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 →
This is an iPhone snap of a watercolor I did a few weeks ago. I plan to do a version of it in oil in due course. It was necessary to suspend my use of oil for a while as the products I was using led to some pretty trippy - but ultimately not fun... Continue Reading →
I've been balancing my production between personal work for upcoming group shows, illustration and fiction writing. Balance is hard to achieve, especially when you get seduced by one particular project. This week is was short stories. I finished two that were, sort of, almost there. I might drop one here, to celebrate the first anniversary... Continue Reading →
One of the joys of the year coming to a close is thinking about what will come in the next year. This is a time when I make a lot of lists; possible names of new drawings, ideas for images, books I want to read and things to research. Right now I am thinking of... Continue Reading →
Along with a couple fairly involved ink drawings, I also have several paintings on the go. Everything is in various states, from OMFG why did I start this thing? to hey this is working. So, those of you who paint will know the piece above (put through a render on my "tin type" app) only... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
This is an acrylic ink piece I did as a study for something larger that I am working on for Gallery Nucleus (more on that later). The acrylic inks perform beautifully on this really heavy Arches watercolor paper (300lb coldpress). I kept this piece to very limited palette. It felt good to loosen up after... Continue Reading →
Richard A. Kirk | Visual Artist | Author 