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
Over the past few years I’ve been pecking away at a series of works I’m collectively calling The Devil Tree. Some of these might be familiar—at least two have been offered as prints, and another was reproduced in my Darkling Lands 1 booklet. The picture below is a collection of these works. All of them... Continue Reading →
This past week was filled with drawing, writing, reading, torrential rain, flooded libraries—not mine—and patches of sun. Some of these things are related. I’m calling this post Little Summer, because so many small wonders seem to come our way during Ontario’s short pause in what can seem like an endless winter. Here’s one. A tiny... Continue Reading →
Another busy week in another weird summer. My new novel finally reached the point where the main character is calling the shots. If you write fiction, you know that this is the magical moment. It's certainly the point I wait for with great anticipation, when I start keeping a Moleskine near the shower and fill... Continue Reading →
A Few of My Favourite Things (photo © Richard A. Kirk 2021) I took a much longer hiatus from this blog than intended! I was surprised/ not surprised to see that my last post was back in April. Yikes. So far 2021 has been a bit of a slow burn for me creatively. I've been... Continue Reading →
Among other things, I've been working away at a new fantasy novel. Looking back, it appears I started it in 2018. Lately I've taken it up in a more focused way. The first draft is now sitting at about 30 thousand words, which means I have quite a bit more bridge to build. With this... Continue Reading →
For something different, here is a short fairytale I wrote earlier in the year for a story writing contest called NYC Midnight. The rules required the story to be no longer than 2500 words. There was once an old town that rose from the tip of a peninsula, a forgotten place, overlooking a vaporous sea.... Continue Reading →
Tailor of Echoes Title Page Art © Richard A. Kirk 2021 I posted this image on my social media accounts to tease my forthcoming illustrated novel Tailor of Echoes (PS Publications, 2021). It was created for the title page. The original drawing is graphite. Since this blog is a defacto record of my studio activities... Continue Reading →
I’m a couple of days late with this week’s post. Most of the past week was spent marshaling supplies needed for a couple of big illustration jobs, making sketches and basically getting into the creative headspace needed to immerse myself in a multi-month task. I’ve also been in the workshop assembling strip frames for my... Continue Reading →
It's been a busy week. I've been working steadily on Harbinger (see previous post), and on this series of oils (below). These are rough and ready iPhone images off my drawing table and once they are properly finished I'll put some better shots on my website. Birds and flight seem to be the central theme.... Continue Reading →
I'm not sure how I let two months get behind me without updating my blog, but it's nice to be back. I'm planning more or less weekly updates for the rest of the year. So let's catch up. The big news this week is that my novel Necessary Monsters, published by Underland Press in 2017... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 