"there is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion" Sir Frances Bacon, Of Beauty, Essays" 1625
"Secret Affinities" is my first completed drawing of 2025. It tips the hat to a couple of my favourite artists—can you identify them? The idea for this picture came from a small sketch of a witch that I did a few years ago. In this image, I drew her with her with a prominent left... Continue Reading →
This is the third winter for the cardinal nest in the bush outside my studio window. It has remained intact through many storms and has at various times been a hang for chipmunks and mice. Earlier today I saw 3 bald eagles flying over the river near my house through the snow and mist. Birds... Continue Reading →
My final drawing of the year is "Gatekeeper". This is a companion piece to another drawing I did this year called "Extremophile." Sincere thanks to everyone who has taken the time to look at my art this year and to those that were able to support it with a sale, mention, share or "like." Richard... Continue Reading →
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 →
On Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the opening of Scared Stiff, a new spooky themed show at The Benz Gallery in my home town of London, Ontario. I contributed 4 pieces to the show. You can see an online version of the exhibit, and available works, by following the link above. It was... Continue Reading →
Extremophile, 2024, ink on paper, 20" x 28" Here is my finished drawing, EXTREMOPHILE. I worked on this through much of the summer. It's quite large and occupied most of my drawing table. There are three compositions here working as one: right, left and centre. I like the negative space in this piece, the way... Continue Reading →
On Friday, I took part in the Beasting, a live painting event held during the Kitchener-Waterloo Night Market. Each artist was assigned a body section—mine was the pelvis—and told to interpret it as as we wished. We were each given a 2' x 2' panel with the connections to the next panel marked in pencil.... Continue Reading →
The Mad Butterfly's Ball is a new insect themed anthology of weird fiction and essays. About a year ago, I was commissioned to create a cover and some interior illustrations for a new anthology from PS Publishing called The Mad Butterfly's Ball, edited by Preston Grassmann and Chris Kelso. I also contributed a short story... Continue Reading →
No matter how surreal or fantastic my pieces finish up, they nearly always start with natural forms. No matter how surreal or fantastic my pieces finish up, they nearly always start with natural forms. The shapes of insects, plants, bones, fossils etc. are all building blocks I use to create composition and meaning in my... Continue Reading →
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 →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 