocular migraines. Every painting session ended with me lying on the couch feeling like I was on a bad acid trip. Not fun. Then I learned about M. Graham odourless paints. These paints are a game changer for me... Continue Reading →
Under drawing for We Shall be Near You Today I am sharing the graphite under-drawing for a new piece called We Shall be Near You. I borrowed the title from a poem by Yeats. In the context of this piece, the words refer to the idea of friendship and loyalty, the nearness of others. I’m... Continue Reading →
The Corner Book, 2021, ink on Fabriano Bristol Vellum, 10" x 7" My next couple of posts will centre on some drawings I created at the end of 2021. I am a little in love with this Bristol Vellum from Fabriano. It's a nice paper for stippled pen work—just the right amount of tooth to... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 