Drowned Library Greeting Cards

January 26th and this is my first blog post of the year. I guess the month got away on me! I have been busy though, organizing a number of art and writing projects for the coming months. One fun little project was to produce these Drowned Library greeting cards. Initially, I made them at the request of a friend, but they turned out so well I decided to offer a few sets on my webstore. If they prove popular I’ll do a some other images.

In January, I launched a new print, Harbinger also available in the store.

Finally today, if you’re interested in books, check out my book blog, Amnesiacs Library. It’s where I post random tidbits about books and the like.

Changing Gear

Books, Drawings, Fiction, Illustration, oil painting, Painting, Prints, Work in Progress, writing

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 8×8 oils, varnishing and trying not to amputate any essential digits. At some point in there I cleaned up the digital file of the Harbinger drawing so that it is ready for the printer in January.

This week I’ll get going on the aforementioned illustrations, and start a couple more of the 8 inch oils. I have an idea for another large ink, so I may spend some time on that as well.

On the writing front, I am almost finished working through the copy edit of Tailor of Echoes. My morning writing project (new novel) is making progress as well. I’ve edited everything I’d written earlier in the year, and now I’m producing new text. It’s very motivating to see that word count climbing.

Currently reading the Quincunx by Charles Palliser and listening to Cluster. If you haven’t seen the Brian Eno documentary called Man Who Fell to Earth, – an odd title given its association with Bowie – it’s on Amazon Prime. I stumbled on it a couple of days ago and it reminded me of a ton of amazing music I’d all but forgotten about.

Until next Sunday. Stay warm, stay healthy.

Richard

A corner of my studio showing some works in progress, or more accurately, finished works having a bit of a rest.

Harbinger

Cross Hatching, Details, Drawings, Incentives, ink, Natural History, Prints, Stippling, Technique, webstore, Works for Sale

This week, I am showing my latest completed drawing called Harbinger. I started this piece on October 2 and finished it on December 6. I hope you enjoy checking out the detail shots below. I will be making a limited giclee print of Harbinger in the New Year. The best way to stay on top of my print drops and other new is to subscribe to my monthly newsletter through my website. It just takes a second. There will be some fun extras for newsletter subscribers in 2021 (special offers, sketch giveaways etc.). This work is available for sale. Please use the contact form below to inquire.

A reminder that my 20% off studio sale is active until the end of December.

Thanks for dropping by. Moving forward, I will be updating this blog every Sunday. That seems to work well with my routine and will remove the guesswork for regular readers.

Now, without further ado — Harbinger

Harbinger, 2020, ink on 140lb Arches hotpress, 22 x 16 inches

January Update

Books, Drawings, Fiction, Illustration, Uncategorized, Works for Sale, writing

Cover of Necessary Monsters, 2017, Arche/ Resurrection House

I am very excited to show you the cover of my new novel Necessary Monsters, which will be published this May and is now available for pre-order. I can’t wait to share this novel with readers. I re-wrote the book many times over the last few years, refining it to the book I saw in my head. It is, to paraphrase the publisher, true to my art. This observation pleased me immensely because I wrote it to explore the worlds I love through my characters stories. This is a novel filled with books, crumbling cities and unsettling landscapes, magic and of course, monsters. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Other stuff: I spent the last few days moving my website from one platform to another, taking the opportunity to simplify, and cull some older images. The flexibility of the new platform will make it a lot easier to keep the site updated. What can you expect to see? The work highlighted under the Portfolio tab is personal work and ranges from 2009 to present. The Illustration tab highlights various publications, which I either illustrated or contributed to. Over time, I will turn some of those images into gallery links, displaying images from the various projects. But that is phase 2 and will unfold time permitting. Another page, which will be more dynamic and added sooner, will be called Available Originals. My plan with the Available Originals page is to showcase original works appropriate to all budgets. Works on this page will typically be unframed. As an aside, I am very careful with the shipping of original work – at minimum, works are placed in an archival mylar sleeve and shipped sandwiched in 3 pieces of stiff foamcore, within a plastic bubble envelope. For those interested in purchasing a print, they are available in my webstore.

. Richard

Spreading Roots

Books, Drawings, Illustration, Prints, writing

Well, I should write something here before I gain the sad distinction of being the first man to be fired by his own blog. I have spent the last two months, give or take, writing my face off. What am I writing? It’s a new novel, a cool, weird, trippy and exciting novel (IMHO) – I’ll reveal the title in a later entry. So far it has been challenging, exciting and possibly the most creative fun I have had in recent memory. How is it going? Very well, its about 2/3 complete. I am learning at an exponential rate. I will have much more to say about this in the coming weeks/ months.

My novel NECESSARY MONSTERS is in the process of being edited at Resurrection House. I’ve even had a peek of an early cover concept, which was very exciting.

There is much brewing beneath the surface on the art front as well. I have a couple of illustration gigs coming up that I’m looking forward to and two group shows, both happening in July. In general, I am paring back my show schedule this year to focus on these other projects, but I plan to post lots of new stuff on the blog so stay tuned.

I should have a print of my drawing AMNESIAC’S LIBRARY in the webstore before too long as well.

If you are linked to this blog, please note that the domain has changed. It is now: https://richardakirkblog.com/

All for now – Richard.

Tin Man’s Dream

Drawings, Process, Work in Progress, Works for Sale

Tin Man’s Dream, 2014-16, ink, 14″ x 10″

I finally finished rendering The Tin Man’s Dream in pointillism. This drawing was started back in 2014 as a line drawing. It sat for a year, during which time I digitally colored the image. At the end of last year I decided to complete it as a pointillism piece. I’m hanging on to the original, but I will be making a print in February, which will be available on my webstore. You can click on the images below to enlarge the images.

Tin Man’s Dream – digitally coloured

Approaching Exhibitions

Drawings, Exhibitions, Prints, Silverpoint, Works for Sale

Detail of The Dawn Botanist, Tears of the Poppy

I am involved in 2 shows coming up very soon. The first is called Permanence, a group show at Haven Gallery, themed around works primarily executed in ink. The Dawn Botanist, which I delivered to the framer last week, will be my contribution. It looks like it will be an amazing show. The second show is a silverpoint show, and I’ll share details when the gallery has announced, which should be quite soon. Beyond January, I have 3 more shows planned at this time.

I spent some time today going through my print inventory and reconciling it with my webstore. Some of the older prints are down to single digits, and when they are gone they are gone. I will be moving on to new images for future print offerings. Amnesiac’s Library (see previous post) is currently with my print-maker. In addition to prints I have added 3 original drawings at sale prices.

permanence

Finally, if you get get a chance, please check out The Weird Fiction Review site. Over the next few weeks they are serializing my short novel The Lost Machine. Chapter 1 was posted last Wednesday, along with an interview. The usual apologies to FB friends that have already heard this news.

lost_machine_cover_web

Amnesiac’s Library Prints

Media, Prints, Works for Sale

I am happy to announce that I will be releasing a new print in early 2016. The image is called Amnesiac’s Library. It will be printed by LUNA 7 on 17″ x 11″ 285 gsm Hahnemuhle Torchon paper.

The first 25 prints will be signed, and accompanied by a small sketch on a blank card. This card can be personalized. The cost of the print will be $40.00 US + shipping.

The print will be available through my online shop. Stay tuned for an announcement on when the print will be available for order. If you wish to be personally notified, please message me and I will add your name to my list.

In addition to creating prints for me, LUNA7 has created high quality prints for many other artists including Clive Barker, Menton3, Tom Taggart, Dominic Harman, Don Bertram and Ted McKeever.

Richard

Amnesiac’s Library

Harrowing Sediment and Other Prints

Drawings, Media, Prints, Works for Sale

Harrowing Sediment

This artwork is called Harrowing Sediment. The original (still available, incidentally) was created for a show in 2012. Details can be seen below.
Harrowing Sediment and other images are available as prints in my Big Cartel art shop. If you order this image, before the end of November, I will include a free miniature print – while they last. The miniature prints were from a show called Monstrous Tinies. All of my prints are executed on archival quality German etching paper. The paper is a heavy stock giving it a substantial feel and providing an image with incredible fidelity to the original work. All prints are enclosed in a protective Mylar sleeve and shipped flat, supported by layers of foam-core. Ensuring that the prints arrive intact, is very important to me.
In a few days I will be making an announcement about a special new print, done in partnership with LUNA 7.